Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
A picture may be worth a thousand words, but an entire saga’s worth of pictures in Instagram Stories could prove priceless for real estate professionals.
Selling homes and properties may provide your actual income, but it’s your brand image that attracts clients to entrust you with their buying or selling journey. And Instagram Stories can provide an essential branding tool to further strengthen your footprint in your industry.
While your company website provides a solid selling tool, social media platforms like Instagram should be used primarily for networking and brand building. In fact, one of the biggest benefits that Instagram boasts over other social platforms is that it hasn’t become over saturated with blatant sales messages.
Instagram has followed Snapchat’s lead in providing a completely separate feed dedicated to showcasing a user’s activities within the past 24 hours. Stories provide a “day in the life” overview of a single user’s postings by offering an in-the-moment view that makes followers feel like part of what’s happening. Then, Instagram deletes them forever.
Rest assured, ephemeral posts do have their benefits:
But perhaps one of the most beneficial aspects to Instagram Stories is that it’s specifically for the people looking to engage with your content. Stories don’t just appear - users must intentionally visit the feature to see what’s new. This means you stand a better chance of sharing your content with a captive audience, rather than becoming news feed fodder.
And even the best stories provide zero value until someone sees it.
While every story is as unique as the person telling it, you should incorporate a few basic elements into each one:
Authenticity: True stories make the best stories. Give your viewers a real snapshot of what’s happening.
Value: Before you share, think about how your story can add purpose and value to your viewers. Even with a 24-hour shelf life, your viewers constantly validate your purpose in their Stories feed, so make sure you earn their following with every share.
Brand Voice: Are you the most established real estate company in your area? Do you have the largest team of realtors? Do you want to project a community-oriented image? Every company has a brand voice, and every Instagram Story gives you a prime opportunity to speak to your viewers as the brand you have cultivated.
There might exist a million ways to tell a story, but the following story pitches might prove the most worthwhile for the real estate industry:
