How to Capture the Millennial Market Using Instagram

Millennials have become the largest share of homebuyers. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) research department, as of 2018, millennials are 36 percent of homebuyers, with 65 percent of those also being first-time home buyers.

The question now becomes: how do you reach this tech-savvy swath of homebuyers?

A majority (59 percent) of Millennials are active Instagram users. While Facebook is still the most used social network among millennials, that figure is declining. Instagram on the other hand, is increasing its market share amongst millennials.

Using Instagram to Reach Millennial Homebuyers

Create a professional page

The first step to creating a successful Instagram that will help you reach the Millennial market is creating a professional Instagram page. If you look at some of the agents that have found success on Instagram, they all have one thing in common, their pages are professional and reflect their brand cohesively.

Although posting photos of your past and current listings is a great first step, don’t forget to incorporate the aspects that highlight what makes the neighborhood that your listing are in so special.

Another good tip is to always stay authentic and approachable. Posting a mix of professional photos of listings with behind-the-scenes content of you at listings or with clients is a great way to put a personal touch on your social media.

Post engaging content

When it comes to Instagram, there’s a variety of content types to choose from. There are posts you can share to your newsfeed, story posts, and live video. You also have a number of mediums in which you can post content, like videos, photos, boomerangs, and carousel posts.

Choosing a good mix of these types of content outreach strategies will allow you to keep your audience interested in what you have to say and show. Whether it’d be tying back to your specific area of real estate expertise or the actual neighborhood that you have listings in, try to have a cohesive theme throughout all of your content that ties back to what you want your audience to remember about you.

Some examples of great content that Millennials will undoubtedly pick up on include photos and video of local coffee shops, restaurants, and unique things to do that are iconic to the neighborhood you’re listings are in.

Don’t just post — engage!

In a time when consumers and clients look for personal connections to the brands, causes, and professionals they choose, the best approach isn’t always marketing to people, but engaging with them.

Building a community of people who know and trust you requires you to have conversations with them, especially on a platform that can turn as impersonal as Instagram.

Commenting back to those who take time out of their busy lives to comment on your content gives you the opportunity to reveal your personality to your audience. It also communicates that there’s a real person behind the pictures and videos.

Conversely, go out of your way to find other agent’s Instagram profiles and engage with them! You never know what kind of professional bonds and referrals you might get from simply commenting on other real estate agent’s content.

The most important thing to remember about engaging on Instagram to build relationships with your audience is that it doesn’t happen overnight. You have to be patient and constantly engage in order to reap the benefits of engaging on Instagram.

Use hashtags effectively

Remember how I mentioned finding other agents and engaging with them on Instagram is a great way to network on social media? Well, hashtags are how you find other agents and how they find you! Not to mention, people looking for listings will be searching these hashtags as well.

Using hashtags helps you increase your exposure and searchability. Instagram allows 30 hashtags, so make sure that you’re using the full 30 for maximum visibility!

Use hashtags like: newly sold, newly listed, your specific neighborhood or location, amenities, the brokerage you work for, and various other trending real estate related hashtags. Placing the hashtags in a comment on your post as opposed to in the actual caption of the post allows you to keep the caption clean and easy to read.

In the end, reaching a Millennial audience isn’t rocket science. Simply be authentic in everything you do and highlight all of the great aspects of working with you as an agent and you’ll be building your Instagram reputation with Millennials in no time.