“People come to Instagram to be inspired and discover things they care about, and that includes content from brands and businesses.”
–business.instagram.com
As a real estate professional, Instagram, aka IG, can be a powerful platform to genuinely connect with people and have your brand recognized. If you’re not currently using IG as a marketing tool, here are some stats that may change your mind.
- Instagram is a young social platform. Generally, millennials and Gen Z’ers prefer Instagram highly over Facebook. You’ll get ahead of the curve by targeting these people, especially millennials, and turn that into ROI.
- 60% of people say they discover new products on Instagram.
- 200 Million+ Instagrammers visit at least one business profile daily.
- 1/3 of the most viewed stories are from businesses. Don’t know what a “Story” is? Don’t stress! We’ll cover that.
Set up a Business Profile
It's pretty easy to create a Business Profile on IG. Follow these simple steps to set up your business profile. With a business page you are able to run ads, boost posts to reach new potential clients, and keep track of your insights (who’s viewing the posts, at what time, and on what day). Be sure to personalize your profile with your photo and contact information so that even if people decide to reach out through direct messenger at first, they know how to contact you later on.
Bio = To Follow or Not to Follow
Your opportunity to capture a follower is in your bio. Most people read your bio only once and it may determine whether or not they follow you. A potential follower is going to spend 30 seconds reading your bio so keep it short, use emojis to break up your text, and make it interesting.
How many accounts to follow
The rule of thumb for most successful IG pages is to have double the amount of followers than you follow. So, if you have 1000 followers, you should be following about 500 accounts. It is ok to be picky when choosing who to follow. Choose accounts that follow you or inspire your work. Remember... your IG account is a representation of your brand so if an account is not fulfilling you in some way, hit the unfollow button.
#Hashtags
Most people search for products and services on IG by searching Hashtags to find posts that are relevant. In your posts, you are able to add up to 30 hashtags at a time. That may sound like too little but you would be surprised how far a few solid hashtags can take you. Here are some tips...
1. Do a little research on hashtags that are active in real estate. In order for the hashtags to be effective, people have to be actively searching for them.
2. Create 1 or 2 hashtags that will be represent your brand. When people are searching using hashtags, posts will be visible with the hashtag they are searching. How awesome would it be if your post was among those posts and your brand's hashtag gained traction because your hashtags were associated on the same post?
3. Don't feel pressured to use all 30. This goes back to tip number 1. As you do your research you will become more familiar with what is working and what is not. It's more important to have 5-10 quality hashtags than 30 that no one is searching for.
It's All About the Visuals
As you already know, IG is all about the graphics and images. Your image choice is more important than your text because that is what will stop your followers from scrolling you by. Take your time when choosing images. You want consistency throughout your posts, even down to your color choices. Be very careful not to use images you do not own the rights to. Be creative while remaining consistent. Design your own images using using software like Canva or PicMonkey and use colors that match your brand. If you need help being consistent with your colors, upload your logo into this website and use your color codes in each of your images.
Don't forget about STORIES!!!
IG stories are similar to Snapchat. Your story can be a photo or a video of your choice and it will be live for 24 hours then disappear. You can use your story to be creative and fun. Use the available filters, location, stickers, tag other businesses or clients, and post hashtags. Tagging other people or businesses is a great way to gain exposure as they will be notified that you tagged them and can repost your story on their story. It's a win-win! Based on your use of hashtags and graphics, your stories can be discovered by people who didn't even know they needed your service!
As with anything you do with your real estate business, it is important to be consistent. Find a routine that works for you and is manageable. In order for you to stay top of mind for followers, they need to see you often and you need to stand out. Be unique. You wont stand out by doing what other real estate professionals are doing. Think outside of the box and find your own groove.
We, at Simply Title, are always here to support you. Feel free to reach out to our office if you need someone to bounce ideas off of.
