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CENTURY 21® Social: 3 Ways to Use Instagram Stories

July 12, 2017 By

Instagram has followed Snapchat’s lead in providing a separate feed dedicated to showcasing a user’s activities within the past 24 hours. Stories provides a time-sensitive “day in the life” overview of a single user’s postings by offering an in-the-moment view that makes followers feel like part of the action. While this may be a problem for Snapchat, it’s great for real estate agents. Now you can target followers with two very different content approaches all within one network.

Read on to learn what you can do with Instagram Stories.

Highlight Your Listings

From sneak peeks to virtual tours — Instagram Stories gives clients a new way to look at listings. First, it allows agents to link all of their photos together to display as one cohesive stream to promote listings and events. Its video capability also allows agents to share brief virtual tours to help followers get a glimpse of the bigger picture. No matter which visual approach you choose, Stories offers the option to draw on the photos or place markers so that you can highlight all your favorite features of the home.

 

Share the Spotlight

Instagram Stories boasts native features that help users enhance the content they share — a couple in particular, are very beneficial for agents:

  1. Stickers: Customizable sticker options allow agents to add context about the location, weather, or time. The location feature in particular is useful because users can tap the sticker to learn more about the location — giving agents an opportunity to share important open house information or highlight local businesses in the community they serve.
  2. Mentions: Similar to locations, mentions allow agents to tag Instagram accounts in a story. This is another great way to interact and highlight local businesses or influential people in the area.
     
    If you host weekly happy hours, networking events, or any other gatherings on a consistent basis, consider promoting them with Instagram Stories.

 

Unique Content

The first rule for any social media content is to ensure that it is providing value to the audience. Instagram Stories offers a unique way to do this. For example, DIY tutorials for new homeowners or sellers trying to make repairs can offer value followers will appreciate. Stories also provides a great opportunity to showcase the everyday life of an agent and their personality, which is crucial for developing (and retaining) connections.

As with any new feature, the best way to figure out what works for you is to experiment. Start by thinking of something you can create for each of the categories mentioned above and see where the stories take you.

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Organization 101: The Best Home Organization Inspiration on Instagram

March 18, 2015 By

Have you ever heard the saying, “An organized home is a happy home?” When your home is organized, life can be calmer. Everything in the home has a place, but sometimes finding that place isn’t so easy. Get inspired instantly by these expert home organizers on Instagram.

One look at these Instagram accounts and you may want to reorganize every room in the house. Seriously.

1. MindOverMatter: There is something so motivating about watching a ‘before and after.’ LeAnn Wolf gives you unique ideas and tips that help make organization easy and fun.

2. NeatMethod: This account is run by a professional organizer who posts daily organizing tips and pictures of beautifully organized rooms. We hope that it will make you feel inspired to color coordinate a closet or two.

3. A Bowl Full of Lemons: When life gives you lemons, get organized. Toni Hammersley’s covers everything from how to clean and organize a bathroom to how to pack lunch. Help simplify your life by doing the tasks she describes almost daily.

4. Simply Organized: As a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and owner of the blog “Simply Organized,” Samantha Pregenzer is more than qualified to offer organizational advice. Her Instagram account is filled with beautiful photos of perfectly placed binders, baskets, gorgeously organized closets, and much more.

What are you waiting for? Get some inspiration then start organizing!

Recommended Reading:

-From Chaos to Clean

-Instagram Inspiration: Interior Designers to Follow on Instagram

-5 Ways to Create a Beautiful Backyard

 

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Organization 101: The Best Home Organization Inspiration on Instagram

March 17, 2015 By

Have you ever heard the saying, “An organized home is a happy home?” When your home is organized, life can be calmer. Everything in the home has a place, but sometimes finding that place isn’t so easy. Get inspired instantly by these expert home organizers on Instagram.

 

 

 

One look at these Instagram accounts and you may want to reorganize every room in the house. Seriously.

 

  1. MindOverMatter: There is something so motivating about watching a ‘before and after.’ LeAnn Wolf gives you unique ideas and tips that help make organization easy and fun.

 

mind

 

  1. NeatMethod: This account is run by a professional organizer who posts daily organizing tips and pictures of beautifully organized rooms. We hope that it will make you feel inspired to color coordinate a closet or two.

Neat

 

 

  1. A Bowl Full of Lemons: When life gives you lemons, get organized. Toni Hammersley’s covers everything from how to clean and organize a bathroom to how to pack lunch. Help simplify your life by doing the tasks she describes almost daily.

abowl

 

 

  1. Simply Organized:  As a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers and owner of the blog “Simply Organized,” Samantha Pregenzer is more than qualified to offer organizational advice. Her Instagram account is filled with beautiful photos of perfectly placed binders, baskets, gorgeously organized closets, and much more.

simply

 

What are you waiting for? Get some inspiration then start organizing!

