Realtors on Instagram!

Realtors, If You’re Not on Instagram, We Need to Talk!

We’ll rip the band-aid off: if you’re not posting your listings on Instagram, your real estate marketing campaign is behind the times. With most searches for real estate starting online, social media is an ideal place to showcase your listings. 

 

 

Instagram: The Stats

Recent figures show that Instagram has at least 1.44 billion active users all around the world. Yes, billion. Users spend an average of 30 minutes on the platform, 23% of all people aged 13 and above use Instagram, 66% log onto their profile at least once a day, and 42% check it multiple times a day.

Here’s the interesting bit, y’all: 81% of users are checking out brands, products, or services – things they’re considering buying.  A staggering 90% of Instagram users follow a business. 

To summarize, that’s a ton of people “liking” beautiful images. See where we’re going with this?

Ignore Instagram and Ignore an Opportunity

Instagram is a favorite for many realtors, interior designers, and photographers. Yet others ignore Instagram for their real estate marketing because they believe it to be a platform for people who are too young to be interested in house purchasing. Talk about a missed opportunity

OK, you’re not wrong. Instagram is indeed loved by Gen Z and Millennials, but let’s not forget that those generations are coming into their own and that means many are joining the real estate profession. That means their social media game is already ahead of most. As for home buyers: a homeownership study by the National Association of Homebuilders found that 90% of millennials would love to be homeowners and often wait longer to find a perfect house. You can imagine that they are scrolling, scrolling, scrolling through those social media posts – if they like your content, your listings, and your overall social media presence then you could easily snag yourself a brand new client and referrals to follow! 

A study by the National Association of Realtors shows that social media is the best source for generating high-quality leads. So, if you haven’t signed your real estate team up to Instagram, it’s time to get to it. 

Let’s recap. Instagram is a fantastic way to:

  • Showcase listings
  • Get referrals
  • Increase your potential customer base 
  • Build trust and your brand

 

 

What makes Instagram so effective for selling houses?

The great thing about Instagram as a real estate marketing tool is that it’s 24/7, compared with the 9-5 world of newsletters and scheduled open houses. Many people browse for their next home during their downtime, and Instagram is a place where people hang out and relax.

Buying a home is a visual exercise – we fall in love with our eyes first  – and Instagram is a visual platform. This means that Instagram + real estate are a match made in heaven. When we look at houses, we flip through the images, concentrating on what we love about the listing, focusing on color, layout, and features that catch our eye. Next, we imagine ourselves in that home, our visual minds assessing if we are the right fit for the house.

Instagram is an effective tool for realtors because it allows us to tell a story about a house, allowing the potential buyer to see it as a dream house. And we all love to dream…

 

 

Time to get on board with Instagram

The great news is that Instagram is easy to master, and is full of inspiration and ideas for décor, staging, and listing. In other words, it’s an ideal way to learn from others and get with the program. 

You’ll notice that the most successful real estate Instagram accounts have magazine-worthy photographs. Here’s where we come in. We are a team of experienced, passionate photographers and we’ve got state-of-the-art digital equipment.

We specialize in premium real estate photography, floor plans, 3D spaces, videography, and aerial services. Oh, and to really stand out, talk to us about Upgrades. We can offer priority processing, photoshop edits, matterport walkthroughs, floor plan upload/ clean-up, neighborhood amenity shoots, custom video, a complete virtual tour experience, social media clips, floor plan upgrades, virtual staging, and portfolio upgrades. For an Instagram instant hit, try a virtual twilight upgrade with different sky options. Make sure your home is visible on social media with our 30 to 60-second videos, formatted for social media.

 

 

Top tips for Instagram success

So, when you’re ready to make a real estate splash with some irresistible images on Instagram, here are some pro tips.

  1. #Love is the most-used hashtag on Instagram, with #instagood, #fashion, #photooftheday, and #beautiful following close behind. 
  2. Try video reels – something that 70% of marketers are trying now. A recent study suggests that adding video to a real estate listing resulted in 403% more inquiries than those who didn’t. 
  3. Get thinking about your personal branding, brainstorm your content, then set up your Instagram account and start posting at least 3 times a week to start working into the algorithm. 
  4. Follow other real estate agents for some content ideas – you’ll soon see what worked well (and sometimes what doesn’t).

Instagram has proven itself as a player in the network-building and real estate marketing game. So, if you’ve previously dismissed Instagram as a tool for your real estate business, perhaps thinking it’s only relevant to the very young and very trendy, think again. It’s for anyone with a marketable business. The helpful team at Twist Tours is here to help you to Insta-GO-for-it