Instagram Advertising for Real Estate - 7 Mistakes to Avoid
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We all know that social media is great for reaching new customers. With most of the population online and on social media, it only makes sense to advertise there.
You can get large audiences and target your ads to find qualified consumers! But advertising on social media isn’t all sunshine and daisies. It requires that you put in a lot of hard work before seeing any return on that investment.
Because everyone recognizes the power of social media, almost everyone will advertise there, which means that your ads need to be perfect if you want to stand out and reach your target audience. To win out against other agents in the real estate space, you’ll need to avoid making these common mistakes.
Are You Ready to Get Loved by Instagram?
1. No clear social media strategy
If your approach focuses too much on results and not enough on process and methodology, you’ll lose out. Good social media strategies rely on differences.
- What makes my real estate company different from X company?
- And as a result, how is my ideal audience different from X company’s ideal audience?
- Is my consumer educated?
- What age group are they in?
- How much does my target audience make a year?
Figuring out precisely what your brand story is can help you refine who your audience is. If you can get very clear on what sets your company apart, you can use that to your advantage by utilizing demographic targeting to be sure that you’ll reach the consumer who is most likely to “buy in” to what you’re selling.
2. Too focused on “brand”
You need to have a clear brand, but overemphasizing that branding at the expense of other content can be a mistake. It is important not to get caught up in the branding itself but to remember the story behind the brand. You could have the most sleekly designed logo, but if it doesn’t make your audience feel a certain way, then it isn’t getting the job done. Instead of relying on your branding elements, try to infuse everything with a story that makes viewers lean in and want to learn more.
3. Not Embracing Different Mediums
One of the biggest mistakes people make nowadays is not taking advantage of all the capabilities that social media has to offer. Instead of showing still pictures of that house you’re showing, why not use video?
Video gives still images a beat down when it comes to engagement. 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool nowadays. That means if you’re not using video to share your story, you’re being left in the dust. Video is the preferred method of communication on social media. Just look at TikTok and Instagram Reels.
There are whole platforms dedicated to video because video is powerful. If you’re not making or sharing videos, you’re risking losing the attention of an audience who is just not engaged.
4. Lack of Consistency
You’ve created a social media strategy, you have a strong story behind your brand and you’re creating powerful videos but you’re still not seeing the results you’d like? Lack of consistency could be the cause.
If your audience is following your page, they want to know they can rely on you to post every week. They want to see new, fresh content. If you haven’t shared or posted anything in months, they may wonder why they followed you in the first place, not to mention that social media favors those who post more.
Most algorithms will favor users who post more. Your followers want to know that they can rely on you to post, answer their messages and interact with them.
5. Not investing in paid campaigns
While you can see solid organic reach for a post once in a while, that isn’t how these platforms are moving forward. More and more, these sites prioritize paid content. Like it or not, you’ll likely have to pay to see any growth on social media. It would be a mistake to think that you can get on and do it all organically.
We recommend creating a budget that works for you and your company, but also recognizes the power paid campaigns can have on social media.
6. Targeting the Wrong Audience
While we touched on this above, it certainly deserves its own bullet point. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your whole following is interested in what you’re doing. What do we mean by that? While it may sound counter-intuitive, it is important to realize that just because they follow you it does not make them your target demographic. Make sure when you do targeting that you’re not just cloning your current audience to target a new audience. You need to be strategic and create a buyer profile to have the strongest reach.
7. Not being Adaptable
This is the cardinal sin and the number one mistake to avoid. There’s no one size fits all solution. With any of the points above, what works one week might not work another. To be successful with Real Estate advertising on Instagram, you have to take each day as it comes and know that the only way to be successful is to reflect and adapt to changing circumstances.
Mastering social media advertising is no easy feat. Creating and cultivating your online presence is hard work, that doesn't have an end (if you're one of the lucky ones). However, avoiding these seven big mistakes will help you to get a handle on real estate advertising for Instagram.
