Instagram has become an invaluable platform for real estate agents to market their services, build their brands, and generate new business. With over 1 billion monthly active users, it provides a huge opportunity to connect with potential clients and stand out from the competition.
By utilizing effective Instagram marketing strategies, realtors can expand their follower base, enhance engagement levels, and ultimately boost sales numbers. In this in-depth guide, we will delve into 10 tried and tested Instagram strategies designed exclusively for real estate agents to enhance their success on the platform in the current year.
Optimize Your Instagram Profile
Your Instagram profile serves as your homepage on the platform – make sure it looks the part! A polished, professional profile establishes credibility and gives potential clients their first impression of your brand.
Complete Your Bio
Your Instagram bio only allows 150 characters, so make them count! Include your name, brokerage, location(s) you serve, and your unique value proposition. Consider adding a clickable link to your website to drive traffic.
Use an On-Brand Profile Picture
Make sure to select a top-notch headshot or logo that perfectly reflects your brand’s style and image, as your profile photo will be showcased on all of your posts and advertisements. Make sure it looks crisp and recognizable at the small size.
Show Off Your Best Listings in Your Highlights
Highlights allow you to showcase up to 100 posts at the top of your profile. Use them to feature your best listings with gorgeous property photos, 3D tours, drone footage, etc.
Link Your Other Social Accounts
Cross-promote your other accounts by linking to your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, website, and more. This helps followers discover all the places they can connect with you.
Strategically Grow Your Following
Gaining more followers on Instagram expands your reach and visibility. Here are some of the most effective ways for realtors to grow their audience organically or through paid promotion:
Use Relevant Hashtags
Include a mix of popular hashtags like #realestate and niche tags like #modernfarmhouse to put your content in front of those interested in your listings and local market.
Run Follower Campaigns
Instagram ads let you target followers by location, demographics, interests, and more. Run campaigns promoting your account to build your audience.
Host Giveaways & Contests
Giveaways that encourage people to like, comment, share, and follow you can help quickly add engaged followers. Just make sure to abide by Instagram’s promotion guidelines.
Cross-Promote Between Facebook & Instagram
As Facebook-owned platforms, taking advantage of their integration can help expand your reach. Promote your Instagram content on your Facebook profiles and pages.
Collaborate with Local Businesses
Partner with complementary businesses like interior designers, contractors, or lending companies to co-host a giveaway or cross-promote content.
Interact With Your Target Audience
Search relevant hashtags and locations to find and engage with your ideal followers. Like, comment on, and follow accounts of people in your local area looking to buy or sell.
Create Visually Appealing Instagram Content
High-quality, eye-catching visuals are key to success on Instagram. Ensure your posts grab attention and convey what makes you a trusted realtor.
Showcase Listings With Strong Photography
Beautiful, high-res photography and video tours are absolute musts to properly showcase listngs. Invest in professional photography or practice taking great listing photos yourself.
Post Home Staging Photos
Share a glimpse into your home staging process by sharing before and after photos showcasing the incredible transformation of a property for sale.
Share Local Area Imagery
Stand out from competing brokers by regularly posting neighborhood, area, and community imagery. This establishes you as an expert in the local real estate landscape.
Use Graphics &TEMPLATES
Spice up text-heavy posts like market reports, testimonials, and listing details with custom graphics, templates, and design elements available on sites like Canva.
Go Behind the Scenes
Give followers a look at your day-to-day by posting Stories of you hosting open houses, meeting clients, installing signs, etc. This builds familiarity and connection.
Show Your Personality
Let your brand personality shine through in posts with a more casual, conversational caption style. Mix in personal interests, humor, emojis, and polls.
Implement Engagement-Driving Tactics
Simply posting great content is no longer enough to thrive on Instagram. You need to actively employ tactics to engage your audience and prompt interaction.
Respond to Comments & Questions
Make sure to regularly check and respond to any comments or questions on your posts. This builds relationships with leads.
