As a real estate agent, it takes a lot of effort to acquire new clients, but the good news is that after you work together once, your newest clients are highly likely to work with you the next time they move. In fact, 90% percent of homebuyers said they would use their real estate agent again or recommend them to others, according to NAR’s 2019 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
It’s not unusual to move or buy a second home. But it’s not beneficial to you if your clients are looking out of state where you aren’t licensed. The ideal repeat buyer niche is people who move locally—and right now there are plenty of them. Young families, capitalizing on low interest rates, are upgrading their starter homes, and many urban-dwelling millennials are escaping city density and moving to the suburbs.
In fact, 73% percent of those under 40 years old want to move in the next 10 years, and a quarter of them plan to remain within the same city or neighborhood.
Therefore, if you’re going to spend time and money acquiring new clients, it’s wise to be targeting those who could be repeat clients for years to come.
Where to find new clients
How can you find these people and reach them? They’re online, specifically on Instagram. A majority of the platform’s 105 million monthly active U.S. users are in this 40-and-under age group.
These people aren’t just scrolling aimlessly. They’re scrolling with absorbed attention for an average of 53 minutes per day. This stat makes Instagram one of the most engaging social media platforms and an ideal place to showcase your listing photos. With six in 10 users logging in at least once a day, there are many opportunities to get your listing ad in front of buyers and sellers.
How you can reach them on Instagram
Maintaining a business profile on the platform replete with eye-catching photos of your listing is a solid first step. However, organic growth is a marathon effort, and you shouldn’t expect to amass a huge following out of the gate. You could spend years building an organic presence only to reach maybe 20 new people in a week. Though they might not even be the “right” people.
Instead, the most efficient—and guaranteed—way to reach the right audience is through advertising. Instagram allows you to specify the characteristics of the audience you want to reach. It then scrapes its user data to produce a guaranteed minimum number of impressions for your budget.
Advertising to your sphere is just as important as reaching a new audience. When past clients view your listing ad, they’ll see that you’re still a practicing agent, and a successful one at that. Remember when we said that 90% percent of homebuyers would use their agent again or recommend them to others? Advertising to your sphere is an easy way to ensure you gain their business again. If your past clients aren’t ready to move, you’ll at least be top of mind the next time they’re in a situation to recommend an agent.
How Homesnap can help
Homesnap Pro Ads can create a custom audience set for your sphere and target those folks along with the repeat homebuying audience you’re after. We’ll manage your entire ad campaign for you, including creating your actual listing ad, optimizing performance settings as your ad runs, and sending you leads the instant they come in.
We provide you with a daily performance report that tracks ad metrics, like views and clicks, and breaks down demographic data so you know who you’re reaching and how they’re engaging with your ad.
We also provide a client-friendly report you can share with your sellers to demonstrate your marketing efforts.You can then reuse it in listing presentations to help you win new business.