5 Instagram Story Prompts for REALTORS® to Boost Engagement

Showing up in your Instagram Stories is great, but what do you post to get your audience to actually engage with you?

No one wants to just talk into the abyss. You want to have some discussion, to generate conversation and interest in what you do as a REALTOR®.

Not only will this help you to build up connections and potential leads, but it also makes the whole process of showing up on Instagram a ton more fun.

5 Instagram Story Prompts & Ideas to Maximize Engagement

The Instagram algorithm is complicated. It doesn’t just look at likes and follows anymore. Instagram takes into account engagement, which means how many people are commenting on your posts or replying to your Instagram Stories.

However, don’t worry about getting into the weeds on the algorithm behind Instagram. We’re shortcutting the process and giving you five Story prompts to boost engagement on your real estate social media content.

1. An Inspirational Quote

This might seem super simple (and it is), but people love to get quick hits of positivity and inspiration when they’re scrolling through Instagram Stories.

Have you ever stumbled upon a great quote and instantly shared it to your own Stories? It takes just a couple of seconds, creates engagement, and helps spread some positive light across social media.

Pick a quote that’s been inspiring you lately, create a quote card on an image editing app, or simply type the quote in your Stories over top of an appealing background.

The quote doesn’t have to be real estate related. You can just allow your own personality and mood to guide what means the most to you right now.

2. What I’m Reading Right Now. How About You?

You never know who in your audience is an avid reader. By sharing a picture of the book you’re reading, you might just find a common thread with some of your followers.

But don’t just post the book cover. Add a little context and let them know what it’s about and why you’re enjoying it. Remember, we always want our social media content to be seen as useful.

To generate engagement with this virtual book club-type post, add a question to your Instagram Story and ask others to reply with what they’re reading right now.

Book lovers will rejoice and send you a list of their to-be-read books as well as their favourites. You’ll get some great book recommendations out of this Story prompt and you’ll have started conversations with your followers to get to know them better.

3. Five Local Accounts You Need to Follow

As a real estate agent, you’re the expert on your town. You know the market stats, the sought-after neighbourhoods and the fancy school districts.

Extend this expertise into other local haunts that people might not have heard of yet, but that you can’t get enough of. Create an Instagram Story that tags these five businesses, local influencers or professionals.

Tagging other accounts makes it easy for them to reshare your Story on their own account. Talk about win-win. You’ll get exposure to their Instagram following and they’ll be introduced to your audience.

You can even tailor this to your ideal clientele. If you mostly work with young families, consider sharing local parks, mom and dad influencers, baby clothing stores, etc.

If you work with a younger single demographic, consider sharing accounts that they’d enjoy, such as new trendy restaurants, city-focused meme or humour accounts, local inspirational entrepreneurs, etc.

4. Ask Me Anything about Local Real Estate

Here’s where you can make use of all the stickers and add-ons that Instagram has in its arsenal of features to make Stories even more exciting.

If you post a picture or video Story, you can add a Questions sticker and type in any question you want to ask your followers.

Example questions you could ask include:

• What are you wondering about real estate in Toronto?
• What do you want to know about the Vancouver condo market?
• Wonder what it’s like to be a real estate agent?
• How can I help you with real estate concerns right now?

You want to approach this from a place of service. Think about what people might want to know right now and how you can provide answers about their real estate questions.

People’s responses to the sticker generate engagement on your account and you can answer the questions in your future Instagram Stories to share your knowledge with all your followers.

5. Create a Poll about Your Specific Real Estate Market

Polls are another Instagram Story sticker that offer a fun way to quiz your audience easily.

People are much more likely to answer a poll with one touch of their finger than they are to respond to a longer question in your Stories. So take advantage of this tool to generate engagement.

A few fun ideas you might consider for poll questions are:

• What’s the average home selling price right now in the GTA?
  • A) Less than $700k
  • B) More than $700k
• Which room renovations add the most value to your home?
  • A) Kitchen
  • B) Washroom
• Does staging a home increase the offer prices received?
  • A) Yes
  • B) No

After your audience replies to these polls, you can share the results to your Stories and then explain the correct answer. You’ll demonstrate your real estate knowledge and have some Insta-fun sharing market insights.

What’s your favourite way to drum up engagement in your Instagram Stories?