Why real estate agents need a professional profile on the world’s fastest-growing social media platform.
Facebook may be still be the world’s most popular social media platform, but Instagram isn’t far behind—and in line to be called the best social media platform very soon. It’s also a terrific resource for Realtors and real estate professionals who are looking to market and gain a bigger client base (and who among us isn’t?).
In fact, Instagram had 800 million monthly active users last year. This year, they’re expected to easily pass the one billion user mark. That’s also more than twice the number of monthly active Twitter users, and more than three-fold over active Facebook Messenger users (but not Facebook, itself.)
It’s estimated that each day, there are 500 million active users around the world. Of course, Realtors only care about active users within the United States, but 77.6 million Instagram users are from U.S. – more than one-fifth of the entire population!
Instagram has now also surpassed Twitter as an effective forum for companies and brands to market themselves – including Realtors.
Here are 7 other reasons why every smart Realtor should have a (business!) profile on Instagram:
1. Reaching the demographic of homebuyers today (and tomorrow!) homebuyer.
Homebuyers are trending younger in a big way, and Instagram is their social media of choice. For instance, 68% of today’s homebuyers are under the age of 39, and that number will increase even more in coming years as Gen Y enters the workforce and is ready to buy. Additionally, 59% of 18-29 year-olds use Instagram, and many say it’s the most important platform in their lives.
It’s worth noting that Instagram is also predominantly mobile, which follows the graph of a younger and growing audience who uses social media and the web from their smartphones (including searching for houses!)
2. Showcases houses with photos and videos
Since Instagram is centered around photos and videos, it’s a perfect portal for real estate agents to display their product: homes, neighborhoods, and everything in them. In fact, Instagram videos receive 200% the level of engagement (clicks, likes, comments, shares, etc.) than photos or videos on any other social media platform. With Instagram, you can really get creative, personal, and have some fun documenting what you see every day as a Realtor, without spending significant time or energy. There’s really no limit to the kind of photos you can take to attract a bigger audience and new clients!
Incredible Instagram fact: There were more photos taken last year than the previous history of the world combined! Let that sink in!
3. Instagram users don’t mind advertising or marketing at all.
While users may get a little annoyed at all of the sponsored posts or ads on Facebook, YouTube, and others, studies show that they actually welcome marketing on Instagram!
Consider these statistics:
80% of Instagram users follow at least one company.
60% First are exposed to a product or service through Instagram.
At least 30% of Instagram users have purchased a product or signed up for a service that they found on the social media app!
In fact, 65% of the top-performing posts on Instagram feature products from companies and brands!
In that way, Instagram is a lot like a hybrid between Pinterest and Twitter than it is Facebook, and that’s GREAT news for Realtors who can market boldly and unapologetically on Instagram!
4. Market to your home city or even neighborhood with Instagram’s geo-location
Part of Instagram’s vast utility for real estate agents comes from its unique geolocating feature, or Location Tagging. In a study of millions of individual photos and videos, researchers found that Instagram posts that were tagged for location received 79% more engagement than those without!
Since real estate agents work in such hyper-local markets of regions, cities, or even sub-markets of neighborhoods, it’s easy to establish yourself in your area and reach those who live, work – and want to buy a house there – too.
5. Easy to be specific with hashtags
Even better than just laser focusing our marketing with location tagging, Instagram’s utilization of hashtags allow Realtors to connect with users based on interests, products, organizations, trending topics, values, or even life experiences. In fact, posts with at least one hashtag average 12.6% more engagement than those without.
You’re allowed a whopping 30 hashtags on any Instagram photo or video (and there’s a great way to maximize all of those without just listing them all in your original post, keeping an organic appearance.) You can also tag other user accounts, which is fantastic if you want to include a lot more eyeballs from other credible sources, and hashtags are also the most effective way to quickly grow your following there.
6. Less competition.
Realtors and real estate agents who start using Instagram to market their services have a HUGE leg up on the competition. How is that possible, since it seems like just about every Realtor you know already is on there? We’re talking about business accounts – not personal profiles – on Instagram! You shouldn’t be posting photos of your abs, your vacation, your lunch, or your dog on your professional Instagram if you want others to take you seriously.
Yes, there are almost 80 million Instagram users in the U.S. and 25 million businesses or brands, but ONLY 8 million business accounts, so Realtors would be remiss if they didn’t get on board!
7. Undervalued paid ads and analytics.
Marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk recently named Instagram paid ads the most undervalued resource for advertisers anywhere on the web! In fact, mobile ad revenue through Insta is expected to hit $7 billion in 2018!
The relatively-new Instagram business profile also gives smart Realtors a huge advantage over just having a personal profile. Professionals can include their company name, phone number, and address, and also feature easy-to-use post boosting and targeted ads, as well as detailed analytics that allow you to refine your ad campaigns.
In summary, tomorrow’s top-producing real estate agent is starting to take Instagram seriously today!