7 Easy Ways Real Estate Agents Can Use Instagram to Get Leads

In today’s digital era, having a strong online presence is crucial for real estate agents to expand their business and reach potential clients. One social media platform that has become a game-changer for professionals in this industry is Instagram. With its visual appeal and massive user base, Instagram offers a unique opportunity to showcase properties, connect with clients, and build a community. It should be part of your social media marketing strategy.

In this article, we will explore 7 effective Instagram strategies for how real estate agents can leverage Instagram to grow their business.

Understanding the Power of Instagram for Real Estate Agents

Before diving into the strategies, let’s first understand why Instagram is such a powerful tool for real estate agents.

With over 2.35 billion monthly active users, Instagram provides a vast audience to connect with on this popular social network.

With Instagram’s popularity, it has become a go-to platform for many individuals looking for their dream home, house-selling tips, or insights about a local area. By having a strong presence on Instagram, you position yourself as a modern and tech-savvy agent who understands the needs and preferences of today’s buyers.

Moreover, the platform’s focus on visual content makes it an ideal space for showcasing property listings and engaging potential buyers. When it comes to real estate, the power of visuals and photography cannot be underestimated. Potential buyers want to see what they are investing in, and Instagram provides the perfect platform to showcase properties in all their glory. From stunning architectural details to breathtaking views, Instagram allows agents to capture the essence of each listing and present it to their audience in an engaging and visually appealing way.

Ultimately, Instagram allows agents to tell compelling stories and create an emotional connection with their audience, ultimately boosting brand awareness and driving more leads.

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How To Set Up Your Real Estate Agent Instagram Profile?

Now that we understand the power of Instagram for real estate, it’s time to set up a professional profile that grabs attention and builds trust.

Your Instagram profile serves as the first impression for potential clients, so it’s important to make it compelling and informative.

When setting up your professional Instagram profile, there are several key factors to consider:

1. Choosing the Right Username

This is one of the first things you’ll want to focus on. Your username should ideally align with your brand or your own name as a real estate agent. It should be memorable, easy to spell, and reflect your professionalism. Remember, this is the name that potential clients will see when they visit your profile, so it’s important to make a good impression.

We recommend using your name. If you are tempted to add something related to your local area or city, it is advisable to avoid doing so if you decide to move out or even grow your market elsewhere.

2. Adding A High-Quality Profile Picture

In addition to a well-chosen username, selecting a high-quality profile picture is crucial. Your profile picture is the visual representation of your brand or yourself as a real estate agent. It’s what potential clients will see when they come across your profile. Therefore, it’s essential to choose a picture that showcases your personality or your brand’s logo. This will help establish trust and recognition with your audience.

3. Register as A Real Estate Business

This is a crucial step. Make sure that you have selected a business profile. In the Settings, choose “Switch to Business Account”. Once you have selected the appropriate category, Instagram will add a “Real Estate” tag below your username.

By selecting a business profile on Instagram, you can take advantage of these features:

• Access to Insights: With a business profile, you gain access to valuable insights and analytics about your audience and post-performance. This data can help you understand your followers’ demographics, engagement metrics, and which types of content resonate the most.
• Contact Options: A business profile allows you to include contact options such as a phone number, email address, and location. This makes it easier for potential clients to contact you directly for inquiries or appointments.
• Promoted Content: Instagram offers advertising options for business profiles, allowing you to promote your listings or services to a wider audience. This can help increase brand visibility and attract potential clients who may not have discovered you otherwise.

4. Craft An Engaging Instagram Bio

Once you have your business profile sorted, it’s time to craft an engaging bio.

Your bio is an opportunity to introduce yourself and provide critical information about your services. It’s like a mini elevator pitch that tells potential clients who you are, where you are, and what you can offer them. Use this space to highlight your expertise, mention your local market and any awards or accolades you’ve received, and include a strong call to action.

