Ready to add Instagram to your marketing strategy?
Then this blog is for you!
Today we’re going to talk about
- What you’ll need to do to build a strong Instagram following
- How to use your account to expand your marketing funnel
- And land more listings.
Here are 5 ways to get more leads and listing as a real estate agent on Instagram.
#1) Get A Business Account
With Instagram, you can now choose to either setup a regular account and use it for business, or check out Instagram for Business.
If you’re brand new to Instagram, I’d suggest just setting up a regular profile to get started.
But if you’re already familiar and comfortable with the way things are, you can always switch your account to a business profile.
You’ll have access to analytics, ads and insights.
Either way, think about your Instagram profile like your Facebook business page.
If you’ve mastered your Facebook business page, then you’ll already have a good idea of what you need to do to make a successful IG account.
For one, your personal account should be separate from your business account.
It used to be a hassle for business owners to maintain multiple accounts, but not anymore.
Now you can login and out instantly by simply “switching accounts.”
And just like you need a professional presence on Facebook, your business should be its own entity on Instagram as well.
Here’s what ours looks like.
Take a look at your own account and make sure you have these 3 things:
- A profile picture featuring either a professional headshot or your logo.
- A full bio with all relevant information on your company, plus a link to your website.
- Compelling content. We’ve done this by featuring blog graphics in a consistent style. Your photos may be more diverse, but keep things looking clean to make it easy for visitors to explore your posts.
#2) Build And Track Links For Free
Check out the description on this recent post of ours.
There are a few things you can do to make your posts engaging:
- Write an appealing description – We’ve asked our audience to check out this post to see if they’ve made the list.
- And we tell them exactly how they can view it.
- Finally, we used emojis and hashtags to complete the description.
Oh, and you’ll also notice that we responded to everyone who commented.
You’ve got to engage with people to get them coming back.
And when you do reply to commenters, make sure to tag the person you’re talking to (@easyagentpro, for example) so they get notified that you’re responding.
You can create free, trackable links to use on Instagram and across all of your social platforms with Bitly.
This works especially well if you’re also using a tool like Google Analytics to track your results across your networks.
The custom links generated in Google Analytics are incredibly long and terrible to look at.
So, you can shorten and customize them with Bitly.com.
#3) Partner With Everyone
To get noticed on Instagram, you’ve got to connect.
We recently partnered with California-based real estate pro Loida Velasquez.
Loida made this post on her Instagram and tagged us in it.
Now, not only is our handle linked in the description, but Loida is also encouraging her audience to view our collaboration.
In the past we’ve talked about cross-promotion and sharing on Facebook and these points definitely apply to Instagram as well.
You can start with other experts in your area or reach out to local businesses and promote one another on Instagram.
#4) Share The Love – Like, Comment, #Regram
To get more followers on Instagram today, you need to take the initiative and start reaching out to your network.
We featured Cole Holley of Holley Real Estate in this recent blog post and then shared that post on IG.
Cole then used a reposting app to share our original post on his profile.
His network can now see his standout work and will also get more information about us as a result.
For the next week or two, challenge yourself to like and comment on 5 different posts every day.
So, that’s 5 likes and 5 comments for a total of 10 touches in a single day.
That’s 50 new people you are reaching out to in a single work week.
This kind of organic growth can work really well on Instagram and really any social platform, especially if you partner with people in your network.
Need help marketing online with Instagram? Check out this helpful guide from the folks over at ecommerce!
#5) Keep Up With The Facts
If you’re not totally sold on the potential of Instagram for real estate, take a look at these statistics.
- 48.8% of brands are on Instagram (Source)
- By 2017, this is predicted to rise to 70.7% (Source)
- Over a third of Instagram users have used their mobile phone to buy something online and are 70% more likely to do so than those who do not have an account (Source)
- Posts with one or more hashtags get 12.6% more engagement (Source)
- Adding a location to your post can increase engagement by 79% (Source)
- Photos actually see more engagement than videos (Source)
- Top brands post 4.9 times per week on Instagram, an increase of more than 50% since 2015 (Source)
- 60% of the top brands on Instagram use a consistent filter (Source)
- 75% of Instagram users take action, such as visiting a website, after looking at an Instagram advertising post (Source)
Wrapping things up…
Instagram, more than anything, is a PR tool.
It’s a means of giving your client a new window into your life, the person who is also their agent.
Of course, it does also work as a cross-promotional tool and you can easily use it to also highlight your Youtube channel or Facebook live events.
Are you using Instagram?
Connect with us at @easyagentpro and let us know what’s working best for you!
Also if you’re looking for more fantastic content on incorporating Instagram into your marketing approach check out our friend Aarin from Honey Bar Media!
She’s got a great article entitled,
“THE ULTIMATE GUIDE: INSTAGRAM FOR REAL ESTATE PROS“
We’re sure you’ll love it!