Picture this: You open Instagram, ready to post a story, only to freeze and wonder,
“What should I even post?”
You’re not alone. I talk to many realtors who feel the same way.
Posting to your Instagram stories can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re just starting out.
We tend to overthink each story. There’s so much pressure for every post to be groundbreaking and value-packed that you never get around to hitting post.
In reality, stories don’t have to be so difficult.
Instead of seeing them as a platform to constantly add value, think of them as a space to connect with your audience on a more personal level.
While it’s tempting to focus only on your business, listings, and real estate tips – that’s not actually why your followers watch stories. People want to see those behind-the-scenes moments that give them a peek into your life.
Instagram stories allow you to show off the human side of your business and create genuine connections with your followers.
This post is going to be all about how to beat the overwhelm around stories and start showing up consistently.
So keep reading for an easy-to-follow guide for realtors wanting to build a strong personal brand by leveraging Instagram stories!
Build Your Consistency Muscle
Instagram stories are a great way to stay engaged with your audience throughout the day.
But for stories to be effective, you need to be consistent.
Building up your consistency on Instagram stories requires forming a new habit.
Just like starting a new gym routine or learning to play an instrument, it takes regular practice and commitment to make it a part of your daily life.
Your brain is already pre-programmed with a certain set of daily behaviors that have become nearly automatic over time.
Adding a new habit into the mix requires forging a new neural pathway, which is why staying consistent with something new can feel so challenging.
So, to make it simpler, try habit stacking.
Habit stacking is when you “stack” a new behavior – like posting to your stories – onto an existing habit.
This helps you build that muscle memory and create a new habit with less mental effort.
For example, I run a series on my stories called Coffee Thoughts.
Every morning, when I have my coffee, I take a picture either of me or my coffee and share three tips or thoughts relevant to agents in my audience.
The reason why I do this is simple.
While it’s easy to forget to post to my stories, I’m definitely not going to forget my morning coffee.
By stacking the two together, I’ve created a new routine that I can follow consistently.
Try to brainstorm how you could incorporate habit stacking to make your story habit stick. What kind of daily series could you try?
Think about something that you do every day and how you can tie a quick story post to it.
Then, every time you do that thing, you’ll have a built-in reminder to post a story.
Just remember, make sure your post is relevant to your ideal client and not other agents or industry pros.
Although it’s great to stay connected with your peers, they are not the ones you need to speak to in order for your stories to convert.
Document, Don’t Create
With emails, blogs, and social media posts already on your content creation to-do list, posting to your Instagram stories can feel like yet another task.
However, Instagram stories don’t have to be as complicated as they’re made out to be.
So, instead of putting so much pressure on yourself to sell your services and your brand through your stories, document; don’t create.
Gary Vee first coined the idea of “document; don’t create” when he spoke about content marketing.
The idea is simple: create content by documenting your life.
Documenting is still creating content – just in a more fluid, organic way.
I talk to so many agents who feel they need to act a certain way in real estate. It’s like they’re wearing a mask or performing.
But what if you could just be yourself?
How much easier would marketing your business feel?
Instagram stories are the perfect place to bring your personality into your marketing.
Rather than spending hours scripting the perfect video or trying to design story slides in Canva, take photos and videos throughout your day.
For example, I take a walk on the beach every evening with my husband and my dogs and I’ll take pictures along the way.
Then, I’ll post a picture from that walk to my stories.
This is just a part of my daily routine, but it also sends an important message to my audience.
These photos of me on the beach convey a sense of freedom, which is what I help agents achieve through my mentorship programs.
Ask yourself:
Who are YOU targeting and what lifestyle do you want to showcase on your Instagram stories?
If your ideal client is young families, maybe you take photos of your daily trip to the park with your kids or you cheering your kids on at their soccer practice.
This shows you understand that family comes first. But most of all, you create a connection between you and your audience.
The key to standing out in the crowd of an already saturated real estate market is to create a strong personal brand.
