I’m about to drop a serious truth bomb. It’ll either make you hate me or fall in love with my “you’ve got spinach in your teeth” honesty about your Instagram posts. Ready? If your feed looks like a constant flow of real estate-related content, then you’re missing the mark… big time!

Because like I always say, “It doesn’t matter how great your design is if your content sucks.” *womp womp*

The best brands out there (think Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola) don’t really sound like brands. And they definitely don’t sound like a boring business selling just computers, shoes, and soda. They show up as more than just what they sell and that’s because *drumroll please* people love to buy from, learn from, and most importantly work with people. You need to be showing up as more than just your real estate work or you’ll find it difficult to attract an audience outside of your peers or bots (that, let’s be honest here… you paid for, boo!).

So how do you get out of the content slump and sashay into a more balanced and brilliantly on-brand territory? The answer…buckets.

Yes, buckets! I’ve talked about these category-style buckets before, but you need to start thinking about what you can bring to the table as either offshoots of real estate (think staging tips, your gardening hobby, your penchant for travel-turned-into-architecture-of-the-world content) or things you can add into your marketing to diversify your brand and introduce some personality into the mix (i.e., amateur cooking tips a la Jennifer Garner, book reviews a la Oprah, or even curly hair how-tos if you always get compliments on your curly locks).

The thing is…most people are heading over to Instagram to be entertained, be inspired, get educated (quickly), or connect. If your content is real estate-focused 24/7, you’re not really doing any of those things. You’re pretty much only selling yourself or your services or your product (hello, just listeds, I’m talking to you!) all the time, which can come across as salesy AF. I don’t know about you, but being sold to on the ‘gram is not my idea of a good time.

If you’re reeling right now, wondering “How the heck am I supposed to make a living without posting my business-related content?” don’t fret, my friend. You can absolutely still post those just listeds and just solds and even market stats. But I encourage you to add *other* content to the mix to balance things out.

Come up with 5 to 9 ways to connect with your audience and then create a content plan that rotates between them daily. That way, when people land on your profile, they see a well-rounded and REAL real estate agent they can’t wait to work with.

Still stuck? Feel like you don’t have anything outside houses to share? Here’s a list of content ideas for realtors:

• Share your hobbies (mountain climbing, knitting, your weird organizing habit…these all make you human, which is exactly what we WANT to see more!)
• How-tos (your expertise broken down into bite-sized content – for example, how to make your entryway more welcoming, how to display your artwork, etc. etc.)
• Testimonials (bonus points for videos of your clients singing your praises!)
• Awards and accolades
• You in your element (helping clients, talking to clients, sharing that time you helped a client move when the movers were no-shows…we definitely want to know about that!)
• Behind the scenes – think driving to an open house, your 2 p.m. Starbucks run, your office
• About you (snap a selfie and tell us what you’re all about)
• Inspiring quotes
• Home tours (the kind where you show your face!)
• Before and afters (staging, landscaping, room makeovers)
• Family life (introduce the people who support you and love you and why you do what you do)
• Pets, friends, team members, kids, coaches, colleagues (let us into the wonder that is your life!)
• Neighbourhood highlights (snap a photo of a favourite local spot and tell us why you love it!)
• Brand-isms (have things you say all the time, or things you do that set you apart? Share them, sis!)

You are now armed and ready to hit the ground running! Yes!