Instagram Guides for Multifamily Marketing

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Instagram launched Guides in May 2020 as a health and wellness feature, aiming to support and provide resources for people affected by the pandemic. Six months later, the feature was introduced to all users—and real estate professionals were fast to respond.

Designed as a hybrid between Instagram carousels and blog posts, the highly visual feature and its scrollable content format allow users—whether they are developers, property managers or brokers—to showcase their best content and reach potential renters. What’s more, Guides serve as inspiration for those interested in certain property types or who are on the lookout for their dream home.

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One of the best things about Guides is that it doesn’t require brand new content. You can repurpose your own—or other people’s—content by grouping it into categories your followers deem interesting and useful. Each guide has a cover image, title, introduction and optional descriptions for individual entries. Once created, these will show up on your Instagram profile in a dedicated tab. Guides can also be shared through Instagram stories and direct messages.

We’ve put together a list of ideas to help you get started on marketing your apartment through this useful social media feature.

Introduce your portfolio

When in charge of a large portfolio, property managers can use Instagram Guides to showcase the best or most representative properties. This way, the other users and potential renters can see a small part of the greater picture and get the general feel of the available properties.

Showcase your apartment

Whether it is a one-of-a-kind listing or a recently vacated apartment, property managers or brokers can put in the spotlight a single property of their choosing. They can create a guide with the asset’s amenities or special characteristics by adding images showcasing each of its outstanding features.

Themed posts

One of the best and easiest ways to showcase more properties at the same time is to gather them under a common theme. By reorganizing your feed and grouping together related posts, prospects are given more options to choose from while browsing similar properties.

Rankings

Real estate professionals can create lists with their most sought-after properties, most popular listings or highest-rated communities. Rankings are a versatile and creative way to promote the best-in-anything properties.

Sort by location

Location is by far the top feature renters are after when choosing an apartment. Instagram Guides that feature apartments in a specific area or community are often more helpful than one can imagine.

Property managers can use this feature to highlight the neighborhood’s amenities and fun locations to visit. You can showcase your properties by grouping them into ‘Instagrammable’ cities or neighborhoods—something that both existing and prospective renters will love!

Coming soon…

Guides also allow you to highlight novelty in your portfolio. Build enthusiasm by showcasing new completions or upcoming properties. Populate the guide with high-resolution renderings or photos taken during the project’s construction to keep prospects interested and informed.

Building communities

Guides can also help build networks and keep in touch with the members of a community. Property managers can feature their favorite vendors or clients and even introduce new renters to the rest of the community. In addition, residents can get involved in community events and share the moments they’ve captured.

Building trust and an engaged community are important for multifamily operators—Instagram Guides are a great way to show off all the involvement.