Use Instagram To Market Your Cayman Real Estate Business Online

The real estate market in the Cayman Islands, after several challenging years, is rapidly growing again. Property transactions are picking up and residential property construction is improving dramatically amidst increased consumer and investor confidence.

With strong demand, coupled with limited supply, the housing market is now turning into a seller's market.

In this robust and highly competitive environment, as a real estate business, it becomes a priority to be able to reach out to your potential customers and vice versa.

Keeping pace with the digital revolution - traditional marketing just doesn't yield the results. This is where your Digital Marketing strategy comes into play.

There are multiple digital channels that a real estate business can now choose from to showcase their properties and engage with potential customers. The options could range from having a fast responsive website which is easy to navigate and is mobile and search engine-friendly, up to but not limited to the use of social media platforms.

Amongst the top social digital platforms for marketing real estate is Instagram.

According to Instagram, 1 Billion+ accounts are active every month and 80% of these accounts follow a business. The focus on photos and videos make this platform ideal for showcasing commercial and residential properties. It allows potential customers not only to see the properties but also to interact with followers, make new connections and spread the word. Moreover, a study shows that Instagram boasts a robust 2.2% interaction rate which is much more than other social platforms. Thus, increasing brand engagement.

Getting started

One of the primary things to remember about Instagram is that it works on the basis of interaction. What this means is that the more people, businesses, and influencers (within reason) you follow the better it is since those people are likely to follow you back and this is a great way to get started and engage.

Start with a compelling business profile. According to a survey by Instagram, 60% of people discover new products and services on Instagram. A business profile allows you to add contact information and provides you with useful insights into your post which isn’t available for personal profiles.

Post pictures, videos, add a logo and a website link. Also, do some research on the age, gender, and income of Instagram users to help you understand and reach your target audience. You can get some great insights by clicking here. Next, promote your real estate business by cross-posting on all other platforms – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter – to bring your followers to Instagram and into the fold of your latest digital platform.

Posting and creating #AwesomeContent

This can be a tricky area, as you don’t want to display everything. Make sure you have a clear visual style, something that showcases your properties in interesting and enticing ways. You can also post videos of properties accenting their unique features to allure your prospects. Instagram has various features like live videos and Insta stories that help with engagement.

Don’t take hashtags lightly! The hashtags have proved to be the driving forces behind making a campaign successful when used smartly. Think of the hashtag as a keyword that enables users to search for your product. These keywords optimize your post and allow it to find the right audience as well. According to research conducted by markets.us, a post with one hashtag has an average of 12.6% more engagement than the one without it. You can use as many as 30 hashtags, but 10 is the optimal number. Too many hashtags may result in a lower engagement rate.

Let your personality shine

Use this platform not only for visual effects but also to reveal your real estate company’s personality. Use customer testimonials or stories; present team bios in a lighthearted (but respectful) way; and add reposts from employees and/or satisfied customers. Showing a range of happy people associated with your company and the homes or commercial properties they have bought/sold through your firm helps create trust and a positive image.

Use your posts to educate

In addition to all of the above, use your Instagram presence to provide some reliable information about the real estate market in the Cayman Islands. You are in a unique position to help educate potential customers about real estate agents, associated on-island costs, location, strata law (and other pertinent laws), investment benefits and information about offshore vs. onshore buying and selling.

Sell the location and support Local Businesses

Not every post has to be about the business. A majority of customers that are looking for real estate are also interested in what the country and the locality has in terms of accessibility via public transport, recreational facilities including restaurants, shopping outlets, grocery stores, etc. Hashtagging these businesses and/or mentioning them will work in a complementary way enabling your customers to get a larger perspective and also help local businesses who may follow and tag you back in their posts. Cross tagging is a very efficient way to build awareness and your audience and enable engagement. This is also a good practice to follow to support the local market.

Advertise on Instagram

If you want to advance your presence and your message further, you can drive awareness through ad campaigns. These campaigns can be posted as a series of photos or videos, or “carousel” ads, where consumers can swipe to see additional images or videos, and what Instagram calls “stories” ads. A report states that videos get 21.2% more interaction than images. It’s worth taking a look at all options to determine which ones might work for marketing real estate.

Once you know your business goals and are ready to market real estate on Instagram, it’s worth considering whether you want to handle the job yourself or hire experts to take care of the details and the postings as well as analyze the insights. Netclues’ team of social media marketing experts can help.