How Real Estate Agents Can Use Instagram Guides to Build their Brand

In an era when technology is becoming more and more prevalent in the real estate industry, it’s more important than ever for real estate agents to invest in building their brand and proving value to potential clients. 

One of the best ways to do this is through social media. Just a few months ago, Instagram released a brand new feature that provides real estate agents with a unique opportunity to demonstrate their local knowledge and build trust: Guides.

In short, Instagram Guides allow you to showcase your expertise by creating groups of places, posts, and products that you can share with your followers.

We’ve put together a list of the three main ways that you can use this new feature to build trust and earn yourself more clients!

Recommend Your Favorite Local Businesses & Activities

As a real estate agent, it’s important to brand yourself as the area expert. You should be that go-to person that your community looks to for recommendations in different neighborhoods in your city or town. Instagram Guides are the perfect way to do this! With the location option you can easily create a guide of your top places in various categories. 

Some categories that work well for real estate agents include favorite bars & restaurants, gyms and fitness classes, art galleries, and outdoor activities.

To create a location guide, first click the plus button in the top right corner of your screen, and then select “Guide”.

You’ll see that Instagram has three Guide Types to choose from: Places, Products, and Posts. For this first guide, select “Places”.

Next, add your first location! Start typing in the name of the place you’d like to recommend, and select the correct location.

Once you’ve found the right place, you can choose from all the photos that have been posted at that location to add to your guide! Click on the photo you like best and then hit “next”.

Finally, you’ll be prompted to add a title and description to your guide, as well as a title and caption for your first photo. Don’t be afraid to get creative here!

Then click “add place” at the bottom to continue adding new locations until your guide is complete.

Share Your Active Listings or Past Sales

The second option for creating a guide is to choose from your own or your saved posts. This is the perfect opportunity for real estate agents to showcase available listings or past sales! Your followers can easily scroll through your guide and browse all of the homes you have available. 

To create this guide, select the “Posts” option. Instagram will then let you select from all of your posts to add to your guide. Toggle at the bottom to “Saved Posts” to add any posts that you’ve previously saved!

Just like the “Places” option, you’ll need to add a title and description to your guide, as well as a title and description for each post.

Feature Your Top Products for Homebuyers

Have you found yourself on a home decor kick recently? You’re not alone! As we spend more time at home, people have got the itch to update their living space. Take advantage of this trend and use Instagram’s third “Products” option to share your favorite home decor items in guide form!

There are thousands of products to choose from on Instagram! When you choose the “Products” option, you’ll need to first search for the Instagram profile that sells the product you want to feature. 

Pro Tip: show off your area knowledge by featuring products from local businesses!

Once you’ve selected the profile, you can browse all of the products available. Select your first item and add it to your guide!

Continue to add products to your guide until you’re satisfied with the results. Don’t forget to add catchy descriptions for each product!

Pro Tip: Once you’ve created your guides, share them to your Instagram Stories to reach more of your followers!

Instagram Guides are a quick and easy way to demonstrate your local expertise to your network. Adding just a few guides to your profile will help you brand yourself as the area expert and build trust with your audience! 

Ready to master your Instagram marketing? Download our Instagram Ebook for real estate!