Who knew that when you became a real estate agent, you’d also have to become a prolific social media expert?

Google is full of queries asking about real estate agents and what they should be doing on Instagram and social media:

• Does Instagram work for REALTORS®?
• How do I market myself as a REALTOR® on Instagram?
• What should real estate agents post on Instagram?
• How does Instagram work for real estate?
• How do you make real estate posts on Instagram?
• How do real estate agents use social media?
• What do real estate agents post on social media?

Even if it’s not a formal requirement for licensure, to be a successful real estate agent in the age of digital marketing means you must produce a steady stream of content that increases awareness of your brand and attracts the type of clients you want to serve.

via GIPHY

That’s not easy when you already have a demanding job. (I can help with that a little later.)

Right now, my aim is to help you with one routine, but significant, part of the social media imperative—coming up with yet another idea for a post.

And this time I’m sharing a curated list of the best Instagram real estate content ideas.

But first, why is it so important that agents specifically use Instagram?

Instagram and real estate are like peanut butter and jelly—they go together perfectly.

First, its audience has all the right qualifications for producing great leads. Second, its capabilities are ideally suited for showing off the very best visual features of a property.

A selection of key Instagram statistics for 2022

Here’s the bottom line—all the major social media platforms have ridiculously large numbers of users.

I mean, once a platform hits a billion monthly active users (MAUs), does it really matter where it ranks? How many more prospects over a billion does an agent really need to reach? (But to show I’m not insensitive to those who won’t sleep until they know, Buffer ranks Instagram at #4 with two billion MAUs.)

What’s more helpful to real estate agents than knowing the overall size of a platform are statistics that speak to a platform’s potential to help them reach their ideal audiences and generate leads among their members.

Below are several Instagram statistics selected from The Small Business Blog that contribute to developing this type of insight:

• 12% of the world’s Instagram users are within the United States.
• 81% of people consult Instagram for research on companies, products, and services.
• 50% of people have visited a website to purchase a product or service they saw on the app.

Here are a few more meaningful numbers reported by Hootsuite:

• 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business.
• The average Instagram business account grows its followers by 1.69% each month.
• 50% of people use Instagram to discover new brands, products, or services, while 67% say the network helps foster meaningful interactions with brands.
• Instagram’s global ad reach grew by 20.5% in 2021, blowing past Facebook’s 6.5% increase.
• Instagram’s largest audience (about 60%) is 18‒34 years old. The next largest portion (about 16%) is 35-44 years old.

This last statistic should stand out to real estate agents because both age groups include millennials (those ages 26‒41 in 2022), who make up 43% of all home buyers.

Enhance your Instagram real estate marketing

Instagram’s various features, tools, and content formats enhance your marketing by working together to create interest, promote action, and close sales.

Features and tools

Source: @edstulak

• The content on Instagram consists of videos and photos, which is exactly what you need when you want to highlight a property and create interest.
• With Facebook as Instagram’s parent company, you can enjoy access to advanced targeting opportunities that get you in front of the right people.
• Designed with a mobile-first intention, Instagram allows you to effortlessly incorporate location data and geographic targeting.
• You can use the app to add titles, captions, filters, camera effects, and stickers to images and videos. You can also take advantage of filters and effects created by third parties.

Content formats

Source: @engelvolkersnyc

Instagram is particularly valuable for creating what can best be described as eye candy for home buyers.

• Single images. Post your single photos, but enhance them with Instagram’s creative design tools to make them eye-catching.
• Slideshows. You can use up to 10 images to create a slideshow. Arrange your images in the order you want them to appear, and use Instagram’s editing tools to add titles, captions, and themes. You can also choose to use a third-party tool to do the same, plus add music and other effects.
• Ad carousels. This advertising format allows you to combine several videos or images into one ad. With their changing images, ad carousels attract attention; can be more appealing than a single, standard image; and encourage engagement as users click through the images.
• Instagram Feed videos. As the name implies, these videos appear in the feeds of users who are following you. Since merging with IGTV not too long ago, their maximum length is 60 minutes, which makes them well-suited to longer content.
• Instagram Stories. Stories are 15-second videos intended to allow users to share their daily lives in short snippets. And, while the plan is to permit users up to 60 seconds, right now anything over 15 seconds will be split up into different stories. Additionally, Instagram removes stories from feeds, direct messages, and your profile after 24 hours unless you add them as a highlight.
• Instagram Reels. Reels are 60-second videos, and you can use them to let your creativity run wild. Unlike stories, Instagram Reels don’t disappear in 24 hours, and they’re not restricted to the feeds of people who follow you—anyone can view your reels by clicking the Reels tab. Use the app’s tools to add audio, filters, drawings, stickers, and more.
• Instagram Live. You can broadcast in real time for an incredible 4 hours using Instagram Live and save your live streams for up to 30 days in your profile for users to watch at another time.

Instagram content ideas for real estate

Below are eight ways agents can use Instagram to grow their business. Just be sure to include a call to action with every subject and content type so that your visitors know what you want them to do.

1. Feature upcoming and just-listed properties

If you have a home about to go on the market, augment its gorgeous exterior image with creative text and music. This will make it stand out and guarantee you get inquiries that will fill your schedule.

Source: @acreebrothers

If it’s a home you’ve just listed, use one of Instagram’s content formats that permits multiple images (like a slideshow) or videos (like Stories) to create a virtual tour. Walk through each room taking pictures or short videos. When you edit them together, add text that draws attention to unique or interesting features.

