Joy Bender

By Joy Bender

With 1 billion Instagram users, you’re missing out if you’re not using Instagram influencer marketing as part of your luxury property sales strategy.

To help other real estate professionals figure out how to market on Instagram, I’ve created a two-part blog series. This post outlines what social media influencer marketing is and how can be advantageous to your business.

1. Understand the World of Influencers

First things first, step out of your real estate bubble for a second and try to understand who an influencer is and what they do. Influencers are basically online celebrities and professional advertisers all in one. They’re everyday people with a significant number of social media followers who have figured out how to use their audience to make money. Influencers partner with all kinds of businesses, including fitness brands, hotel companies, beauty product lines, and more. Why shouldn’t this tactic work for real estate, too? Connecting with an influencer could help you reach thousands of highly engaged individuals and create a buzz around your marketing message.

2. Know Your Market

There aren’t many influencers out there who specialize in real estate alone. For real estate professionals who want to connect with an influencer, it’s as simple as identifying the top social stars in your community or from markets where you think your ideal buyers live. I don’t think it matters as much what niche your influencer is in, as long as it’s not completely off brand. It probably won’t surprise you learn that the younger models are generally being followed by older professional males. Maybe it’s time to throw an epic event at your high-end listing with local well-known models on Instagram, or  invite a few business moguls for a five-course dining experience.

3. Stage For Your Shoot

Once you’ve reached out to the best influencers for your target audience, you have to get to staging. You should already be familiar with home staging for open houses and special showings. When it comes to Instagram influencer marketing, though, you have to take things to the next level. Stage the areas of the house that you plan to showcase online with the influencer’s brand in mind. Think of the colors that will work well in the space, how to make the room look as desirable as possible, and draw attention to any unique features worth focusing on. It might be worthwhile to invite the influencer you plan to work with to give their input during the staging process. This will help you be as on-brand as possible, which will better reach the audience you want to connect with.

Then, it’s time to shoot! Here’s a secret about Instagram influencers: Many of them work with professional photographers and videographers to create the perfect content. Ask the person you’re partnering with who they use for their photos or if they prefer for you to book the photographer. From there, your photo and/or video shoot should provide the Instagram influencer with enough content for more than one post. While the shoot is going on, invite them to share details in an Instagram story.

4. Share and Build Excitement

Joy Bender and her husband at a recent luxury listing event.

After the all the photos are taken and the rest of the Instagram content is prepared, the work still isn’t over. You have to leverage the excitement generated by the influencer’s feature of the home you’re trying to sell.

Remember, influencers are not salespeople. They will talk about luxury properties in a general way and maybe mention a cool feature or two. It’s their job to draw attention to you with an interesting photo and a fun caption. Then, it’s your job to then turn such hype into potential sales. So, watch the buzz around an influencer’s post carefully. Notice which comments are coming from users with a high-end lifestyle, particularly the ones in your area. Even better, create some sort of lead generation strategy within the terms of your influencer partnership. A great way to do this is to pay for them to include links in their story or on their personal page. The link can lead to your site or some sort of opt-in for users to enter their email.

5. Make Use of Instagram Influencer Marketing for Your Next Listing

Are you having trouble selling a unique one of a kind home with a big price tag? Do you need a unique marketing angle to stand out amongst the competition? Not to worry—with Instagram influencer marketing, luxury real estate can become much easier to manage. Try it out for yourself and see what happens.

In part two of this social media influencer series, I will go into more detail on how to execute an event and capture the right footage. Stay tuned!

Joy Bender is the co-founder and owner of Aumann Bender & Associates, San Diego real estate agents with Compass. She has a passion for digital marketing at her Extraordinary Real Estate Blog and helping clients discover San Diego’s lifestyle. Joy helps real estate agents create content and learn about digital marketing to generate their own leads, learn about breaking into the high end of their market, and about selling to the affluent. Request to join my free Facebook Group.