They say that first impressions are often the final ones. And what better place to establish strong first impressions these days than Instagram? With 1 billion users, the highest conversion rates out of all social media platforms, and a generally wealthier user base, Instagram should be a staple in every real estate marketer’s toolkit.
But what drives successful engagement? Realtors must know how to tailor their content to ensure the best returns on their investment in marketing on Instagram. Whether you’re creating reels, showing behind-the-scenes content on Instagram live, or posting on your feed, you need quality, value-driven, and informative content. Follow this guide to learn what makes effective social media posts for realtors!
Table of Contents
Tip #1: Visuals are king
Instagram is a visual platform—the better you showcase your products and services, the better they will be viewed. The idea is to get those stunning visuals—property tours and surrounding areas presented at their very best.
How do you achieve this?
Lighting: Identify the selling points in your photos and make sure they are well lit. Then decide on the story you’re telling – minimalist aesthetics and tropical furniture look best under bright white fluorescent lights, whereas pastel colors and lightly textured spaces look their best under direct sunlight. And warm lights are your best friend when it comes to wooden furniture and boho walls. Choose your lighting accordingly!
Angles: Make sure you’re showcasing your properties from their most flattering angles! For symmetrical buildings, taking photos from the center makes them look more appealing and better proportioned. Similarly, for rectangular-shaped properties, it makes more sense to frame the picture in a landscape orientation and use the rule of thirds to focus on its best features.
Editing: Apps like Lightroom and Photo Director can help you control exposure, highlights, saturation, colors, and the hue of your photos to give your visual content some extra flair. Access online tutorials to learn the basics of editing and watch your content improve.
Tip #2: Location, Location, Location!
When buying a place, a client wants to know whatever they can about a neighborhood—the locality it is set in, surrounding attractions, nearest convenience store, popular restaurants, demographics frequenting the area, and what they can expect to find there. It is up to you to give them all this information through your most powerful social app.
How Do You Do This?
Foodies Assemble: showcase local restaurants, food carts, and food trucks in your posts. Remember to frame your food items next to landmark properties in the locality and mention quick details such as walking distance from your property, prices, and more! Engage with the pages of lo654cal restaurants to benefit from their network, too.
Shop Local: Just like restaurants, local stores always look for opportunities to promote their products. Shop at local stores to give back to the community and highlight the neighborhood your property is located in on your social app. In addition to local stores, you can also showcase gas stations, post offices, and other local services to up your game.
Showcase Attractions: Local attractions like neighborhood fairs, carnivals, yard sales, nearby beaches, hiking trails, and malls are all a great way to make your advertisement stand out. Propose more ideas of your own for people to enjoy through stunning visual content and watch your page grow!
Argue with Stats: use numbers to show people what makes your neighborhood a great place to live. How many restaurants deliver to your locality? How fast are houses selling? Use your best stats at the frontline to inform your clients and rake in that engagement.
Tip #3: A Brand Built, is a Brand Sold
A unique voice and aesthetic are the keys to being remembered and revered by a defined client base. A realtor’s style of communication and design aesthetic are the final ingredients in making a lasting impression.
There are many ways to consistently staying true to your brand on social media, but here are some tips to get you started:
Connect with Yourself: Inspirational quotes. Memes. Humour. Advice. What grabs your attention? Build your brand around that theme, and then stick to it: strong real estate branding guidelines determine the kind of content you’ll be posting, the hashtags you’ll use and the captions you’ll write.
Find your Aesthetic: How do you want to be seen and heard? With a little trial and error, your brand will start reflecting the design choices, content, colors, and messaging that you are attracted to and want to attract. You can build your aesthetic by throwing in complementary elements from nature, clothing, décor, and the like into your frames. Make sure you give your aesthetic an identity with an equally representative logo and you’re good to go!
Show off your Clients: You’ve done the hard work, and now is the time to invite your clients to your social media. Doing this not only does wonders for your brand but clients also know that you are doing well, are maintaining your previous relationships, are trustworthy, and are ready to be held accountable. You might even get a juicy referral to add to your sales funnel.