How Many Instagram Accounts Should a Real Estate Agent Have?
As a real estate agent you may ask yourself, “how many Instagram accounts should I have?” and the answer is pretty simple. Unlike Facebook, that requires users to have a personal account in order to create a business account, Instagram has no such requirements. Because of this, and for the reasons outlined below, having a single account is the best, most sustainable approach.
Getting Personal on Your Business Instagram Account
A percentage of your Instagram content should be personal posts that help your followers get to know, like, and trust you. Photos of you participating in your hobby, at dinner with your friends, and spending time with your family shouldn’t have to fight between which account to show up on. You also don’t want to duplicate content across multiple accounts, causing users to unfollow on one, the other, or both 😬.
In addition to helping followers and potential clients get to know, like, and trust you, I’d be willing to bet the majority of your personal content can also be tied back to the real estate industry (one of the many great things about your profession). The two more obvious ways to tie personal content back to your business are by:
Illustrating your Neighborhood Expertise
If you’re at an appointment, happy hour, or even working from a local coffee shop, don’t forget to snap photos! Knowing the best place to get your nails done, where to find the most affordable happy hour deals, and where you can find caffeine with a side of wifi illustrates your community expertise. By sharing these local gems with your sphere, you’re showing that you live where you work and your value extends beyond the closing table.
Connecting with Other Local Businesses
These same types of posts are great opportunities to collaborate with other local businesses. Before leaving the establishment, let the owner or staff know that you’ll be posting about your experience on Instagram and you would love for them to share your post. You can even ask if they’d like it to be a “collaborative” post that is published to their Instagram account as well.
Collaborating with other local businesses again, illustrates that you’re a community expert, and helps you reach beyond your own sphere. Even if the other business does not want the post to be published to their account, tagging them in the photo as well as tagging your location helps your post become more discoverable.
Having one account that you share personal content to helps you stay connected with your friends and family while also [enhancing] the know, like, and trust factor among your followers. Some examples of how I have done this on the Ink & Olive Instagram account can be found HERE, HERE, and HERE.
Getting Professional
You may be hesitant to have a single account, worrying that you’ll be blasting your friends and family with your transactions and real estate advice. Here’s why you shouldn’t worry about that:
Not Every Follower Sees Every Post
This is a good reminder, regardless of the platform and how many accounts you have. Not every follower sees every post. It’s actually important that you repeat your content to ensure your message is received. Not only that, it takes seeing a product or service an average of seven times before consumers take action to buy that product or service. Now imagine the service is hiring a Realtor to help them make the biggest purchase of their life! It’s going to take seeing your marketing more than seven times to convince them that you’re the right REALTOR® for the job.
Don’t be a Secret Agent
Don’t you want your friends and family to remember that you’re an active real estate agent? Posting your transactions and real estate expertise on a combined Instagram account keeps your value at top of mind for everyone who sees it. You can’t be upset when Aunt Petunia lists with another agent if she doesn't remember that you’re an active real estate agent.
A Single Instagram Account is the Best, Most Sustainable Option for Real Estate Agents
What’s the biggest social media struggle for most real estate agents? Not knowing what to post or fearing they’ll run out of content. Imagine how much more stressed and stretched for content you would be creating content for multiple accounts! A single Instagram account eliminates stressing over which account to post to and helps ensure you never run out of content ideas.
The Only Exception
The only scenario in which I would recommend that a real estate agent create separate personal and business Instagram accounts is when they want to have a private personal account where they share photos of their kids that they don’t want public. If you maintain a single account or have an account specifically for business, that account should be public. In fact, if it is set up as a business account, it has to be public; which shouldn’t be a problem. If you’re interested in optimizing your social media presence and reaching potential clients beyond your existing sphere, your Instagram account has to be public.
Unless you’re making the choice to have a separate, private account where just friends and family can view personal content like pictures of your kids, having a single Instagram account is the most sustainable option that ensures your friends and family don’t forget that you’re a home selling pro. Afterall, everyone needs a place to live.
Whether you’re just getting started on Instagram or you’re just getting started with your real estate business, my free Instagram Profile Cheat Sheet will help your audit and optimize your Instagram profile, helping you show up in search and attract your ideal client. Get your cheat sheet by sharing your name and email address below!