In this age of social media, especially Instagram, it is difficult to stay on top of the game and garner thousands of followers.
In an era where selfies are commonplace, and even used as business cards, the number of followers a person can have is slim.
Take the steps outlined below to keep the number of followers you have growing, and eventually become one of the most-followed real estate agents on Instagram.
Have a solid real estate experience
A good first step to gaining followers is to have a solid real estate background. An agent who has sold real estate will have an incredible advantage over a novice who hasn’t.
Sellers tend to be suspicious of real estate agents until they get a chance to meet one in person.
Often this fear is unfounded because they will realize that a real estate agent isn’t a telemarketer, and is there to help them achieve their goals.
A real estate agent must have the ability to be in the midst of a home showing, taking a look at the rooms and homes, offering advice, and getting into buyer’s and seller’s heads.
It’s no longer enough to list a home for sale and sit around waiting for it to sell; the agent must be active and involved in the process from the beginning to the end.
Show off your Instagram accounts
When speaking with potential buyers and sellers, always show them your Instagram account.
The most common mistake real estate agents make is sending their listings to their family, friends, and personal social media accounts, instead of going through professional companies.
It’s important to use professional social media sites for networking and marketing, but there are a lot of buyers and sellers who are not as savvy when it comes to social media.
Getting to the point where your Instagram account is viewed by thousands of people is a challenge.
It’s important to continuously have new content added. As your followers grow, you also need to reach out and connect with influencers.
A few of the best influencers on social media include:
- Larry Haub, The US Property Market Report
- Robin Huffman, REALTOR® Magazine
- Jonathan Thompson, Feeding America
- Jonathan Miller, New York City Real Estate Agent
An auctioneer can become a social media influencer when he manages to engage potential buyers and sellers at a level above the average agent.
Jonathan Thompson uses this as a tool to drive leads.
By engaging in conversations and telling stories about the local real estate market, he’s able to get buyers and sellers excited.
Get mentors
Mentors are life coaches and financial advisors on steroids. It’s very rare for a person to become a top real estate agent without a mentor.
Before you hire an agent to show you around a home, speak to a trusted neighbor who is an agent or has been in real estate for some time.
It’s also important to talk to previous clients of the agent you’re considering hiring.
While you may know what you want, they will know what it’s like to be on the other side and can help you discern whether the agent can help you reach your goals.
Start with a following, but keep it growing
People usually only start to follow an agent after they have decided to buy or sell a home with them.
Because of this, you must get the attention of buyers and sellers from the get-go.
Make sure to keep your posts fresh and interesting. Check your Instagram timeline at least once a week to see what your followers are interested in.
It’s possible to achieve a following of 20,000 people on Instagram in a short amount of time.
However, an agent must use tools like Buffer and LinkedIn to schedule posts for different times of the day, so that he doesn’t go overboard with his followers’ time.
Treat your profits the same as your sales
As an agent, your job is to make money. How you do that is how you decide to treat your earnings.
When sales are higher than your commissions, you typically are treated differently, as most people are more concerned with making a profit.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case. Don’t undervalue your skillset.
Treat your earnings the same way you would treat sales, and the rest will follow.
Make your listings useful for your clients
One of the biggest mistakes real estate agents make is trying to sell the property for clients.
They expect to receive what they want in exchange for their time. It’s important to make your listings useful to your clients and relevant to their needs.
At the end of the day, your goal is to help your clients find the right property. When they receive a good deal in the process, they will appreciate your efforts.
If a buyer finds a property that was already sold but still like the property, you’ve just met a buyer.
Don’t spend too much time on your social media
All of the top real estate agents in the country spend a good deal of time on their social media.
However, it’s important to not spend so much time that you’re neglecting the hundreds of other things that are most important.
As an agent, you have a lot of responsibilities.
You must sell properties, take care of clients and satisfy seller needs, all in addition to being a full-time agent.
Make sure to make time for the things that matter the most.
