Instagram took the world by storm when Facebook acquired it a few years ago. In less than two years, the platform’s users doubled to reach one billion active users. Since its growth, this platform has astounded those in the business realm for its ability to deliver first-class leads, sell products, and build brands into influential industry leaders.
With this rousing success in the business market, it has many marketers in the real estate industry curious about its possibilities. The platform is young still, and real estate agents, brokers, and investors have only recently begun using it to market their properties with positive results.
It begs the question: Will real estate marketing begin shifting primarily to Instagram for lead generation and sales?
Instagram Boosts Real Estate Sales
The facts are simple: Instagram is a gold mine for those in the real estate industry. If you aren’t on Instagram yet, you should be. Here are the stats:
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1 billion monthly active users
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500 million daily active users
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400 million daily active users on Instagram stories
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61 percent of Instagram users between the ages of 18 and 29
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33 percent of Instagram users between the ages of 30 and 49
That’s a prominent audience for your clientele. It’s about half the size of Facebook, but it’s still an impressive market for you to pitch sales and find clients. Many real estate marketers have managed to grow their following on the platform by posting high quality content, buying cheap and real Instagram followers, using hashtags, and applying other metrics of high-quality marketing.
Studies have also been run on the effectiveness of Instagram marketing for real estate. Redfin, a Seattle-based brokerage with agencies in 34 states, ran a nationwide ad campaign earlier this year. They used Instagram’s new application programming interface (API), which allows advertisers to design and manage campaigns on their own.
Their advertisements were hand crafted by the agents themselves with geotargeted information to match any demographic. The advertising system is very similar to Facebook, so you can imagine that it works well for reaching the right demographic.
In the first two weeks of the test, Redfin reported generating excellent leads on all of its advertising campaigns. It makes it simple for agents to create and test different ads so that they can develop the most effective campaigns.
Instagram Demographics Are Maturing
Although Instagram was once a young-man’s platform, primarily for teenagers and young adults, the platform age range is increasing significantly to encompass more mature adults. These mature adults tend to be in their late thirties and early forties, which is the prime age range for buying real estate.
Home sales can increase thanks to this super-targeted demographic, and as millennial and generation Z aged individuals grow, they’ll be ready to buy too. Instagram will be the first place they go to help inform one of the largest purchasing decisions they’ll ever make.
Additionally, the latest group of individuals on Instagram are between the ages of 18 and 29. According to rent estate statistics, this is the age group that’s most likely to rent a property. This means if you’re in the rental property game, marketing your rentals on Instagram opens you up to incredible opportunities for reaching your target clientele.
Along with targeting the right clientele online, you also have to consider the agents, brokers, and investors themselves. Pretty soon, the vast majority of those in the real estate business will be Instagram users. Why wouldn’t they use the platform they love for personal use to drive their business forward?
Images and Video Excel on Instagram
It seems like a no-brainer that Instagram and real estate go so well together considering the image-centric nature of the platform. Images and video are a sweet spot for real estate marketing. If you don’t know already, here are the best visual marketing statistics for real estate agents:
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Homes sell 32 percent faster when marketers use high-quality images.
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Homes with about 20 photos sell in about half the time of homes with a single photo.
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Homes with high-quality photography sell for an average of $7,000 more.
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87 percent of homebuyers who search for homes on the internet have found photos to be most helpful.
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Real estate marketers who use video grow their revenue almost 50 percent faster than those who don’t.
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Social videos generate 1,200 percent more shares than both text and images combined.
If you’ve spent any time at all on Instagram, you know that it’s made for photos and videos. The Instagram Stories feature is among the most popular tools used among marketers. It increases a brand’s searchability and helps marketers engage with their target clientele on a regular basis.
Instagram Stories is particularly good for showing behind-the-scenes looks at the real estate process. Your clientele, both those who have worked with you in the past and who are working with you now, enjoy seeing the beauty of buying and selling homes. There’s something whimsical, romantic, and fun about it, and it’s great to share that with potential customers.
You should also post videos and photos to your profile regularly. Instagram Stories posts only lasts for 24 hours (unless you purposefully save them), so it’s important to have photos and videos that clients can browse through at any time. This makes you look more professional while promoting sales in your industry.
Conclusion: Instagram Is the Future of Real Estate Marketing
There’s no doubt that Instagram will become a featured part of real estate marketing strategies. It likely won’t replace other poignant social platforms like Facebook, but it will make an attractive addition with promising potential. Those in the industry should become familiar with the platform now so they can be prepared for the shift that’s coming their way.