Use Instagram Reels
Instagram’s short-form Reels have huge visibility. Post real estate-focused Reels spotlighting listings, areas, market info, tips, behind-the-scenes, and more.
Go Live on Instagram
Broadcast live open houses, Q&As, market updates, staging tips, and other real estate-related content. Followers love the authenticity of live video.
Create Swipeable Posts
Share more content and details on listings or other topics by using posts with swipeable image carousels or embedded galleries.
Run Polls & Emoji Sliders
Polls and emoji sliders are interactive post formats perfect for crowd-sourcing opinions from your followers on market trends, home styles, areas, and more.
Share User-Generated Content
Repost great photos followers tag you in of their new home, sold signs, etc. User-generated content shows community engagement.
Optimize Your Instagram Presence for Sales
While engagement is important, you ultimately want your Instagram presence to translate into sales. Use these best practices to convert followers into leads and clients.
Highlight Your Best Listings in Your Bio Link
Your bio link is prime real estate – use it to drive clicks directly to a landing page on your website showcasing your top available properties.
Promote Open Houses on Instagram
Share upcoming open house dates, times, addresses, and any other appealing listing details to attract potential visitors.
Utilize Clickable Links in Your Bio & Posts
Instagram now allows clickable links on both profiles and posts. Strategically use them to direct people to targeted landing pages to convert them into leads.
Run Paid Ads Targeting Serious Buyers & Sellers
Facebook Ads Manager allows you to target your Instagram ads extremely precisely. Target those likely to convert in your area to drive results from your ad spend.
Retarget Engaged Instagram Visitors
Pixel your website then create lookalike audiences of visitors to retarget across Facebook and Instagram with compelling content and offers.
Collaborate with Local Mortgage Lenders
Co-market content with trusted lender partners. Sharing a great rate on your post while they share a new listing on theirs expands visibility.
Share Testimonials of Satisfied Customers
Social proof is powerful! With their permission, repost happy clients’ positive reviews, thank you messages, and comments showcasing your services.
Consistently Analyze & Refine Your Approach
To keep improving your Instagram marketing results, you need to continually analyze performance and tweak your strategy.
Review Instagram Analytics
Regularly access Instagram’s built-in analytics to assess your follower growth, engagement rates, top-performing posts and types of content, traffic sources, and more key metrics.
Seek Feedback from Followers
Ask followers questions to find out what they enjoy and want to see more of. This direct feedback helps you create content tailored to their interests.
Stay On Top of Instagram Algorithm Changes
Stay agile and aware of any algorithm updates that may impact the visibility of your posts so you can adjust accordingly to protect your reach.
Set Goals & Evaluate Against Them
Set specific goals for followers, engagement, clicks, leads, and sales volume, and track performance to identify what strategies are working and what needs refinement.
A/B Test Content Approaches
Try posting different types of content, post schedules, captions, etc., and compare engagement to determine the optimal approaches to invest more time in.
Final Tips for Real Estate Marketing Success on Instagram
Implementing even some of these proven real estate Instagram strategies can help you expand your reach, engagement, and sales on this vital platform. Here are a few final tips to make the most of your efforts:
- Post Consistently – The Instagram algorithm favors accounts that maintain a regular posting schedule.
- Optimize Hashtags & Captions – Use relevant hashtags and include keywords in your captions to maximize discoverability.
- Use Instagram Stories – Post daily Stories to stay top of mind and build a connection with your audience.
- Use Instagram Insights – Analyze your performance each week to gain helpful insights to guide your content and promotion strategy.
- Embrace Video Content – Focus on producing more video in formats like Reels along with IG Live broadcasts to align with current trends.
- Enlist Help If Needed – Consider hiring a social media manager or virtual assistant to help strategize and manage your Instagram presence.
With a sound Instagram marketing plan and consistent effort, real estate agents can build a powerful platform to engage prospective clients, fuel growth, and drive more sales.
