How to Generate Leads From Instagram

This Week’s Guest Is an Instagram Marketing Beast!

Who should listen: Anyone who wants exceptionally good ideas and advice about how to get leads on Instagram.

Key idea: Instagram marketing is most effective when the majority of your content connects with your audience on a more personal level than when it only tries to advertise your business.

Action item: Consistently share your journey with your audience and connect with them by documenting some of the personal moments of your day. It will encourage them to know, like, and trust you—which is essential for doing business with you.

Imagine never having to drum up another lead . . .

For Shannon Gillette, this week’s guest on Stay Paid, your imaginings are her reality, and she’s sharing her secrets for using Instagram Stories (temporary pictures and videos) to generate leads so you can join her on easy street.

Well, easy street may not be entirely accurate.

Her success didn’t happen overnight (does it ever happen overnight?)

She spends at least two hours every day on Instagram where she can be in front of her audience.

And she made the investment to work with a professional videographer.

You may not want to make these same decisions, but what you can learn from Shannon about sticking with something that works, being consistent, and staying one step ahead of the trends, will inspire you to find your own way to easy street.

Leads are calling her

Shannon entered the world of real estate at 19 years old when she began to help people find and lease apartments. From there, she worked for the largest home builder in the country where, in her first year and during a recession, she became the #1 new home sales consultant in the country. Finally, in 2014, she transitioned into reselling homes.

Last year in 2020, Shannon completed 95 transactions worth $50M in volume. And here’s where the story gets interesting . . .

All 95 clients found or followed her on Instagram and called her 😲.

So what is Shannon doing with her Instagram marketing that creates such tremendous success?

Her first tactic is to post consistently—it’s a commonsense practice that everyone who uses social media for lead generation should be doing.

She makes sure she includes a call to action in every Story—another obvious but overlooked tactic.

And she targets her audience appropriately.

There are two critical factors unique to Shannon’s success that seem to make the difference between her use of Instagram and the way other people use it:

1. She produces Instagram Stories that are more like television shows rather than nonstop commercials.
2. She shares her personal journey and authentic moments in her life with her audience.

No one wants to follow that

Shannon comments during her interview that most agents’ Instagram pages make her feel like she is being sold to. If she’s not seeing pictures of “Just Sold” signs, then it’s pictures of “Just Listed” signs.

To a large extent, she’s right. Many real estate agents devote their entire Instagram page to images of their businesses.

But Shannon’s absolutely right when she says that no one wants to follow that kind of a page, where everything on it is all real estate all the time. They want to be entertained and to feel connected.

People want to know you . . . behind the curtain . . . your personal life. They want to know like and trust you. They want to feel like they’re watching a tv show. So using Instagram in that way . . . My business, every year, has doubled.

She tells a story about going to appointments to meet her leads where the homeowners open the entry door to say that they feel like they already know her. Before even meeting her, but from following her on Instagram, they feel confident in her expertise. So confident that, many times, she doesn’t need to go through her listing presentation. Her leads greet her, show her around, and ask her if she’s taking clients and will she please list their home.

Image having that kind of a reputation—one where leads feel like you are doing them a favor by agreeing to be their agent!

Marketing a reality show

Shannon makes it clear that what she does for her Instagram marketing is like creating a reality television show. She insists that her Stories be of the highest quality, but they also need to be authentic in ways that make it easy for people to relate to her.

From her experience, documenting moments in her life—like shooting 30 seconds during dinner with her husband on date night—is what has led her to become the in-demand agent that she is. It’s the images of her family, her dog, and events in her life, that receive the most likes and keep her top of mind.

Not everyone would welcome or enjoy sharing so much so freely, but Shannon has learned to be okay with letting people into her personal life. The pay-off is when the day comes that a follower needs to buy or sell a home, they’ll feel like they know her, and they’ll call.

Connect | Resources

Connect with Shannon on Instagram @Shannon_Gillette

Visit her website: https://www.gillettegroupaz.com/

Download our FREE e-book: How to Win at Instagram