Instagram Guides for Real Estate

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Real estate is full of information. Info geared toward the buying or selling process. Info about the communities. Info about yourself as a real estate agent. There's a lot of informative and entertaining content out there to comb through! 

Now, last year Instagram Guides was released as a way to help organize content on the platform. But I have to ask? Are Instagram Guides just another feature of Instagram to give you a headache or something you need to pay attention to in real estate? Let's find out in this week's episode. 

What Are Instagram Guides?

Instagram Guides are a new way to organize content on the platform. Think of a Guide as Instagram's file folder. You can curate posts into categories, guides, that you define. This makes it easier for people to find your content or content you recommend in a logical way. 

Let's take a look at an example from my profile, @IdeasForRealEstate. 

As you can see, Instagram Guides are located on a user's profile under the icon that looks like a magazine.

I've created Guides to highlight my favorite podcast episodes as well as my series on branding for real estate agents. Without the use of Guides, you've had to scroll through hundreds of posts to find this content. Now, it's all organized in one place. 

There are three types of Instagram Guides you can choose from. 

The first is "Places." The Places option allows you to select posts of places you've been, you've saved, and you can even search for other user's posts. The second is "Products" this option allows you to select items for sale from other users, and the final option is "Posts." "Posts" is exactly what it sounds like and features options again to choose from your own posts or saved posts. 

How To Create an Instagram Guide for Real Estate

It's simple to get started! 

1. Select the plus icon on your profile's home screen

2. Choose create "Guide"

3. Choose your guide type

4. Depending on the guide type you choose, you'll see options to select posts

5. Once you select your posts, you can add a cover photo, description of the Guide, and captions for each post

If you're someone with many posts, I'd recommend stepping outside of Instagram Guides and starting on your main feed. When you come across a post you'd like to put in a Guide, save it by using the bottom right ribbon option. This way, you can pre-categorize your posts to make selecting posts for Guides even easier! 

Let's take a look at how you can implement these features into your real estate business. 

Using "Places" for Real Estate

The "Places" option allows you to curate a collection of posts highlighting places where the post was tagged on Instagram, which is ideal for showcasing your expertise in your local area. Under each post, you'll also see the Instagram profile pic and information for the place you are featuring. 

When selecting your posts for this type of Guide, you have the option of searching other's posts, posts you've saved, and all of your posts. 

The obvious option might be to choose other Instagram users' posts so you can showcase your favorite local businesses and hotspots. This is an excellent idea as you can add your own captions within the guides to further establish your unique take on your local area. 

But how else could we use "Places" for real estate? Here are a few ideas:

• Create a Guide for New Construction Communities.

  • Your Guide could include one community or multiple communities in your area. I'd recommend if you use any posts from the builder to be sure and include your own caption and call to action.

• Create a Recommended Vendors Guide

  • This list can be handy to stay in touch with past customers and form relationships with industry partners.

• Create a Neighborhood Guide

  • Are you focused on developing your brand as a real estate agent by tying yourself to a local community? Guides can help you do this! Create a neighborhood guide to give insight into the real estate, community, and lifestyle.

Once you get going, you'll see how this feature can be beneficial! Now, let's think about the posts option. 

Using "Posts" for Real Estate

Posts allow you to select your own posts or saved posts from your account or others. Here’s an example from my Instagram where I used the “Posts” option to organize my branding for real estate agents series.

Posts work in a variety of ways for real estate, from curating educational content to organizing your past posts into digestible segments. Let's take a look at a few ideas: 

• Create an informative series.

  • A series could be a collection of tips around a certain topic such as info for home buyers or sellers. The more specific you can get the better! So, try "What Every Seller in XYZ area Should Know" vs. "Tips for Selling."

• Create a collection of videos.

  • If you've invested in creating videos, curate a collection of topics using Guides.

• Showcase Your Branding.

  • Create a "Meet or Get to Know Your" Guide. This is your opportunity to pull out posts highlighting your personality or posts where you share more about yourself.

  • If you're on a team, you could create a Guide for each team member with information and posts about them.

• Spotlight Active or Sold Listings.

  • Easily keep your active listings in one place or further establish yourself as an agent in a local area by creating a guide for your listings.

Think about your ideal buyer or seller and the posts that they would find most useful, and create Guides around those topics. 

How To Promote Your Guides

Instagram Guides are a relatively new feature, so how can you ensure that people will see them? Here are a few ideas to get more eyes on your Guides:

• Share it on your Stories.

  • You can easily share an entire Guide to your stories by selecting the airplane symbol at the top of each Guide.

• Mention it in your Instagram Bio.

  • If you took time to curate a helpful Guide, mention it in your bio. For example, you could say, "check my guides for the complete guide to XYZ neighborhood."

  • Learn more about how to create an Instagram Bio for Real Estate

• Send the direct link. At the top of each Guide, there are three dots. If you select these dots, you'll be able to "copy the direct link." You can use this link to send via text or email.

Now, the real question - 

Is Instagram Guides Right for You? 

If you've invested your time into creating engaging content on Instagram, Guides are an excellent way to curate all of the great information you've created. 

If you're just getting started on Instagram, Guides encourages you to start thinking about how you curate your content in a cohesive, thoughtful way. 

Either way, Instagram Guides gives you another opportunity to establish your authority in local real estate and online. 

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I’m Heather Colby, host of the “Ideas for Real Estate Podcast.”

If you like what you read here today, I’d encourage you to take a listen to the episodes. :