Five Tips For Realtors To Building Your Instagram Brand
Instagram is the perfect place for real estate agents. The visually appealing social media app allows you to generate leads, show off listings, give virtual tours, and directly connect with potential customers, making it a great base for building trust and relationships. Here are five tips for realtors to build their brand on Instagram.
Authenticity
Consider what your personal brand is all about. What do you want people to associate you with when they look at your Instagram page? When it comes to a personal brand, authenticity is the secret sauce. To attract like-minded people to your brand, you have to be yourself.
Build an attention-grabbing profile, describe your brand and show off your personality. Share small glimpses into your everyday life. Users want real, authentic people they can relate to. This means showing the good and the bad and finding unique ways to relate to your audience. As you share your successes and new listings, don’t be afraid to talk about your failures and struggles. This is what makes you human and relatable, drawing your audience in. Utilize Instagram Stories and Reels often to share valuable, personal and professional stories. This shows you’re human and also gives a deeper glimpse into your everyday life.
Not sure how much of your personal vs. professional life to share? Consider the 80/20 rule: 80 percent personal, 20 percent business. Let people know your favorite lunch spots around the city or where your favorite bike trail is located. After all, a big part of being a realtor is getting clients comfortable with their new surroundings. The other 20 percent of content should be dedicated to more business-specific content. Let your followers know about new listings and open houses on the weekends.
Value
Every bit of content should provide value as you consistently supply useful and relevant information for buyers and sellers. Think of first-time homebuyers: What’s a common misunderstanding you’ve experienced with them? What do they need to know when looking for their first home? What are some frequently asked questions? Social media, especially Instagram, provides a perfect platform to address these common questions in a fun, entertaining and educational manner. Provide tips and tricks for your ideal customer and educate them about real estate. Take polls and ask questions on Instagram stories to increase engagement. This will help you identify what your audience needs help understanding and where their curiosity lies.
Even your personal and authentic content can bring some value to the table. Show tips and tricks for your own home, places in the area you visit often, kids schools, etc. Followers have a lot of content showing up in their feed. Make yours valuable so they keep coming back for more.
Consistency
Instagram runs off of an algorithm, so it’s vital to post consistently to ensure the maximum amount of people see your posts. Stay relevant and insightful by consistently posting, at least once a day. Yes, once a day! Utilize all of Instagram, show off your authenticity and personality on stories, post high-quality photos to your feed, give house tours on IGTV/Reels, go live and answer questions or talk about a popular topic.
Plan your content ahead of time with scheduling services like Sprout Social or HootSuite to stay consistent. It will pay off in the long-haul and you will find a system that works for you to regularly post.
Pro tip: Don't just post it and forget it. Make sure to engage with those engaging with your Instagram content. There's no better way to create a community than by showing others you're reading and replying to their comments. You might even gain a new follower by engaging or even score a new deal by replying back.
Collaboration
Teamwork makes the dream work — and realtors know this more than anyone. Collaborating with other agents on Instagram or hosting weekly giveaways to support local restaurants are fantastic ways to boost your brand while lifting up those around you.
By engaging with other agents, you'll not only improve the overall quality of your content, but you'll be able to grab the attention of their followers, too (and vice versa). You can also go live with other industry professionals, answer common questions, talk about local market trends and more. Connecting in the community can even result in new leads and clients. You never know who’s looking to move to your area!
When it comes to giveaways, collaborating with small local restaurants to give away gift cards is always a good move. Local spots attract potential homebuyers to 'buy-in' on the surrounding community. Hosting weekly giveaways helps you do your part to support local restaurants while also making your IG profile that much more visible. One client, The Rowland Group, nearly tripled their Instagram following in six months largely from hosting gift card giveaways.
To “enter” users engage with your account. You can set the parameters, for example: like and comment on this post to enter, tag a friend, etc. Or the first comment on your latest post gets a prize of your choice. Tie this collaboration with your consistent posts. Make-up a weekly theme, such as #tiptuesday or share a home feature you love like #marblemondays, etc. Get creative and show your personality.
Important note: Make sure to follow Instagram's official Promotion Guidelines for your giveaways.
Have Fun
Enjoy it! Instagram allows you to simultaneously show off your career and personality. With so many different features on Instagram, there are endless ways to uniquely showcase your personality and listings. Take advantage of them all. Think about what kind of content you enjoy making and what your audience is most receptive to. If you’re a great storyteller, you probably shine producing video. If you prefer the keyboard, craft captions for your photos that engage and draw your audience in.
If you're interested in turning Instagram leads into home-buyers, we're here to help.
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