It’s hard to believe it’s been 5 years since social media behemoth Facebook purchased the photo-sharing app Instagram for just under $1 Billion dollars. Back then, with only 30 million users, the purchase left almost everyone scratching their heads and more importantly, writing off the new age social network. Fast forward to 2018 and those same sceptics are singing a different tune, as the budding app now boosts more than 400 million users.
With a constantly growing user base and seemingly simple photo-sharing concept, it’s never been more important for real estate agents to jump on board and start using the social platform for good, to not only gain followers but more importantly generate leads!
It’s a simple concept, and it’s even easier to implement, it just takes some creativity to create the type of content that will set you apart and showcase you as a leader in your market.
Here’s 5 things you can do today to gain more followers and start generating leads:
1) All The Cool Kids Are Using It
Launched in 2010, the app wasn’t an instant success, it actually took 3 years to reach 100 million users. Since being purchased by Facebook, things have really taken off. At the beginning of 2017 Instagram announced it had taken only 4 months to gain their latest 100 million users, taking the total number of users to a whopping 800 million on the platform. It’s predicted the app will reach 1 billion monthly active users near the beginning of 2018.
With so many users jumping on board on a daily basis, an average rate of 653,595 users per day to be exact, it’s time to join the cool kids and take advantage of the growing gang of photo-sharing groupies!
2) It’s Easy To Use
Take awesome photos, add hashtags and post, it’s really that simple.
It’s no secret how difficult it’s becoming to navigate many social networks and get noticed. Twitter is failing to evolve an is becoming a failing mash of spam rolling through an overly busy newsfeed. Facebook’s algorithms change on a daily basis making it nearly impossible for small businesses to achieve organic reach and get noticed without spending the dollars to boost posts.
With Instagram it’s as simple as posting pictures people find interesting, adding some hashtags like #RealtorLife #RealEstate or #OpenHouse to get the post noticed and then repeating the process on a daily basis. The more interesting content you post, the more likes, shares and comments you’ll receive.
3) You Can Engage With Anyone
You just met a potential client who’s looking to buy or sell. It’s awesome, you had a great connection, and things are looking promising. The first thing you do is head to Facebook to invite them to like your page, and there your invite sits, staring you in the face, just waiting for that all mighty acceptance click, but it never comes! People are busy and don’t have time to like every page that comes along. That’s where Instagram comes in, you can follow anyone! Just met a potential client? Perfect, find them on Instagram, hit follow and start to like, share and comment on their photos. As they see these interactions, your name will become top of mind and they’ll follow you back. Boom connection made!
4) It’s Not All Business
When you have a page on Facebook things usually stay pretty businessy, why would you post what you had for dinner on your Facebook business page, clients don’t want to see that, right? On Instagram it’s the complete opposite. Followers want to see what makes you human. They don’t want to be sold to and that’s a good thing. Get creative, post pictures of your pets, your food or what you did on the weekend, it’s all engaging content that will make people follow you. This isn’t just about business, Instagram is about people getting to know you as a real person. Get personal, get creative and promote yourself in a personal and fun way. Don’t just promote your open house with a business first approach, take people behind the scenes, make it personal and have fun!
5) You Can Generate Leads
Post personal, fun, engaging content. Follow influencers in your area. Comment, like, share and engage with other users. Attract people to follow your page. Finally, gain leads!
It’s not rocket science; if people are following your page and continually see content they enjoy, and engage with you in comments and likes, your name will stay on top of their mind. When they’re ready to buy or sell you’re the one they’ll remember. It’s like having a billboard on the side of the highway that someone drives by 4-5 times a day, and they laugh every time they drive by, they’re going to remember you. So make it fun, make it engaging and watch your followers and leads increase.
In the end, if you’re going to go all in with one social network in 2018, make it Instagram. There’s no sticky algorithms (yet), you don’t have to spend money to boost posts (but you can if you want), the user base is only going to grow and you can have fun posting engaging content, rather than taking hours crafting content that “sells” to post on other social networks.
If you have questions about utilizing social networks to their full potential, we can help! Contact us over at Realty Labs, we’d be happy to help!
