A real estate agent emailed me and asked what I thought about doing Pinterest for real estate agents. She wanted to know if she could reliably get local buyers and sellers for her business. Here are all my best tips and ideas for how to get the best leads for your real estate practice!
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My First Take On Whether Your Can Get Buyers and Sellers From Pinterest
I think it would be very random to get real estate buyers or sellers directly from a Pinterest pin. You would have to have a link to your contact form or a phone number for them to call (not a bad idea, let's talk more about that later!)
Instead you should be using Pinterest as a way to nurture leads and find new prospects that might be moving in the future!
That said, you need to stop worrying so much about HOW it works and focus on what you can control, producing super cool Pinterest pins that will attract buyers and sellers to you!
How To Get Pictures To Pin
You KNOW how many houses you are going into and you should be taking pictures ALL OF THE TIME even when you don't know what you are going to be using them for.
Having a camera roll of house and decor photos is a great way to win at the Pinterest game because you will have authentically fresh pictures that no one else has previously shared!
Pinterest ranks pictures this way:
Worst… free stock photos that may have been used for all kinds of posts, not just real estate posts
Okay… paid stock photos that haven't been used to death, but still may not be the right “niche popular” for your real estate business
Best… your own pictures that no one else has used and totally fresh pins!
Additional resource :: Everything You Need To Know About “Fresh Pins” On Pinterest
For example, I walked out my front door and took the pictures for real estate posts (and yes that is my terrible front porch!)
Free Canva pin templates I used from Tailwind!
What To Pin About For Buyers
You know me and I am a huge proponent of prospecting for sellers, BUT in order to get leads, you might want to start your Pinterest quest by focusing on buyers.
What you want to think about is what someone who is moving to your area would be putting on a board. So …
- Best Neighborhoods St Pete
- How Much Do Houses In St Pete Cost
- Top Features To Look For In St Pete Houses
- How To Decorate Your Florida Home
You want to try and think about what someone moving to the area would would be interested in learning about (ask your out of town buyers what they searched for!)
Doing Real Searches On Pinterest
Once you have brainstormed your own pin ideas, make sure to go onto Pinterest to find out what Pinterest “suggests” about pins.
To do this, go to the top search bar and start typing… you will see some ideas…
So now we know that buying your first home and buying land are great pins we could make! There is already interest on Pinterest for that kind of content.
Let's do another one, curb appeal….
Oh my gosh, this one gives me such good ideas! Of course curb appeal on a budget, but think of how many before and afters you could have pictures for (not just curb appeal but changes you recommend inside of houses too!)
But it gets even easier! Pinterest will then give you suggestions of things that you can pin about…
Now we can add the words Ranch Style, Small Home, Modern, Mid Century, Colonial, Front Porch.
What Should YOU Pin About?
Okay, now you want me to tell you EXACTLY what to pin about that will get you more buyers and sellers, but that is impossible!
Instead think about what YOU like the most about real estate and start thinking about what you can add to Pinterest that will make it better.
For example, I LOVE decorating and if I saw this list I would do “before and after front porch makeovers”. I would get anyone who let me to use my “stuff” and take their crappy looking porch and make it pretty.
But what I couldn't do as a Florida gal is do “Tips For Showcasing A Colonial Style Home”. There are about 3 Colonial homes in a 50 mile radius and they stick out from the ranch style homes like sore thumb.
You talk to buyers and sellers EVERY day, start writing down all their questions and what they are super interested in. Then merge that with what you are super interested in and you have your themes for your pictures and boards!
Pinterest Tips For Real Estate Agents
Here are some tips and ideas that I would use if I was a real estate agent starting to do Pinterest!
Put your email address or phone number on your pins!
I KNOW, everyone wants to think that no one makes phone calls anymore, but if you don't mind getting phone calls, put your number in your Pin descriptions! Talking to someone from online practically guarantees that you will be the one they call when they are ready to move!
Make Pinterest Boards For Your Interests
Just pinning your pins and leaving Pinterest right away will probably not work so well, you want to USE Pinterest too! So I would for sure have a Board called “Pretty Porches – Before and Afters” that I could put all MY pins on, but also share other pin images I found.
Start creating boards called “Trinity Real Estate” etc. that target your own niche area, but remember that Pinterest users want things that are interesting, not just marketing materials from Realtors!
Don't Worry About Branding
I can hear the gasps from here… not do branding? If all your pins look the same you will only appeal to one kind of user, you want to have a variety of different looks so that your pins get saved.
Remember, Pinterest isn't as much about “building your brand” per se as it is about being interesting and attracting the attention of people who like what you like!
Don't Worry About Follower Numbers
I KNOW, more blasphemy! But you have to know how Pinterest works to understand why having 50 followers that like what you like are better than having 500 followers who are random.
When you post a pin Pinterest will show it to people they think will like it AND some of your followers. If those people like then they will show it to more people, but if those people don't pin it or click, it will die on the vine.
You can see this on your pin stats… for example, the one on the right did great, the one on the left not so much!
Don't fall in love with your pins!
This one is super hard! I LOVE the pin on the left, but the Pinterest people did not like it…. sigh.
You want to figure out what people on Pinterest want and then give them more of that!
For example, I HATE that purple pin about how to get listings, but it does really well driving traffic to my website so I have to get over it and make more purple pins (I have done a couple and another purple one did good too… rats!)
Pinterest For Real Estate Agents Wrapup
Okay, that was a lot, but hopefully it will give you a better picture of what you can do for your Pinterest strategy!
There are SO MANY topics that are popular on Pinterest that real estate agents can talk about, get out there and get your share!
If you want more great ideas, check out this podcast, Pinterest for Real Estate: How One Real Estate Agent is Killing It on Simple Pin Media!