For example, you can direct potential clients to your website or encourage them to contact you for inquiries. Make sure you’ve provided all of the crucial contact information details, such as your email address, phone number, and business address.

Remember to keep your bio concise, informative, and engaging. Don’t forget to add a personal touch that makes you unique.

👉 Feeling uninspired? You can ask your favorite AI tool to craft a compelling bio using Chatgpt prompts.

7 EASY Real Estate Instagram Content Ideas To Get Leads

Real Estate Instagram Posts Ideas

Here’s what you can promote on your Instagram feed. And the best part? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Take a peek at what other realtors on Instagram are doing and get plenty of inspiration to kickstart your journey. You can also leverage our Xara Real Estate templates.

• Showcasing Property Listings: Simply posting a photo with a brief description may not be enough to captivate your audience. To make your listings more appealing, consider using attention-grabbing Instagram templates that not only showcase the property but also highlight its details. From Just-Listed, Back On The Market, Open House to Just Sold posts, you will never run out of ideas.
• Sharing Behind-the-Scenes Content: Sharing behind-the-scenes content can help humanize your brand and create a sense of authenticity, building trust and connection with your audience. Consider sharing photos or videos of you conducting a property showing staging a home.
• Educational tips: Educational content helps realtors establish themselves as knowledgeable professionals in the real estate industry. By sharing valuable tips and insights, realtors can position themselves as trusted sources of information. Share home selling, home buying tips, and insights about the real estate market. You’ll notice that your followers will turn to you for guidance and advice. The perfect format for this is carousels.
• Social Proof Posts: Incorporating social proof into your real estate social media strategy can provide a great return on investment. It helps establish your reputation as a successful agent in the real estate industry.
• Neighborhood Spotlights: Neighborhood spotlight posts help homebuyers assess local amenities, community, and lifestyle. They provide insights into school quality, demographics, transportation, and other key factors considered when choosing a home.
• Real Estate Memes: Sharing real estate memes can be a lighthearted and fun way to engage with others interested in real estate. It can create a sense of community and provide a break from the usual work-related content. This demonstrates your personal touch, making you more relatable and increasing the likelihood of your audience engaging with you compared to a company account.

Coming up with ideas for real estate social media posts doesn’t always come naturally. That’s why this ultimate guide on 30 social media post ideas to publish on Instagram for Real Estate Agents can be quite handy.

Making the Most of Instagram Stories

Instagram offers various features like Stories that allow real estate agents to share more dynamic and interactive content. These features can help you engage with your audience on a deeper level and provide valuable information about your listings and services. Instagram Stories allow realtors to share ephemeral content that disappears after 24 hours.

Here’s what you can share on Stories:

• Provide quick insights into the properties you are currently showcasing. You can share short videos or photos highlighting the most attractive features of each property.
• Announce upcoming open houses, giving your audience a sense of exclusivity and urgency.
• Highlighting satisfied clients and their testimonials. By featuring happy homeowners, you can showcase the success stories that you have helped create. This social proof can be incredibly powerful in attracting new clients.
• Show behind-the-scenes footage or live updates to your followers.
• Showcase your local area or neighborhood, similar to what Ashley Tran did for Houston below.

Make use of engaging stickers, location tags, and interactive elements to create a dynamic and immersive story experience for your viewers. By utilizing Instagram Stories effectively, you can bring your audience closer to your brand and increase engagement.

👉 Try Xara Instagram Stories Templates

Record Instagram Reels!

Instagram Reels offers a fun and creative way to engage with your audience and stand out from competitors in the real estate industry. Why? Because of the video format!

Videos have the power to evoke emotion and create a connection with viewers. By telling a story, showcasing the lifestyle associated with a property, or featuring testimonials from satisfied clients, you can establish a personal connection and build trust with potential clients.

Here are some ideas that have been proven to work by fellow agents:

• Property Tours: We love this example by Ashley Tran. She did a great job of making her audience want to learn more about this property.