 

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Instagram Inspiration: Interior Designers to Follow

February 3, 2015 By

The goal of decorating your home should be to reflect your taste and to create a space where you enjoy spending time. Stay up to date on new interior design trends to inspire your design updates. Whether you’re moving to a brand new home, or sprucing up your old one, there’s always room for inspiration.

Follow your favorite interior designers on Instagram for instant inspiration. Here are a few interior designers we admire.

1. Jonathan Adler: Jonathan Adler’s Instagram feed is beautiful rooms filled with colorful throw pillows, duck figurines, and gorgeous flower arrangements. Follow Adler for inspiration on decorating with bright colors, patterns, and quirky accessories.

 

2. Emily Henderson: This interior designer turned style blogger keeps her Instagram feed filled with colorful art and sleek design trends. From serene bedroom setups to brightly lit sunrooms, you can find plenty of insight on her feed.

 

3. Grace Bonney: Bonney has an eccentric, abstract design aesthetic. From geometric patterns to colorful quilts, Bonney is bound to make you want to add some life to any room.

 

4. Kate Arends: Arends has a simplistic design style. She favors clean lines, white walls, and a clutter-free home. Follow her if you hope to achieve a clean, modern look for your home.

A photo posted by Kate Arends (@witanddelight_) on Jan 28, 2015 at 3:52pm PST

 

5. Caitlin Wilson Textiles: Caitlin’s feed is filled with crisp, simple spaces with vibrant pops of color thrown in. Caitlin is known for her textiles and her pillows, furniture, and decor that can complete any room. Try adding a few pillows to your couch or bed for a budget-friendly upgrade.

 

6. Studio McGee: Syd and Shea McGee, the husband and wife behind Studio McGee have a classic, timeless, and preppy aesthetic. Their designs often incorporate white, gold, and pastels. They certainly follow their motto which is to, “Make life beautiful.”

A photo posted by Studio McGee (@studiomcgee) on Jan 27, 2015 at 3:45pm PST

 

You should make your home decor decisions based on what makes you and your family feel good. Advice and inspiration from professionals is just an added bonus that might spark your interest to try something new!

 

Recommended Reading:

-How to Make a House a Home: Creating Memories

-Small Changes, Big Difference: 5 Low-Cost ways to Give Your Home a New Look

-5 Ways to Take Your Living Room from Good to Great

 

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Instagram Tips for Real Estate Agents

August 22, 2014 By

Instagram is a social media platform that allows people to share and edit photos. More than 100 million people use Instagram every month, making it a valuable space to engage with potential, current, and past clients. Use Instagram to showcase listings, promote your personal brand, and generate leads.

Here are a few best practices for Instagram.

1. Optimize Images: Instagram is a visual platform so the most important best practice is that the images are visually appealing. Whenever possible, take photos when there is natural light and take photos that are clear and focused. One of the unique features of Instagram is the ability to edit photos. Users can apply filters and make advanced edits to components like brightness, saturation, contrast, and warmth. There is also wide variety of third party editing tools such as Snapseed and Afterlight. These apps provide even more editing tools and features.

2. Utilize Hashtags: If you caption your photo with a hashtag such as #RealEstate #Listing or #HouseForSale, your followers will able to click it and track all photos captioned with that hashtag. Using hashtags is an essential and necessary part of boosting engagement and creating a following on Instagram. It allows people to find and follow you in a simpler way. People can also search for hashtags and photos will come up in search. This is a great way to get noticed as a user!

3. Engage with Followers: Follow and engage with other users. You can find people to follow by searching hashtags that interest you. Once you’ve followed people engage with them by liking posts and leaving meaningful comments.

4. Analyze Timing: Timing matters on Instagram. There are times of the day when your community is more active. It is important to know when your followers are online so you can interact with them and, hopefully, get more engagement on your photos. Most communities are more engaged at night so consider posting pictures in the evening. You can track your most engaged time of the day by using Iconosquare, a website that analyzes your Instagram statistics.

5. Create Videos: Videos are a newer feature to come to Instagram. You can take a short video tour of your listing to give buyers a look before even entering the home. If they like what they see, they can contact you immediately to set up a time to meet. Potential clients may also be so impressed with your innovative new media skills that they will call you when they are ready to buy or sell a home.

6. Promote Posts: Share your photos on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and your blog to create maximum engagement and exposure.

7. Use Instagram Photo Maps: When posting a photo to Instagram, you have the option to add location, essentially adding it to your photo maps. The photo will show up on an actual map, allowing your followers to see where you have taken the most photos. This will allow you to show your knowledge of certain areas and neighborhoods and the exact location of any listings.

Now that you know these best practices you can apply them and grow your Instagram following. Interested in learning more about how social media can help your career? Read our best practices for Twitter, Pinterest, and SEO.

Recommended Reading:

-Home Office Essentials

-Productivity Tips for Working from Home

-Picture Perfect: How to Take Great Photos of Your Home

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