By using your stories to show your daily life, you’re allowing your audience to get to know you on a deeper, more personal level.
This way, when they’re ready to buy or sell, you’re the first person that comes to mind. Because of the strong connection you’ve created through your content, they’ll be inclined to choose you over anyone else.
Don’t Get Caught Up In The Metrics
One important thing to remember when it comes to Instagram stories for realtors is this:
Don’t get too caught up in the metrics.
I said it before, but Instagram stories are about consistency.
The more consistent you are with posting stories, the more people will start watching them.
Focus on sharing what’s going on in your life and what’s on your mind.
The way you think and your regular presence will attract people more than the occasional brilliant story.
When you get overly invested in the analytics, you begin to overthink your stories. You stop sharing because you’re worried about how things will ‘perform’.
And pretty soon, that consistency muscle you’d built up starts to weaken, making it even harder to get back on track.
So remember to ignore the vanity metrics, trust the process, and keep posting.
It takes time, but your stories will become something your followers look forward to. And eventually, engagement will naturally follow!
Show Behind-The-Scenes And Personal Content
My most popular Instagram story was one I definitely did not expect.
It was super simple. Just a picture of my braid after I cut it off with the words, “I did a thing.”
But within five minutes, I got 150 DMs of people engaging with and responding to that post.
And it was just me documenting my day. But these personal moments and little updates are what people truly care about!
Many agents focus solely on promoting their business. This makes your brand feel very business-like, stiff, and corporate.
And as a result?
You lose followers and get low engagement.
But when you incorporate fun behind-the-scenes content, you’re adding in that human touch.
Personal content helps you connect to your audience on a human level.
As realtors, you’re only relevant to your followers maybe once every 3-7 years.
By sharing your personal beliefs, philosophy, and story, you’re making sure you’re staying relevant to them the entire time in between.
Don’t forget, social media is meant to be social.
People want to see you, get to know you, and build a relationship with you.
Sharing these relatable moments – like making a change to your hair – helps your audience see the person behind the business.
This keeps them engaged and interested in what you have to say – even if they don’t need your services at that exact moment.
Guide To Posting Instagram Stories For Realtors
Using Instagram stories effectively can significantly boost engagement for realtors. Here’s a quick guide to posting your stories and keeping your audience engaged:
1. Use a mix of photos and video.
You want to make sure you’re using a good mix of photo and video stories.
Posting your stories in multiple formats helps to keep your audience engaged until the very end.
Have you ever gotten bored watching six video stories in a row?
Or just tapped through a bunch of pictures without really paying attention?
By using a healthy mix of photos and videos in your stories, you hold people’s attention longer.
Maybe you share an opinion in a video clip then share a photo that relates to it.
This gets people to keep watching AND pay closer attention to the purpose of the content you’re sharing.
2. Use engagement stickers.
Instagram offers plenty of interactive stickers that help watchers engage with your stories.
You can add polls, quizzes, sliders, and stickers to ask your audience questions or get their opinions on the things you’re talking about.
These tools are simple ways to encourage interaction and make your stories more fun.
3. Post often, but not too much.
Instagram recommends a minimum of 3-5 story slides per day to receive the most engagement.
However, at the same time, you don’t want to overwhelm your followers with a 20-part Instagram story.
Sometimes, less is more.
4. Let your story fully “expire.”
This last one is a hack I’ve noticed by watching engagement in my own content.
Let your stories fully expire before starting the next one.
When you let your story fully expire before posting new ones, it helps boost engagement.
Instagram loves new content.
By spacing out your stories, Instagram prioritizes showing them to your followers.
This increases their visibility and helps keep your content feeling fresh and new.
Once you start posting consistently, you’ll quickly realize that creating Instagram stories isn’t as daunting of a task as it initially seemed.
When you do it enough, it just becomes a habit.
The key is to just start.
At The Listings Lab, I teach real estate agents different ways to build a strong personal brand – including using Instagram stories.
If you’re ready to connect with your audience and create relationships that convert, click here to book a FREE call with our team today.
