While Facebook is the leading social media network, Instagram has grown tremendously in the past few years. This platform is perfect for sharing your high-quality photos of listings or any video you might have! This platform also lends itself to having a personal touch with many agents adding pictures of themselves in their day-to-day lives to better connect with potential clients.

Here are some of our tips for the best way to use Instagram to promote your business!

1. Create a Business Account
This is a pretty simple tip but often overlooked by agents. You can transition your personal account into a business account or, create a new one just for real estate!

Instagram business accounts allow you to see your analytics, create ads, and add call-to-actions buttons on your profile. Instagram now links any hashtags or accounts listed in your bio so you can get as creative as you want with branding yourself! Make sure to stay legal by adding your firm to your bio as well!

If you're struggling with this, this is a great article on getting set up!

2. Use a Social Sharing Platform for Pre-Scheduling Posts
Instagram very recently opened itself up for pre-scheduling posts! The app itself won't do this but you can use free accounts on platforms like Hootsuite and Buffer to schedule out content in advance.

You won't be able to schedule out multiple photos or videos, however, if you download their app, it will remind you to post if you want to plan everything out!

*Tip: Use a social media calendar to stay on top of your game!

3. Utilize Instagram Stories!
Do you have a great new listing coming up? Or, you're at a Broker Open House and the listing is stunning? Use Instagram stories to show your clients new listings or "coming soon" properties!

You can get super creative with this and even use the video feature to share insider tips and tricks. Audiences love behind-the-scenes looks into your day-to-day life so leverage the opportunities you have to include your audience! Using the live video feature will notify your followers too and add an aditional draw for them to tune into what you're recording!

4. Give Credit Where Credit is Due
Never take Google images and post them as your own! Stealing photos from the internet and passing them off as yours is wrong and destroys your credibility. Also, give credit to where the photos came from!

If you want to post images of a gorgeous listing people may find interesting, make sure to tag the listing agent and include the MLS for quick reference. To repost something you see on Instagram easily, download one of the many reposting apps! We really like Repost for Instagram which automatically gives credit to whoever posted the image!

If you are really struggling to find good content, websites such as Unsplash offer loads of free photos to help you out on this visual medium!



Start implementing this tips and you'll soon be an Instagram pro!