If you’re looking to grow your business, Instagram can be the way to go. After all, with more than 1 billion registered users, it’s one of the most popular social media platforms globally. Last year, Instagram saw a nearly 23 percent increase in new signups, according to eMarketer.
If you’ve been posting on Instagram, but finding it’s no longer performing for you, you may have fallen into one of these common traps.
- You Sell Too MuchYes, the ultimate end goal is to get more clients and close more sales, but no one on Instagram wants their feed to be flooded with home listings. Social media users – especially Instagrammers – don’t log in to see advertisements. Instead, they want to be entertained, motivated and educated.
Since the vast majority of your followers are not actively buying and selling, you’ll want to keep non-buyers and sellers engaged by sharing a mix of content.
Try posting home décor and landscaping tips and trends, local events and updates and some entertaining lifestyle and personality snippets. These are items that appeal to renters, buyers, sellers and homeowners, alike.
- You’re Not Posting ConsistentlyAt some point, every content creator struggles with consistently posting on social media, especially if they fail to understand the “why” behind what they are doing. Consistently posting and engaging with your audience is an integral part of nurturing existing relationships, cultivating new ones, and developing trust and credibility with your audience.
- Your Content is Inauthentic
Real estate is a people business and social media doesn’t change that. If anything, social media amplifies it. A good way to gauge your authenticity is by asking yourself if your posts are a true reflection of how you would interact with friends in real life.Although most people don’t want to see every aspect of your home life, your followers do like to see snippets of your life – your family, your holiday traditions, hobbies, books you’re reading, etc.
Knowing your personality helps them to appreciate you and makes you feel more approachable when it’s time to hire a REALTOR®.
Once you’ve built your base of followers and worked out some of these social media pitfalls, then you can occasionally post new listings, just-sold properties and more types of content that you want to post.
Sources: Stefanie Lugo, founder of Market Authority Academy and Jenn Herman, globally recognized Instagram expert and author of “Instagram for Dummies.”