We’ve said it before: not every social media platform is the right fit for your brand.
Not every channel makes sense for every industry.
But when it comes to the world of real estate, Instagram is a perfect match.
Because real estate trades in great imagery (listings, open houses, etc.), the visual focus of Instagram makes it an incredibly effective marketing tool for realtors.
Meet our client myRealPage. The service provides user-friendly, real estate website templates for realtors. We took their Instagram account from non-existent to over 20,000 followers.
Since implementing a savvy Instagram strategy, we’ve grown myRealPage’s Instagram following from 0 to over 20,000 followers.
And, we boosted traffic from Instagram to myRealPage.com, making the social network a leading driver of traffic.
Here are four Instagram marketing tactics you can use to grow your own real estate business online.
1. Develop — and stick to — your voice.
Every caption we share on myRealPage’s Instagram account has a consistent style and voice. It’s casual, friendly and personable. This consistency has been key to growth; it personifies the myRealPage brand, shaping audience perception and differentiating the brand from competitors.
Having a well-defined voice on Instagram can help realtors stand out. To create or strengthen your brand voice, think about how you want your audience to perceive you.
- Are you formal or laid back?
- Do you like cheesy jokes or do you prefer to keep it professional?
- Do you speak in emojis?
Treat your brand voice like a character, and Instagram like a stage.
2. Pick your content buckets.
We don’t just post anything and everything to the myRealPage Instagram account.
Look closely, and you’ll realize that nearly every post fits in a category. We pose questions to our audience, we share aspirational or interesting images related to real estate, and we promote the latest blog posts published on myRealPage.com.
Having a similarly well-defined mix of Instagram content themes can help:
- Reduce your workload. Knowing what kind of content to post and when keeps you on-task and on-schedule. No more searching for lovely, but random images to post simply for the sake of posting.
Strengthen your brand identity. Like a magazine, your Instagram account will be focused and well-curated. Users have reason to follow you and engage with you.
Improve content quality. Having a small quantity of themes to fulfill means you can focus on high-quality posts.
3. Tease content from your website.
As we mentioned, promoting and linking to blog content comprises a major portion of myRealPage's Instagram posts. It represents the value proposition of myRealPage’s business, it adds value and it pushes traffic to the website.
Realtors whose online marketing efforts include content marketing should employ a similar strategy on Instagram. Remember: your caption should be comprised of one to three short, engaging sentences that tease the return-on-investment for the audience. Here’s an example.
4. Use hashtags strategically.
Hashtags help Instagram users discover and engage with your content. On myRealPage’s Instagram account, we use anywhere from 15 to 30 hashtags per post.
Using the search function on the app, realtors should research which hashtags are commonly used for posts related to real estate in their area or local hashtags. That research will help inform a list of general tags that you use consistently, on nearly every post.
For myRealPage, those include #realestate, #realestateagent and #realtor. Some of these should be tied to a physical location, so that you can target your local market.
Another rule: to avoid the visual clutter that tags can add, don’t post hashtags in the caption itself. Post them as the first comment immediately after publishing.
Are you using Instagram to grow your real estate business? See how we can help you get there faster, or grab our free Instagram guide below.
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Elise Darma believes that "travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer." That's why she makes beaches, coffee shops and co-working spaces her office by working remotely while growing Canupy. Canupy is a social media and copywriting agency for small to medium-sized businesses. The Canupy team helps brands grow through social media marketing, copywriting and content strategies that inspire audiences and drive sales.