• Behind-The-Scenes: This footage by Michelle Griffith is clever, entertaining, and authentic. It shows transparency to potential customers, allowing them to connect on a more personal level. The video provides a glimpse into the realtor’s work process, which is why we love it. It’s an effective way to engage and leave a lasting impression on your audience.

• Educational Tips: @mermaidrealtor is using Reels to showcase her expertise in the luxury market, providing valuable content ranging from market updates to tips for home sellers.

Remember to experiment with different ideas, be authentic, and have fun with the process!

Leverage Instagram Guides

This is probably one of the most overlooked features on Instagram. Yet, it is one of the most valuable for your audience. Guides allow you to create visually appealing and informative content for your audience.

Whether it’s highlighting the top neighborhoods in a city, showcasing interior design tips, or offering expert advice on the home buying process, Guides can help establish our expertise and build trust with your followers.

With the ability to add commentary and recommendations, you can personalize each Guide to cater to specific buyer preferences and needs.

We love this example from Nicole Mickle, a realtor from Orlando, US.

Use Instagram’s Channels

Instagram recently launched its Broadcast Channel feature, providing a personal space for engaging with your followers in a more casual manner.

It’s a great opportunity to share exclusive and authentic content, as well as behind-the-scenes moments.

Only followers who have joined can access the channel, and while they can’t reply, they can react with emojis to your text, voice, or video messages.

Utilize broadcast channels to share content with a specific group of people.

For example, if you have exclusive and exciting upcoming listings, promote them to your community first. This will strengthen and deepen the special relationship between you and your audience.

Utilize Instagram Live

Instagram Live provides a real-time broadcasting option that can be utilized for:

• Hosting Q&As with your potential customers. Viewers can ask questions about the real estate market, property investment, or any related topic.
• Tips for Buyers and Sellers: Share tips and advice for buyers and sellers in the real estate market, covering topics such as negotiation strategies, home staging tips, or financing options.
• Expert Interviews: Invite industry experts, such as mortgage brokers or interior designers, for live interviews to provide valuable insights to viewers.
• Virtual Property Tours: Showcase properties through live virtual tours, allowing potential buyers to explore properties remotely.
• Neighborhood Highlights: Take viewers on a virtual tour of different neighborhoods, highlighting key features, amenities, and attractions.

The key to success is to remember to engage with your audience. Respond to live comments and promote upcoming live sessions to optimize viewership and engagement.

Leveraging Instagram Advertising for Real Estate

While organic reach and engagement are important, Instagram advertising can provide an extra boost to your real estate business by reaching a wider audience and targeting specific demographics.

Instagram offers various ad formats, including photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and even Instagram Stories ads. Each format has its own strengths and can be tailored to achieve specific marketing goals.

For example, carousel ads allow you to showcase multiple property images in a single ad, while Stories ads offer an immersive and full-screen experience.

When creating Instagram ads, ensure that your visuals are eye-catching, your captions are compelling, and your call-to-action is clear. Always use high-quality images or videos. Remember to target your ads to the appropriate audience based on demographics, interests, and location, and use Facebook Ads Manager to maximize their effectiveness.

4 Tips To Grow Your Real Estate Business on Instagram

1. Showcase Your Personal Brand

Your Instagram account should reflect your personality and who you are as a person.

This also applies to your Instagram visuals and materials.

Not only is it crucial to build strong personal branding. But it is as important to maintain brand consistency, although it may not always be easy, especially when you are busy or your brand designer is unavailable.

This is why many agents opt for a Marketing Center, which enables them to automate and scale their marketing content creation and distribution.

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2. Build a Strong Instagram Community

Building a community on Instagram for realtors is crucial for long-term success and growth. It’s not just about posting content; it’s about actively engaging with your audience and fostering relationships.

When it comes to engaging with your followers, it’s important to go beyond simply posting and waiting for likes. Responding to comments and direct messages is a great way to show your audience that you value their input and are interested in what they have to say. By taking the time to engage with your followers, you can build a sense of trust and loyalty, which can be invaluable when it comes to attracting potential buyers or sellers.

