How to Get Found on Instagram as a Local REALTOR®
This post originally aired as a podcast!
🎧 Listen to the show on Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Instagram is my favorite social media platform for real estate. It's a place where you can grow your brand as an agent, stand out with your marketing, and form relationships with more home buyers and sellers. People don't enjoy being constantly sold to, and Instagram is a platform where you can represent yourself authentically while tapping into strategic marketing that connects you with more customers.
While platforms like Facebook make it difficult for you to grow your following without paying for ads on your business page, Instagram allows you to establish yourself as the go-to local agent in your community. Instead of convincing people to work with you or paying for pricey leads, you can attract local buyers and sellers to you by following a few key tips!
Local Real Estate Strategy
Real estate is local. Whether you're working with buyers or sellers in your local market or even those relocating, we want people to know you are the agent for them. We can establish you in a local market through techniques like target marketing for real estate and by using the features within Instagram. It doesn't matter if you're an amazing agent whose Instagram is full of valuable content if nobody can find you! If you're putting time and energy into Instagram marketing, I want you to get the most out of it as possible. So, today I'm sharing strategies you can easily take advantage of within Instagram to be found by more buyers & sellers!
SEO on Instagram
Despite what many think, there is SEO on Instagram!
Instagram wants to connect people with content they care about so you spend as much time on the platform as possible engaging. The algorithm works hard to figure out exactly how your content should be categorized and displayed to the right users. While you might feel like the algorithm is against you, that's not the case. We can leverage what we know about the algorithm to your benefit.
For example, hashtags used to be the primary way people could find what they were looking for. Now, Instagram allows users to "search by keyword" in the U.S. If you type in "luxury homes" in the search, you'll see results for the phrase along with accounts and tags. When I searched this, the second result was "luxury homes Florida." Talk about an advantage for Realtors!
Instagram knows which posts are related to "luxury homes Florida" based on how each post is optimized and then categorized. You can effectively tell Instagram what your post is about by using the techniques I'm covering today. To start with keywords, head over to the search feature in Instagram and use it like you think a potential home buyer or seller would. What would they search? Make a list of all of those keywords that you can use. We'll use keywords and other features to help you be found as a local Realtor!
Optimize Your Name & Username
The first place to begin with optimization is your Instagram profile.
Both your name and username are searchable. (Your username is your Instagram Handle. Your name appears under this on your profile in bold letters.) This means that if somebody types a specific phrase in the search bar and you have that phrase in your name or username, you're more likely to come up. For example, my username on Instagram is @IdeasforRealEstate. So, if someone searches "Ideas for Real Estate," my profile will come up. However, I also want to be found for "real estate marketing" on the platform. To easily optimize my profile, I changed my "Name" to Heather - Real Estate Marketing.
You can use the same strategy! Your username can contain a keyword for your local market, or you can add it to your name. For example, if I wanted to be found as a local Realtor in Orlando, I could update my name to Heather - Orlando Realtor. In this instance, "Orlando Realtor" would be the keyword or phrase we want people to find us with when searching.
Both your Name and Username are limited to 30 characters, so choose wisely! Here are a few items to consider:
Is your username easy to remember and read?
Do you want your username to be consistent across different social media platforms?
Does your username align with your branding as an agent?
Do you want to include your full name? If so, will it be in your Username, Name, or both?
Are you including a keyword optimized for local real estate? (Ex: Orlando Realtor, Orlando Real Estate, Orlando Homes)
While you have room for experimentation, note that you can only change your name twice within a 14 day period.
Include Keywords in Your Bio
After you've chosen a strategic username and name, we can further optimize your profile within your bio.
Your bio is your chance to quickly share who you are, why somebody should care, and be targeted to those you serve. However, we don't want to fill up your bio with all the keywords you can think of. This may be seen as spammy and discourage people from engaging with you. We want to work in any keywords naturally that will highlight you as a local Realtor.
I have an easy framework that you can fill in with your own info to create an engaging and strategic Instagram Bio.
{Click here to grab your free Instagram Bio template for Realtors}
Let's go over an easy example:
Username: Heather_Example
Name: Heather Example * FL Realtor
✨Orlando Realtor at (insert brokerage)
🏡 Sharing Florida homes & real estate tips!
⭐ 123-456-7899 ✉️ name@gmail.com
⬇️ Get my new buyer guide ⬇️
As you can see, the username includes a full name and the name includes the keyword "FL Realtor." The bio also contains the keywords "Orlando Realtor" and "Florida Homes." It also includes contact information and a call to action in the last line.
Sharing Relevant Content
Once you've optimized your profile, focus on what you share on your page. (If you haven't yet, check out my Target Marketing for Realtors episode, as the principles outlined will be incredibly useful for your content strategy.)
We can't "game" Instagram. It doesn't matter how many of today's strategies you implement if you're not sharing valuable content. To be known as a local Realtor in your market, we need to post about topics related to local real estate that home buyers or sellers would be drawn to. Luckily, we have a wide variety of posts you can create! Some ideas include tours of homes for sale, neighborhood profiles, and tips for local buyers and sellers.
