USING INSTAGRAM STORIES TO GROW YOUR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS

In Savvy Agent Club, we regularly talk about how to use social media to grow your real estate business. And, we just completed a month of training how to use Instagram Stories. So, it made perfect sense to bring my friend, Shannon Salmon, on to share her best tips and strategies at using Instagram stories to grow your real estate business.

You can follow Shannon on Instagram here.

What I like about her stories is that they’re REAL.

She does stories on her business, her life, being a mom – all the things that together help define this BOSS of a lady.

Check it out!

Top Takeaways:

Using social media (including Stories) for your business doesn’t mean you should be BORING.

Actually, you should do EVERYTHING you can to not be boring. Follow the 80/20 rule by limiting 20% of your content to self promotion.

All real estate – all the time – is an absolute snooze fest.

Put yourself out there. It gets easier.

The first time you go live, it’s nerve wracking. But, you get over it. Just put your content out there. Just rip the band-aid off and DO IT. Plus, if you’re worried about what you look like – use a filter!

Social media is FREE.

Why wouldn’t you take advantage of a resource that helps you get in front of people and doesn’t cost anything?!? But, remember that if you expect to GET engagement, you need to GIVE it. It’s not a one-way road so you should definitely make sure you comment, like, etc on other peoples posts.

If you have an accent – USE IT.

The rest of us that don’t have an accent are totally jealous. And, if you don’t have an accent, it’s OK – you can create your own brand. (Shannon talks about this around 9:00.)

You don’t have to spend hours a day on social media.

Part of the fun of social media is getting to know our friends or the people we’re following better. Give yourself permission to share your life. And, in case you need me to tell you, have some grace to share your perfectly IMPERFECT life. (Honestly, no one is fooled by those with “perfect” lives.) So when you share your life, it’s easy to find the content. If you’re not sure what to share, think about the top 3-4 things that light you up. Real estate is likely 1 of those. Kids, pets, cooking, sports, etc – are other examples of what might light you up.

When you post about things that you really care about, people will notice and appreciate!

Shannon’s favorite apps:

Wordswag – Add words to a picture. Promote your open house or other interesting things about your listings. Create your own quote cards!

PicsArt – This is great for adding logos and headshots to your images.

iMovie – Every week Shannon does a “where is she wednesday” bit and she uses iMovie to film those interviews with local businesses. Easy peasy!

Ripl – Shannon uses this app to create videos to promote her listings or open houses. There are templates that make it easy and fun.

Remote – this isn’t an app, but you can get a remote to start and stop your video without getting your finger in the shot! Try this one on Amazon for less than $9!

My favorite part…

Keep it simple. You do not have to go crazy. No need to hire a social media agency to create a strategy for you. (Actually, if you want some of this stuff done for you – you should check out Savvy Agent Club.) Don’t worry about the number of followers that you have! Stay focused on creating content that rings true to YOU and that your audience engages with. Keep it short, keep it quick, keep it on topic. Keep it simple!

To sum it up

Social media is a long game. If you make ONE post about a house – don’t expect to get a buyer immediately. It takes time to find your groove and grow your following. Pick the social media platform you want to start with. Work on just ONE platform at a time. Two if you absolutely must. Pick ONE thing – and get good at it. Then, you might want to add another platform. It’s all trial and error, so give yourself the opportunity to try, fail, try again and succeed!