Photo by Luke van Zyl

Originally Posted On: https://thewebsitemarketingpro.com/blog/social-media/instagram-for-real-estate/

 

Did you know that according to Recode, people spend an average of 53 minutes a day on Instagram? If you’re not using Instagram now, this is a big indicator that you need to – engaging with potential leads during the hour that they’re browsing not only puts you at the top of their mind but also increases your trustworthiness and authority.

However, just being on Instagram isn’t enough. Your social media marketing needs to be purposeful and consistent in order to get the results you’re looking for. Check here for some of the best social media groups for Realtors.

Read on for our top tips on Instagram for real estate and watch your followers and engagement naturally grow!

1. Speak to Your Audience

Before you even begin posting pictures, writing captions, and researching hashtags, you need to know your audience. Remember that trying to appeal to everyone is impossible and not a good use of your time or effort. Instead, base all of your marketing decisions on the kind of buyers and sellers you primarily work with.

For instance, if you often work with seniors looking to find an affordable retirement home in a tourist destination, create content that tells them about the area or gives them useful tips. People of retirement age will have far different interests and desires than first-time homebuyers with growing families.

2. Compelling Content

Even though you’ve created your Instagram to find leads, remember that you also need to build relationships and engage with the people who follow you to truly make yourself memorable. Instead of posting photos of open houses every day, mix it up and include selfies, testimonials from pleased clients, quotes, or your favorite local destinations.

You want to humanize yourself and create connections – not drive potential clients away by appearing too focused on selling them on your services.

3. Captivating Captions

Your captions are just as important as the imagery you post. Focus on writing captions with a conversational tone. Next, make them fast and easy to read by breaking up your sentences into small snippets or using emoticons as bullet points for lists.

Remember that the purpose of your captions is the same as your content: you want to encourage followers to engage through things they care about. This can be educational content, tips and tricks, your opinions on local amenities, and more. At the end of each caption, include a call-to-action that invites your readers to perform a specific action.

This can be as simple as requesting them to answer a yes or no question, to follow your Instagram page, or check out the link in your bio for more information.

4. Hashtag Research

This is probably the least enjoyable part of your social media routine, but it’s absolutely necessary. The maximum amount of hashtags you can include in your caption is 30, and it’s recommended to get as close to the maximum amount as possible.

Hashtags need to be used strategically. Use the search function in the Instagram app to see the number of posts for each Instagram, and aim for hashtags that have 500,000 posts or less. If the hashtags have many posts under them, your own posts will most likely get lost from the sheer volume, rendering them useless.

Here are a few hashtag ideas to get you started:

• Local hashtags: #[your state]realestate, #[your city]realestate
• Audience hashtags: #firsttimehomebuyers
• Educational hashtags: #homebuyingtips
• Descriptive hashtags: #midcenturyhouse, #interiorspaces
• The name of your broker

As you search for relevant hashtags, you’ll find that Instagram often has a list of related hashtags near the top of the screen. This is a great way to speed up your search!

As you find hashtags, copy and paste them on your phone’s note app or in an Instagram planning app in order to save time in the future.

5. Utilize Instagram Insights

If you have a business profile on Instagram, you can utilize a feature called Insights, which is found by clicking on the top-right menu and listed below Settings. You’ll see three categories: Content, Activity, and Audience.

The Audience category is especially useful because you’ll be able to see the growth of your Instagram account, where the majority of your followers are located, demographics, and finally your Follower’s activity.

This is one of the most useful aspects of Insights because you can see when your followers are most active, which is the best time to post. You’ll find that the majority of people are active on weekdays during their lunch hour, but this might differ for you.

Find out when your followers are most active each day and then set an alarm on your phone to remind you to post then. With consistent posts at the most active times of the day, your Instagram account will naturally grow.

Instagram for Real Estate: Consistent, Genuine Engagement

It can be easy to get lost in all the details on how to create the “best” posts and content on Instagram for real estate. However, the most important thing to remember is that consistent, genuine engagement with your account and followers is the only way to grow your Instagram account.

Don’t fall for services that will automate the process with bots through following and unfollowing, or leaving likes and comments on people’s posts at a massive scale.

Not only can this lead to your account getting shadowbanned, but it won’t improve your account’s engagement or the number of leads you get each day. This is because the quality of your followers matters far more than the quantity.

Are you ready to partner with a reputable company that will help you grow your social media accounts the right way? Request a free package proposal today!

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