How to Generate Real Estate Business With Instagram

If you’ve considered adding Instagram to your marketing efforts, take it from Brian Hopper: You should — and start now. In the recorded Blab session above, the Bellevue, Wash.-based Premier Agent^® joined Andrew Hafzalla, Zillow Group’s director of industry outreach, and Grant Gurewitz, Zillow Group social media specialist, to discuss how real estate agents can generate leads through Instagram.

Here are some highlights that Hopper shared with the Blab audience.

What’s a good strategy for using Instagram?

Instagram, like other social media, works best when you use your content to connect with your audience to start building a relationship. Use your real name when you post, and talk about yourself and your location in your Instagram bio, but don’t make an overt real estate sales push.

Post only high quality photos that are well lit, focused, and visually compelling to make an emotional connection with Instagram users. Be human and approachable; if someone comments on your photos, tag them and thank them. And don’t forget to use hashtags to increase your discoverability.

How do you know which content will appeal to your target audience?

Look at your real estate Instagram feed as a whole and take a holistic approach to populating it. Hopper Group uses the Rule of Thirds to fill in missing content: One-third of their posts are about self-promotion, one-third are real estate listings, and one-third covers their community, such as posts about available amenities or activities that are nearby.

Don’t reuse the exact same content from your other social media platforms; it waters down the appeal of your posts because your audience keeps seeing the same photos.

Also, you might get more likes on photos that show you and your team working behind-the-scenes — more candid and humanizing photos rather than slick, posed images.

How do you use hashtags?

Think of hashtags as file folders: When someone clicks on a relevant hashtag, you want them to see your content. Use 10–12 hashtags per post, always include your own and one for your city or neighborhood. Do a search for frequently used real estate hashtags and consider adding one or two of them to your photo.

How often do you add videos to your Instagram feed?

Because Instagram isn’t just limited to photos, Hopper Group posts a video approximately every five days. They spend a lot of money on property videos and want to showcase them, so they plan to push more of them to their Instagram feed.

Do you get business from your Instagram activities?

Yes! Hopper Group attends showings of all the new real estate listings in their market, snaps some photos and posts them to their Instagram feed. It positions them as an expert on the listing even though it isn’t theirs. People want to see those properties because they saw Hopper Group’s photos on Instagram.

Check out the video to view the full Blab session on generating real estate business with Instagram.