How to: Generate Leads on Instagram as a Real Estate Agent

Is it possible to generate quality leads from Instagram? We firmly believe the answer is YES. Instagram is a tried and tested platform to build trust with your audience, provide value, make connections, and ultimately convert leads into clients. Follow some of our best advice below for generating leads on Instagram and a real estate agent.

Is your Instagram set up for success?

Is your profile showing up when people search for a real estate agent in your city?
Your username and display name are searchable – so make sure to include these three keywords in either your username or display name: your name, your city, and “real estate” or “realtor”

What is the first impression people get when they visit your profile?
Think about what people see when they visit your page for the first time. In your bio, you have 150 characters to encourage people to take action. Clearly tell people what you post about and how you can help them.

Consider this: If I visit a profile and see a bunch of generic graphics and no faces, I do not follow. If I see a consistent face, consistent branding, and clear topics on what each post is about – I’m hitting “follow.”

In the Coffee & Contracts Membership: Search for “Instagram Audit Worksheet”

Create an incentive & landing page to collect email addresses

Don’t rely on Instagram for communication with your followers. Build an email list so that you can reach your audience directly without relying on a third-party platform. If your Instagram is banned or deleted, you risk losing your hard-earned followers.

First: Come up with a free incentive to offer to your audience in exchange for their contact information. (Think: free market report, buyer/seller guides or checklists, exclusive insights, free consultations, or a valuable resource that your target audience would find useful).

Second: Set up a landing page using your website, email client, or CRM.

Add this link to your Instagram bio and end your posts with a strong Call To Action (CTA); driving people to the link in your bio.

In the Coffee & Contracts Membership: Use the CTAs included in our content calendar posts to direct people to your bio to access the free incentive. Use our guides & checklists as your incentive.

Set up ManyChat to send automated DMs

Another way to send people to your landing page is through ManyChat. Easily set up an automation so that when someone comments a particular word on your post, it sends them a message.

Ask for their email in the message, and ManyChat will add their email to their contact information within your ManyChat account. You can integrate ManyChat with your CRM or email client to add them to your email list. Another option is to have the ManyChat send the lead the direct link to your form or landing page.

Also, try out a service like PaperTurn or FlipSnack to turn your Coffee & Contracts templates into an interactive digital flip book.

Now, let’s set up your email campaigns

Using your CRM or email client, set up an automated email sequence, or drip campaign, to send a series of pre-written emails to your prospects and clients at specific intervals. These sequences are designed to keep your leads engaged and help move them through the buying or selling process by providing valuable information and building trust.

When creating your email campaigns, consider this:

What’s your goal? Do you want to educate your prospects, build trust, start a conversation, or stay top of mind?
Segment your audience based on their interests or demographics. This will help you personalize your messages and increase the relevance of your content.
Choose a frequency that works for you: daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Make sure each email is focused on a specific topic and includes a clear call-to-action.

In the Coffee & Contracts Membership: Search “Infinite Email Campaign” for email drips to use for sellers and first-time buyers.

Lead-generating content ideas

It’s important to create content with a goal in mind: to build trust, to get more engagements (comments, shares, saves, etc), or to generate leads. Here are some ideas for content that is great for lead generation:

Schedule an "Agent Preview" for hot new listings or new construction projects and go show them off in your stories. Use question stickers to get your audience to ask questions about these properties.
Create a "Buyer Needs" post for what your clients are looking for. This can result in potential seller leads that have a match, and buyers reaching out because they want you to do the same for them.
Start a conversation with your audience on stories and ask them questions like “What’s the #1 thing holding you back from buying your first home?”
Feature different neighborhoods in your city and for the CTA ask if anyone would like a list of what’s available in that area.

Keep this in mind…

We’ve all seen a post from an Instagram “Guru” with the headline “This strategy generated me $80,000 in sales” or “How I got 20 leads from one post.”

Keep in mind that selling real estate is a completely different sales experience compared to other products or services that are promoted on Instagram.

Remember: the “sales cycle” of real estate transactions are far longer than most other products and services. Rather than trying to generate leads all the time, focus on establishing yourself as a trusted expert and on building relationships.

Head over to Coffee & Contracts for hundreds of templates, scripts, and ideas. We create content that will help you get seen, build trust and establish relationships online.