But engagement doesn’t stop at responding to comments and messages. It’s also important to actively engage with your followers’ content. Take the time to like and comment on their posts, showing genuine interest in their lives and experiences. By doing so, you not only strengthen your relationship with your followers but also increase the likelihood that they will engage with your content in return for better engagement.

3. Collaborate with Local Businesses

Collaborating with other local businesses can be a powerful way to expand your reach and create mutually beneficial partnerships. By teaming up with businesses that complement your services, you can tap into their existing audience and gain exposure to potential new followers and clients.

For instance, you could collaborate with a local interior designer or contractor to showcase their work in your property listings. By featuring their expertise and craftsmanship, you not only add value to your content but also provide your audience with inspiration and ideas for their own homes. Additionally, by cross-promoting each other’s content, you can reach a wider audience and increase your chances of attracting new followers and clients.

When collaborating with other businesses, it’s important to choose partners whose values align with yours. Look for businesses that share your commitment to quality, professionalism, and customer satisfaction. By working with like-minded partners, you can ensure that your collaborations are authentic and resonate with your audience.

4. Measure Your Instagram Success

To ensure the effectiveness of your Instagram strategies, it’s important to track key metrics and adjust your strategy accordingly.

• Monitor metrics such as follower growth, engagement rate, reach, and clicks to gauge the impact of your efforts.
• Pay attention to which types of content perform best and adjust your content strategy accordingly. Instagram Insights provides valuable data to help you make informed decisions and optimize your content for better results. But don’t forget to read your comments and see what your audience thinks of.
• Adjusting Your Strategy Based on Data: For example, if video content performs better than images, focus on creating more videos. If certain hashtags or posting times consistently yield higher engagement, incorporate them into your strategy. It’s important to stay agile and adapt to the preferences of your audience.

5. Use Relevant Hashtags

You might think all you need to do is add #houseforsale or #realestate.

However, since marketing experts discovered Instagram’s potential, real estate hashtags have become part of the SEO game.

It is important to research which hashtags work best for different types of posts. Which ones will help ensure that your posts are seen by more Instagram users?

You can also take a look at what your local competition is doing, but remember that the most crucial thing is to put yourself in your potential customer’s shoes. For example, as a potential home buyer looking to move into a new neighborhood, what would I search for on Instagram? What kind of content would I like to see?

How to Automate Your Instagram Materials

We know that a picture is worth a thousand words, so take a look at how you can automate your content creation with Xara.

Future Trends: Instagram and Real Estate in 2024

In 2024, significant developments are expected at the intersection of Instagram and real estate.

• With video continuing to dominate social media, it is anticipated that Instagram will prioritize video content to showcase properties and engage potential buyers.
• The increasing presence of artificial intelligence (AI) suggests that AI-powered content will play a larger role in the real estate industry on Instagram, making it easier for realtors to create content.
• Realtors are automating their marketing materials using Marketing Centers, such as Xara. This allows them to maintain consistent branding and quickly create attention-grabbing materials that are ready to generate leads on Instagram.

Preparing Your Instagram Strategy for 2024

As 2024 approaches, you must start preparing your Instagram strategy to stay ahead of the competition. Begin by analyzing your current strategy and identifying areas for improvement. Consider the trends and content ideas mentioned earlier and brainstorm ways to incorporate them into your future plans.

Focus on creating a consistent brand experience that aligns with your target audience’s preferences. Generate high-quality content that showcases your expertise and resonates with potential buyers and sellers. Engage with your followers regularly and be responsive to their inquiries and comments.

Lastly, be open to learning and adapting. The world of social media is ever-changing, and what works today may not work tomorrow. Stay curious and continue to educate yourself on emerging trends and best practices in Instagram marketing for real estate.

By consistently investing time and effort into your Instagram strategy, you can position yourself as one of the best realtors on Instagram to follow in 2024!

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