Jacqueline Kyo Thomas
So you've read this introductory guide to using Instagram as a real estate agent, and you've done the basics.
You've created a business account.
You've set goals for your Instagram account, like attracting new leads or advertising your open house events.
You're posting engaging content like video home tours and real estate tips.
You're posting on a frequent schedule— at least once a day.
You're posting consistently. Perhaps you've ventured into scheduling your Instagram posts with a tool like Buffer.
You're even starting to advertise through Instagram.
But now you want more. Is there something else you could do to maximize the time and money that you spend on Instagram? Can you attract even more leads? Gather even more referrals? Engage an even larger number of your followers?
Absolutely!
In this post, we'll share how to make the most of your Instagram experience. We're going beyond the basics. This is Instagram for Real Estate Agents 102. Let's get started.
Here’s a list of post ideas for your real estate Instagram page.
1. Focus On Your Target Audience
Who are you speaking to on Instagram? Depending on your goals, you may wish to speak to several groups of people. We’ll call these groups “audience personas.” Ideally, you should craft content for each of your target audience personas.
Your audience personas (and the associated content) can be broken down as follows:
Audience Persona #1: Prospective Clients
This first group is comprised of:
- Homeowners who wish to list or rent their property
- Home buyers in the local area
- Home buyers who are relocating from another city or state
- Home buyers who aren’t relocating but wish to buy a second home
- Renters
Audience Persona #2: Current Clients
This second group is comprised of people you currently work with. They’re engaged with your content because they’re currently in need of your services. This group includes:
- Buyers
- Sellers
- Renters
Audience Persona #3: Former Clients
This third group is comprised of people you’ve worked with before. While they may not currently need to use your service, they may need you in the future. So, it makes sense to stay top of mind for this group of people. Also, your former clients can become excellent referral sources for your real estate business.
Audience Persona #4: Fellow Real Estate Professionals
This fourth group is comprised of your fellow estate professionals, including:
- Other agents from different areas who may refer clients to you
- Other agents in your same area who may be willing to refer to you
- Other agents who are looking to get referrals
- Builders
- Mortgage brokers
- Real estate attorneys
- Etc.
You may wish to reach all of these audience personas or just a couple of them.
2. Create a Posting Calendar for Each Audience Persona
Once you select the audience personas that you’d like to target on Instagram, it’s important for you to create a steady stream of posts for each.
On Instagram, aim to make between one to three posts per day.
So, how does that work when you’re trying to reach several different audience personas? Here’s an example:
Let’s say you’d like to reach three different audience personas. You’ll make three posts every day, one for each group. On a weekly scale, you’ll have 21 posts: Seven daily posts for each audience persona.
Now, at first glance, the idea of coming up with 21 different posts every week can feel overwhelming, but don’t panic. This is why you need to create a posting calendar for Instagram. Take an hour to come up with content for each of your audience personas for the entire week.
Your posting calendar for audience persona #1 (prospective clients) may look like this:
- Post #1: New listing property
- Post #2: Real estate buying advice
- Post #3: Highlighting a recently sold property
- Post #4: Inspiring quote
- Post #5: Something fun to do locally
- Post #6: Customer testimonial video
- Post #7: Virtual tour of a property
To make the process even smoother, you can come up with a posting schedule where Mondays are always “new listing property” days and Saturdays are always “local activity highlight” days. This will take a lot of the pressure off of you to come up with a new posting schedule every week.
You’ll do the same for all of your audience personas.
3. Cultivate Your Brand Message
From your car to your clothing, you should project a single, cohesive message. Your content on Instagram should reflect that message.
If you could summarize your brand in three words, which words would you choose?
Perhaps you’d like to use the words discerning, elegant, and innovative, or affordable, experienced, and resourceful. Go with words that immediately describe your brand, your clientele, and the type of service that you provide.
Once you’ve settled on the top three words to describe your brand, check that each post reflects those qualities.
For example, let’s say your top three descriptors are affordable, experienced, and resourceful. Before posting on Instagram, ask:
- Does this content showcase an affordable property?
- Does this content highlight my experience?
- Does this content share tips, advice, or other resources?
Also, because Instagram is a visual medium, it’s important that your posts visually convey your brand message. Create a template that you can use over and over again which will reflect your brand message. You can find and customize your own Instagram template on Canva, a freemium graphic designer. Be sure that your visual branding on Instagram has the same colors, fonts, and style as your other branding (i.e. your business cards, your website, etc.).
Remember that, in order to successfully connect with your target audience persona(s), your Instagram posts should be consistent with your overall brand message.
4. End Each Post With a Call to Action
Make the most of each of your Instagram posts. Don't just give them information that's "nice to know.” Activate your followers with a call of action at the end of your post. Here are a couple of call to action examples:
- Love this property? Tour it this Sunday, May 9th, from 3 pm to 5 pm. See you there!
- Check out this restaurant and let them know that Sara Jones sent you!
5. Use the Right Hashtags
Are you optimizing your Instagram posts with hashtags? Here’s a look at the top hashtags to include in your real estate posts:
- Your industry: #RealEstate
- The name of your business: #JohnThomasRealty
- The name of your real estate brokerage: #BostonRealEstateBrokersIncLLC
- The name of your city: #Lowell, #Boston
- Your general location: #NewEngland, #NewEnglandRealEstate
- The type of listing: #HouseForSale #Rental #JustListed #ActiveListing #JustSold
- Event type: #OpenHouse
- Client type: #InvestmentProperty #Relocation #FirstTimeHomeBuyer
- Home type: #DreamHome #BeachFront #MillionDollarListing #TurnKey #FixandFlip
6. Check Your Instagram Analytics
Keep an eye on your analytics. There’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to Instagram. While the above tips will help you extract the most out of your time on Instagram, you should also check your individual stats to figure out what’s working and what’s not. Fortunately, there are a ton of analytic tools that you can use for this very purpose.
Check out Instagram’s built-in analytics tool, Instagram Insights. This tool will help you learn more about your followers, see what posts are the most popular, and how many people see your content every day. Instagram Insights is only available for business accounts.
Other popular Instagram analytics tools include Iconosquare and SproutSocial.
Additional Resources
Before you go, check out these related posts: