Instagram Marketing How To for Realtors® - Mostly for Beginners (smiley face)

**If you read my last article about building your Social Media Marketing Plan - this article about Instagram How To For Realtors® can follow as one of your favorite platforms to social on. It’s a good place to start as a Real Estate Professional or to include in your already active daily social media marketing regimen.**

So, you’re considering creating a presence on Instagram for your Real Estate business. Or maybe you’re wondering if it’s necessary for a Realtor®to be on this platform. Or if Instagram is even something helpful to your marketing? Maybe you have a an Instagram page already but it’s not built up to be of much use for your business marketing. You’ve come to the right place to explore this option and make your Instagram Page come to life!!

CONSIDER THIS FIRST - SOME INSTAGRAM FACTS

• Instagram has some 800 Million Monthly Users
• And, 500 Million+ Daily Users

So, that’s already amazing. Plus….

• 71% of Americans are on Instagram
• ⅓ of Those People Buy Stuff Directly From The Site
• Posts that include At Least One Hashtag(#) Gain Over 12% More Engagement Than Posts Without
• And, Instagram Posts With A Location Listed in the Bio Section and in the Posts themselves Receive Almost 80% More Engagement Than Without A Location Listed!

These are powerful numbers. Instagram is popular! And, you can be part of that! It’s very exciting...You can start a little today and add a little tomorrow and pretty soon… you’ll have a big ol’ Instagram following!

Pin the image above for easy reference for later!!

SO WHAT DO INSTAGRAMERS USE THIS PLATFORM FOR, ANYWAY?!  (and this is not just a platform for the kidos!)

Some people call it the simplified version of Facebook. And, Facebook does own and run Instagram…. So you can connect the two for more followers, quicker and easier than just having them as separate accounts. 

But, what do I need this Instagram thing for?!

You can use Instagram for many things:

1. Socializing and Following Your Pals!! That’s already super fun!!
   
   
2. Socializing and following a specifics set of pals. For example, my good friend “The Murph” has a page that I run and mingle with others just like him. You can find him at @TheMurphStory - come over and like his stuff and follow him to see the funny stuff he likes to do! And, get a feel for one of the ways you can use Instagram to socialize with an account that I manage.
   
   
3. Contacting People Directly thru their Instagram Page. Staying in touch with Real Estate Clients.
   
   
4. Instagram Shopping! You can search and shop right from the platform. You need a TShirt with a border collie on it!? Who doesn't!? Or how about a banana necklace? You’ve come to the right spot - search away and find just about anything your heart could want. And, if you want to follow the #banananecklace hashtag - you can!!!
   
   
5. And then, what we’ve all been gearing up for….. Instagram For Business (your business) and Connecting with prospects or current clientele!! Tannnaaa! You can show off your business and all that is you to a ton of interested people in your community. You can reach out and help people trying to buy or sell a house in your community!
   
   
6. Also, Instagram makes it easy to follow other people in the Real Estate Industry to network and keep in touch with.

We got there! Instagram has a lot to offer, but we are just going to talk about this last one really. Instagram for Your Real Estate Business. Awesome!

Instagram, like a number of other social media platforms, is a great way to engage and connect with prospects and clientele. And, this, I want to mention, is a unique way to market. The only way you could get in front of people in the past, was to go to them. Either with a Mailer or Newspaper Advertisement. Or maybe paying for a Bus Seat Sign or maybe a Billboard.

While these are all great and can still be great today - Social Media is a totally new bird. Social Media is where you can mingle with clientele and prospects and get to know what they want and how you can help them.

Now you have the opportunity to engage with more people at once in larger numbers. It’s not completely one on one anymore. And, it’s not in a vacuum anymore. You can reach right out and connect with your network of interested people. Chat and communicate with them personally!

And, people are looking for Local and Destination Realtors and Agents they can trust and that have good information… that agent can be you!! 


OK… SO YOU’RE ON BOARD WITH INSTAGRAM! 

You’re ready to ramp it up and start helping your prospects with their Real Estate needs on Instagram! 

So Let’s Go!

If you haven’t already, First, head over and start up your page.
It’s easy…. https://help.instagram.com/1642053262784201. Check out this link and get a good idea how quick it is to set up. 

Make sure you sign up/convert to a business page so you can get the added benefits - like tracking your page and posts - for future review!


NOW THAT YOU’VE SIGNED UP!

Here are some tips for you after you’ve got your awesome new Real Estate Business Instagram Account Page started!! Woo hoo!! 

First, you want to tell the story around what you have to offer home buyers and sellers.

A helpful idea is to write a list of what you prospects and clients want to know. What you want to share with them. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Think of the questions you’ve been asked in the past from Home Buying and Selling Clients and Prospects. These are some of the topics you can address in your instagram posts Instagram.

 

• Talk about what you have to offer and how you can help your clients achieve their goals.

 

• Remember Keywords? Don’t know much about those… refer to my last article: Simple and Powerful Social Media for Realtors. Write Instagram posts about those keywords on your list! It’s almost endless how you can expand on these. They are just the beginning you need to get you going.

From here you can build on what you started with above….

• Make sure to remember those awesome houses!! Pictures and listing info about the homes your selling, houses, condos and townhomes that your clients bought in the past. And, make sure to include your open house images and announcements. Instagram is also a great place for your video listings!

 

• And, how about sharing some information and pictures of the great shops and restaurants in the neighborhoods you sell in! (A little side note - it’s great to follow these organizations, too!)

 

• And think about those other cool locations that potential clients are interested in. Feature the schools, rec centers, parks and other great spots in those neighborhoods you work in.

I have included an easy checklist printable at the end of this article. It’s a handy size that you can keep with your tablet or even fold it up and keep it in your wallet for reference on the go!

HASHTAGS(#) - THE HOW TO LIST

Hashtags can be strategically used to promote you and your business. Hashtags(#) also let you connect with other people in your industry!

**You might also need to check on your compliance regulations to make sure they properly conform to what is allowed as a Realtor in your community and at your Brokerage.**

1. The hashtags to choose from are vast! But, don’t jump on hashtags that are super saturated. Choose some that are more middle of the road… with many followers, but not the most followers. 

Here are some examples: #realtormiami #miamiliving #miamibeach #miamidreams. Now, make sure these aren’t too saturated at the time that you post. They always have the potential to acquire a huge following. But, you want to consider listing some hashtags with a smaller following and posting to gain your reach easier to interested parties of that topic.

2. You want to use hashtags that relate to your business, not just popular ones that mean nothing to you or your topic just because it’s a hip tag.

3. Remember that keyword list we worked up from the last post: Social Media… (link). This is a great start for this purpose, too! I told you a keyword list would be helpful for so many reasons! 

4. Use more than a couple of hashtags in your post. The current suggestion is 11 - to pull in a wide variety of people looking for your Real Estate information and Houses in your area. Mix up the placement of your hashtag list. Put a few hashtags in your post and then put the rest in the comment section - right away after you put up your post. Sometimes include all the hashtags you’re going to use, right in the post. Try different stuff to see what you like and how nice it looks.


NOW...SOME INSTAGRAM TIPS & SUGGESTIONS

With Instagram, you can still reach your network organically! While a number of platforms are going mostly with ads to get your reach out to your community - Instagram still makes it easy to build and promote to people that are interested in what you have to offer!

1. Include Videos - People love video and stories - so, give people what they want. And, it’s just fun and cool - so, it’s a opportunity to have fun marketing and share your business and houses in an eye catching way. People love it!

2. Remember to Include Sound - so you can speak to your audience and help guide them to the information they are looking for! Or if you have an open house - include some info in there! 

3. Incorporate a Common Themed - Color to help tie your story together and encourage you to stand out!

4. Fully fill out your Realtor Bio Section. Make sure to also add in your Real Estate or Agent Job title and the location where you work. This is important to include as a Realtor to stay within your rules of compliance.

5. Add in a Call To Action to your Bio Section. You only have so many characters - so make ‘em count!  Add in a CTA in your Bio Section and to your Instagram Posts once in a while, too! Include a good description and links to follow up to your web page or contact you for more information. 

After you have your Instagram Bio Section filled out - you can always change it up when you want to feature something on a specific day or if you want to talk about something happening in your business with a link to show it off. 

6. Write Fun Captions - But, make sure they are helpful and relevant - you want people to be interested!

    • Include the Title of your Post in the Top of the Caption.
    • Separate your Lines with an Emoji or Star for Example - to keep everything from piling up!

This can help keep your post easier to read than one long paragraph! Hop over and take a look my postings to get an idea of what I am talking about. @voiyoojennifer (follow me over there when you arrive, too!)
    
7. Reaching Out - Consider Including people you want to reach out to in your Instagram posts with the “@”symbol. When you include this symbol before the other person’s Instagram handle - this will reach out to them and they will get a notification that you mentioned them. Only do this when it’s real and not just to spam people - especially if you don’t know them.

But, for example, it can be great if you are watching out for houses for sale for a particular client. You can just tag them when something they might like comes up and they will get a notice to see the house they have always wanted! (again, make sure you know your particular compliance rules for this type of marketing)
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SO, THERE YOU HAVE IT….

• An awesome beginning to your Instagram Marketing Page set up.

 

• Some great starters and ideas to get you going and building up your Instagram Account Page.

 

• Plus, some super helpful tips to guide you to some more advanced Instagram Skills.

There are plenty of other ideas and topics we can talk about when it comes to Instagram and reaching your target market. We haven’t even talked about being consistent or sharing what others are saying about you!