2. Share Wow!! properties

There’s a reason television shows like Selling Sunset, Million Dollar Listing, and Selling the Hamptons are popular binge-watching pastimes—they allow viewers to dream about being stupid rich!

Sharing images and videos of out-of-this-world properties will allow you to build your following. Even if these visitors aren’t in the market now, if you continue to engage them, you’ll encourage their getting to know, like, and trust you so that when they are ready to purchase or sell a property, they’ll know your name.

3. Showcase just-sold homes

There’s no better way to boost your credibility than to display your successes. Posting images of properties you’ve sold tells visitors you’ve got the experience to sell their homes too.

Source: @acreebrothers

Be specific about your achievements. Did a property sell in one day? Do you have better data? Is your marketing more comprehensive? Do you have a client testimonial from a raving fan? Ensure that visitors know what makes you special.

4. Advertise open houses

Entice home buyers with a preview of your next open house. Consider adding music to your images or video to inspire feelings that reflect the best qualities of the home, such as quiet serenity, serene, modern sensibilities, cozy warmth, or abundant luxury.

Source: @milehimodern

5. Share your life

While each of the above ideas is what you might expect to post to Instagram, you may have to be especially creative to get people to stop scrolling and click. After all, every real estate agent is publishing these types of posts.

The best way to take full advantage of Instagram’s appeal and popularity is to post items about your personal life.

Yes, you need to post about real estate, but social media—including Instagram—is about being social. A never-ending series of commercials is neither entertaining nor engaging, so think about your posts as if they were snippets of a reality show where you are the star. 🤩

Sharing aspects of your life outside real estate is a strategy that allows people to relate to you as another person who puts their pants on one leg at a time. It’s a strategy that enabled Shannon Gillette to close 95 transactions at $50M from leads—all of whom found her on Instagram!

Source: @shannon_gillette

Images of family get-togethers, a day in the life of your pets, the DIY project that went well (or not so well!), holiday fun, the fantastic deal you got at a yard sale—all of these are perfect fodder for your Instagram account.

6. Spotlight local attractions

You can get super creative with this idea while helping those interested in moving to an area become familiar with it.

For example, imagine that, instead of simply posting an image of your dinner plate at your favorite restaurant, you interview the owner and the staff. This will win you goodwill with the owner, who I’m sure, would be happy to partner with you in a relationship of mutual referrals. Consider doing a weekly series of reels where you visit a different eatery each week.

Source: @shannon_gillette

Another way to spotlight the local community would be to post images or videos from children’s soccer, baseball, or other team sporting events. You can make your Instagram videos or images even more appealing if you’re cheering on your own or a neighbor’s child!

Keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities to demonstrate that you are the subject matter expert on what’s going on around town. Make a point to post about events that will appeal to you ideal clients, such as festivals, charity events, parades, local businesses events, and restaurant week.

7. Post a poll

People love to be asked their opinion almost as much as they like giving it! And posting a poll is an almost irresistible way to have your followers engage with you.

Ideally, you want every post to provide information that you can use to help target and market to the right people. Polls make this task especially easy.

To highlight your listings without coming across as a hard sell, try posting two images from different houses. The images could be of a backyard with a pool and one without, a contemporary and a country kitchen, or a ranch/rambler and a bi-level. Ask your visitors to choose the one they like best.

8. Tips, hacks, and how-tos

I love these ideas because they can help drive more traffic to your website, where you can then offer a free lead magnet that allows you to capture contact information. After that, it’s a matter of continuously nurturing leads so that you remain top of mind.

Download this FREE lead magnet or check out others in our Resource Library.

When looking for subjects in this category, you might consider the questions you’re frequently asked by clients and then create a series of Reels that answers them. You could film this as a talking-head video, or you can improve the interest factor by having someone off camera ask you the questions. Your CTA could be “For more in-depth information about this FAQ, visit [website URL].”

Source: @bryceandstefanie

You could also give tips about improving a home’s curb appeal with easy DIY projects as you film yourself planting flowers or painting an entry door. Here your CTA might be “Interested in more ways to improve the value of your home? Visit my blog at [website URL].”

There’s an almost limitless list of possibilities for this type of post:

• 3 Tips That Will Immediately Tell You You’re Using the Wrong Agent
• The Single Home Improvement That Pays for Itself 3X Over
• The Fastest Way to Paint a Deck

You get the idea. And with the more lighthearted tone favored on Instagram, you could easily make your tips, hacks, and how-tos humorous with a little creativity.

Do you need an easier solution?

Maybe you don’t have the time to create all these Reels, Stories, and other videos.

Maybe you’re not comfortable posting videos of yourself. (We can all be a little camera shy.)

Maybe Instagram is a mystery to you, and you’re not sure how it all works.

Or maybe you just want to get on with the business of real estate and serve your clients.

We can help . . .

Social media for real estate agents who simply want to be agents

Thousands of agents like yourself have been using our Social Media Posts to connect with their followers in ways that offer genuine value. Whether it is content that is educational, entertaining, or endearing, we have an enormous library of prewritten posts personally branded to you.

And now, we’ve added Instagram Reels to our offerings!

These are high-quality, prerecorded reels that we personalize with your brand. Along with our personally branded magazines and versatile postcards, Social Media Posts with Instagram Reels is another way you can be in front of your audience with marketing they actually want to receive.

Try a FREE download of our most popular Instagram Reel, “5 Common Home-Selling Mistakes,” and watch your engagement skyrocket!

Finally, if you also use Facebook, then you can check out Here’s What Agents Should Post on Facebook and Social Media for content ideas especially suited to that platform.