There’s no question Instagram is one of the hottest (if not the hottest) social media platforms today. And if you’re looking to work stay competitive with the other agents out there, it’s not a question of if but when you join the social media storm.
But what are you supposed to post? How often should you post? Is it the same stuff you post on Facebook?
And how in the world are you supposed to squeeze in time to figure out yet another social media platform?
If you’re like most agents, you have a million other things on your plate. It’s hard to find time to eat lunch each day, much less figure out what to post on Instagram.
We have good news.
There is a way to stay active on Instagram without spending precious hours each and every week. If your biggest hurdle is finding the right content to fill your feed, you’re in the right place. Here are some examples you can easily replicate and implement into your strategy.
How often should I post?
Experts recommend posting once or twice each day on your feed and another one to three times on your stories.
Similar to your overall marketing strategy, the key to posting regularly on Instagram is having a plan. And your plan can be as simple as this:
- Decide the five types of posts you want to share to Instagram regularly
- Create three or four templates of each type of post.
- Post, schedule, repeat
Let’s break this down in more detail.
Easy Instagram post ideas for agents
There are SO many things you could post to Instagram. But what do people usually do when they have too many options? Nothing.
Here’s a list of common posts that will keep your feed looking fresh every week. Choose three to five you feel confident about posting regularly (but no less than three):
- Listings
- Quotes
- Market
- Updates
- Local Community
- Personal Life
- Holidays
- Open Houses
- Testimonials
- Common questions/objections
- Buying/Selling Tips/Process
To keep things simple, we’re going to show you how other agents are crushing Instagram with these five post types: Listings, Quotes, Market Updates, Local Community, & Personal Life.
Create three or four templates of each type of post.
If you follow the best practice of posting once each day, you need 7 posts each week.
Before you panic, we have a simple solution: templates. By putting in the time to create three of each post type, you’ll have 15 templates to fill your week.
When we’re done, you’ll be able to easily fill up to 3 weeks’ worth of Instagram posts in just a few minutes each day.
Let’s go through the sample templates for our five post types:
We’ll start with the obvious one – listings. Instagram can be a great channel for actively promoting your listings to get them sold. Plus, it’s gonna be clear to anyone who happens on your page that you’re a real estate agent.
LISTING PHOTOS
If you have active listings, this one is super easy. Pick some highlight photos (it can be just one photo or a gallery, it doesn’t really matter), and share them along with a banner at the top or bottom that says “Just Listed.” That’s it.
VIDEO TOUR
If you have time, you can share a quick video tour of a listing. You don’t have to walk through the entire house to make this work. Just do a brief intro, show off the outside or a couple rooms inside, and that’s it. The idea of a video tour is it’s a teaser to drum up interest, not showcase the entire house. This works for stories too.
CLOSING TIME
Maybe you’ve already promoted your active listings, but you have a closing coming up. Snap a pic of the happy sellers or swap the “Just Listed” template to say “Sold”. Mixing in posts of your actual clients (you know, real people) can help your audience connect with you better than just photos of houses.
NO LISTINGS? NO PROBLEM
Maybe you’re a new agent or maybe you’re in a slow spell. If you don’t have any listings, you can still use this type of post. Find an agent in your office who will let you promote their listing (with permission to use their photos and credit to them as the listing agent, of course).
Buyers and sellers want to work with an agent who is an expert on the housing market. If you want your feed to send all the right messages, posting regular local market updates or broader economic trends will do the trick.
ON-CAMERA VIDEO
INFOGRAPHIC OR CHART/GRAPHIC
KCM VIDEO
Most KCM videos meet the :60 second criteria Instagram has for feed videos. Since the videos are already done for you and personalized with your information out of the box, they’re super easy to share. Mixing in a video every week or two gives you a quick and easy post that provides a ton of value to your audience and positions you as an authority on the housing market.
Instagram differs from Facebook in that it’s less used as a news source and more frequently used for inspiration. You can provide a weekly source of happiness and motivation by sharing some simple quotes every once in a while. Some may relate to housing or home life, others may be purely personal. Either way, quotes offer a great opportunity to position yourself as a helpful advisor.
BASIC GRAPHIC
You can create simple quote graphics using a tool like Canva (they even have pre-made templates you can leverage). Just Google “inspirational quotes” and you’ll find plenty of lists of famous quotes to choose from. Or you can repost quotes from inspirational Instagram accounts like Elevate Your Mindset or Mindset of Greatness (with credit obviously).
HOUSING EXPERT
What better way to keep your followers informed than with a quote from a real estate expert? Whether it’s an economist talking about mortgage rates or a quote from a respected media source, these are a great way to educate and entertain your sphere of influence all in one post.
You might know the buying and selling process like the back of your hand, but chances are your buyers and sellers have a lot of questions. Instagram is the perfect place to share real estate tips and insights to help anyone who is either actively in the market or thinking about jumping into the market soon. These can be one-off, quick-hitting thoughts, or high-level overviews of a process.
KCM VIDEO
In addition to covering market updates as mentioned above, KCM videos often go over quick buying or selling tips, such as ‘3 Things You’ll Need to Get a Home Loan.’ It doesn’t get any easier than sharing one of these videos.
INFOGRAPHICS
We all know showing is better than telling, so infographics are a great option for conveying buying and selling tips.
HOUSING NEWS & INSIGHTS
Similar to the approach on market updates, you can share the latest data and insights on what is happening in the local and national real estate market.
Social media is all about, well, being social. The best way to really connect with your audience is by giving them snapshots into your personal life. Here are a few ideas to throw into the mix to keep your feed relatable and offer opportunities to connect with your clients, family and friends.
KIDS & PETS
Everyone loves seeing behind-the-scenes action or bloopers in movies, right? Think of sharing posts with your kids or pets as giving your audience a peek into your life so they can get to know you even better. Connecting with others around kids and pets creates an emotional bond that will also help you build trust.
OUT & ABOUT
What are you doing when you’re not out selling houses? Introduce your audience to this side of you. Maybe you’re trying a new restaurant in town or have a hobby or two. Whatever it is, share an update about what you’re up to!
MILESTONES & BIG EVENTS
Do you have any family birthdays, anniversaries, or big trips coming up? Share your excitement and celebrate these life milestones/events with your followers!
Post, schedule, rinse, and repeat.
POST
Make your first post today. Don’t overthink your caption or your hashtags. Just pick one of the ideas above, and just get it out there. You’ll feel so much better once you just get started. As you get into a rhythm, you can look to improve the details of your posts.
SCHEDULE
Decide what your next two or three posts are going to be, and schedule those or put it on your calendar to post them tomorrow and the next day. You can use a tool like Hootsuite to schedule them automatically to make sure you don’t get too busy or forget (we’ve all been there!). Or here’s a list of 6 tools that let you post to Instagram from your desktop computer and schedule posts in advance.
RINSE & REPEAT
If you mix up the same 15 post templates in varying order and frequency, your Instagram feed will feel fresh, authentic, and engaging. And you’ll have a solid system in place for staying active every day without reinventing the wheel every time you need a new post.
When you know the basics of what you’re going to post and you just have to fill in one of your templates, it should take you no more than 5 minutes a day to create your post.
Bottom Line
There’s no doubt that Instagram is a platform you need to be on right now, but you don’t have to overthink it. Just remember, something is better than nothing. Start small, have patience, and you’ll have a feed you’re confident about in no time.
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