Keep what you share engaging, educational, or entertaining. While we want to include calls-to-action (or opportunities for lead generation), you don't want everything you post to come across as salesy. That's a quick way to lose followers and potential relationships. Try for a balanced strategy of mostly serving through the content you share and guiding people to naturally want to work with you.
If the whole process of what to share and how to authentically promote yourself is challenging, I invite you to join my course, IG Unlocked for Real Estate. Because what to share on Instagram to get results doesn't have to be a mystery, there's a framework you can easily follow, and I'm here to be your guide.
And don't forget, engaging content is key to being found. We want people to like, comment, share, or save your posts. These are all signals to the algorithm to keep showing your content to more people who might be interested in it.
{Click here to learn more & join me in IG Unlocked for Real Estate}
Add Keywords to Your Caption
Once you've decided what to post, you can make the most of your caption by adding keywords to it.
Now, we still want your caption to sound as natural as possible. Don't lose sight of creating a caption people will want to read and find helpful by cramming keywords into it. You can naturally include keywords that people might be searching on Instagram if you're mindful to begin with. For example, "Orlando Realtor" is not the only way people might find us on Instagram in the Orlando area. Other keywords might be: Orlando homes, Orlando homes for sale, vacation homes Orlando, Orlando real estate, and Orlando luxury homes.
If you were sharing a video tour of a luxury home, your caption might include - "Experience modern refinement in this luxury home in Orlando." As you can see, it's still a sentence, and it doesn't cram your keywords in. So, take the time to write out a thoughtful caption that naturally includes the keywords you're focused on.
Go Local with Instagram Hashtags
Instagram recently stated that hashtags perform best in the caption, so take full advantage by adding 30 hashtags to your next post!
I see many agents making the mistake of using hashtags that are very broad or too popular. If you use #Realtor, there are currently 23.4 million posts associated with it. That means that this is a highly competitive hashtag and the likely hood of you being found by using it is low. Also, how likely is it that local buyers or sellers in your market are searching #Realtor, and out of the 23.4 million results, you come up?
Instead, opt for local hashtags. By using #OrlandoRealtor, you're more likely to stand out as there are 206K posts using that hashtag. Likewise, #OrlandoHomes has 97.5K posts and #OrlandoHomesforSale has 22.5K posts.
If you go local with your hashtags, your posts are more targeted and likely to be found.
Add a Location to Your Posts
Another way for your posts to be categorized in your local area is to tag your location.
The next time you share a post on the feed, simply select "add location." Locations are searchable and can be found under the "places" section of the search feature. You can choose your city, a smaller community, and sometimes even neighborhood names. This is key as we're establishing you in a geographic or farming area!
Add Alt Text
While you're editing your post, don't forget to add Alt Text for photos.
Alt Text is a description of the image that can be helpful for those who are visually impaired. It also might help your Instagram SEO. To add "alt text," click "advanced settings" when you're creating your post and then choose "write alt text." From here, you can describe your post using keywords. For example, your alt text might be "Orlando realtor shares tips for first-time buyers at coffee shop" or "luxury Orlando home for sale in Windermere on a lake."
If you don't write Alt Text, Instagram uses image recognition software to generate descriptions. Instead, let's tell Instagram exactly what your image is!
Use Trending Features
One of the best ways to be found on Instagram is to become an adopter of Instagram's trending features. Today, that means give Reels a try!
Instagram loves Reels and wants to show more Reels to users. Create Reels that have to do with local real estate to enhance your strategy. You can create home tours, highlight your local community, or give tips that would be beneficial for buyers or sellers in your market. Learn more about Instagram Reels for Real Estate here.
Within those Reels, be sure to include an optimized caption with keywords and your strategic hashtags. We know that Instagram Reels are a major growth accelerator on the platform right now. So, use that to your advantage for local real estate! And watch my free training on. how to create an Instagram Reel for Realtors here!
Lean Into Your Analytics
One of the best ways to determine what's working is to look at your Instagram insights (not available with personal accounts).
From here, you can see how well what you shared performed. It will give you insights into your posts, Stories, Reels, IGTVs, and Lives. That way, you can see what your reach was and what people engaged with the most. Once you've identified your top-performing content, you can create more that's similar!
By selecting "Your Audience," you'll see analytics that include your "top locations" and "most active times." Check and see if your "top locations" are the markets you want to reach. Take note of your "most active times" because these are key times to share on the platform when your followers are most active!
Building Your Brand Locally
Instagram is a tool for connections. If you use it strategically, those connections can turn into closings. And if you want to brand yourself as a local Realtor, start with the right content strategy, make it engaging, and optimize all of your posts.
So, to recap, don't forget to:
Optimize your Name & Username
Add keywords to your bio
Start with the right content when you share
Make it engaging & relevant
Add keywords to your captions
Go local with your hashtags
Add a location to your posts
Include the Alt Text
& lean into your analytics
All of these techniques are a signal to Instagram that what you're sharing is relevant to your ideal buyer or seller in your local market. The more you show up consistently talking about local real estate, the more you will be known for local real estate.
& if you’re looking to grow your business through authentic connections and proven marketing strategies on Instagram, I invite you to join me inside IG Unlocked for Real Estate - my Instagram marketing course for Realtors. You’ll learn exactly what to post, how to get engagement, and how to attract your dream customers to you through Instagram marketing!