Key Takeaways
- In a highly competitive rental market, landlords must craft compelling listings and implement smart marketing strategies to attract tenants.
- A strong rental listing includes a clear headline, high-quality photos, and a detailed yet concise description covering amenities, lease terms, and pet policies.
- Posting on high-traffic listing sites like Zillow, Apartments.com, and Zumper—alongside leveraging social media and listing syndication—can greatly expand your property’s reach.
- Paid advertising and limited traditional marketing can supplement digital strategies, especially when targeting specific audiences or high-traffic areas.
- With the right tools and tactics, marketing your rental effectively can help you find quality tenants faster and build long-term success in your real estate business.
Using TikTok and Instagram To Market Your Rental Business
Social media has taken our society by storm in recent years, with the biggest, trendiest platforms boasting billions of users (not millions — billions). Take, for instance, TikTok and Instagram, two major forms of social media that appeal to younger audiences, which have 1.8 and 2 billion users respectively. The widespread use of social media in our society’s everyday lives makes creating a brand for your rental business a powerful tool to generate leads for real estate marketing, even if you're already getting help from a listing or real estate agent. If you’re a landlord with an existing online presence, the idea of joining these platforms may be exciting to you. Think of the ways you could expand your reach to new tenants! If you’re not so connected to the internet, however, the thought of putting you and your real estate business out there for the world to see may be scary. Don’t be discouraged, though. A strong social media presence is crucial for connecting with potential clients and building your personal brand—and thankfully, getting started is simple. Below, we share a few tips that will help you become a pro at real estate social media posts in no time.Why It’s Important
Why is social media important? It may seem like it’s only for dancing videos and selfies (and to be fair, there are a lot of those), but social media serves a purpose and has the potential to improve your business in unprecedented ways. Using real estate social media allows you to build a brand online. People who view your accounts will learn more about who you are and what you value — plus, they’ll get to see your properties through your eyes. That’s a powerful way to showcase properties to potential clients and demonstrate how amazing your units really are. Social media is, above all else, a place to communicate. The real estate industry leverages social media to connect and enhance engagement. Various real estate professionals use social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram to get news updates, gather information, and discuss any number of popular topics. Staying current and being a part of these conversations can lead to trust and, ultimately, revenue.Using TikTok for Real Estate
One of the fastest-growing social media sites is TikTok. TikTok is a short-form video-based app that also emphasizes audio. Posters may utilize a meme audio or a popular song at the top of the charts to accompany their videos, and those videos can be about anything under the sun. Though used predominantly by Gen Z and other younger people, TikTok isn’t all jokes. Businesses such as yours have a market on TikTok, and you can make an impact if you frame your content the right way. The videos you make should be short (within TikTok’s 10-minute limit) and should make your properties sound exciting. Being passionate about your units can go a long way when marketing real estate on TikTok. TikTok is a powerful social media platform that you can leverage for real estate marketing to build your brand presence.Trends and Hashtags
One of the easiest ways to gain engagement on TikTok is by using hashtags and trends. Virality is an important aspect of the platform and if you can get the algorithm to pick up your content, views will pour in, and your audience will find you more easily. If you notice a specific song or clip from a TV show is being used in a lot of videos, try adding it to your next post. This will not only help people find your content but will show potential tenants that you’re current and connected, too. For example, the song “Ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine became a trend when posters began using a 15-second clip from it and running dramatically with the camera following behind them. This TikTok by @kyle_toomey captures the humor of the trend while also giving you a peek into a property. Hashtags can help people find you when searching. If you’re based in Chicago and post a video captioned, “#ChicagoRealEstate,” people searching those same terms are more likely to come across your content and your units, pulling in new tenants.Walkthrough Videos
Another idea to showcase properties on TikTok is to make walkthrough videos of your properties. You set the tone — what makes your space stand out? Is there a particularly sought-after amenity in your units? Do you include parking or allow pets? Talking about and showing off these features with high-quality photos and video will attract potential tenants to your business and can also serve as entertainment for others. Who doesn’t love to ooh and aah at a nice apartment, especially ones that have been staged and prepared by real estate agents? This video by @jackiechicagorealtor shows a rental walkthrough with a voiceover to emphasize the highlights of the space — and uses the same hashtags mentioned above for extra views and Tik Tok real estate engagement.Building Your Business with Instagram Real Estate Marketing
If TikTok doesn’t seem to fit your goals or skills, using Instagram for real estate marketing might be a better option for you and your business. Instagram is a part of Meta, the larger company that owns Facebook and WhatsApp, and is a visual social media platform used primarily for sharing photos. Many businesses create Instagram accounts to advertise their products or services, and you should too. With this platform, you can easily take, edit, and post photos of your units and your community to build an online connection with your tenants that will ultimately grow your business. High-quality photos on your Instagram social media accounts can build trust and engagement in your business over time.Carousels
One of the most popular features of Instagram is carousels, which allow you to post up to ten photos or videos at once that you can scroll through one by one. Crafting engaging real estate Instagram posts in carousels is crucial, as they can captivate the audience’s attention right from the first glance. For example, if you posted a unit spotlight that focused on a specific property of yours, you could post up to ten shots of different rooms and features in the apartment to highlight its unique features and aspects. This provides a way for tenants to get a closer look at your units without having to search too hard. If you rent to a community that stays pretty connected, you could post content (with permission) of current tenants enjoying their space or showing off their interior decorating skills. Content highlighting resident events, holiday raffles, or other tenant interaction not only excites current tenants, but entices prospective renters to submit an application and become a member of your tight-knit community. Don’t forget to do slight editing to your content before it gets posted. It’s important to be honest in how you depict your units online so you don’t mislead tenants, but it doesn’t hurt to brighten up the lighting in a photo to make the space look more inviting or crop a photo to draw focus to a certain subject.Reels
Just like TikTok, Instagram has a video feature that focuses heavily on recommendations and algorithms: reels. This feature is essentially Instagram’s TikTok, where you can scroll through short-form videos and like, comment on, and share them with friends. Video content has become the bread and butter of many social media platforms, so don’t miss out on posting reels, too, which are among the best Instagram marketing real estate strategies. The same tips apply for both social media platforms: use trends, hashtags, and creative video ideas like unit walkthroughs. Instagram Stories are also highly effective for real estate marketing, allowing leasing agents especially to engage potential clients by posting listings and highlights that foster interaction. Real estate professionals can leverage Instagram Reels and Stories to enhance their marketing efforts, networking, and sharing best practices for lead generation while building an online presence. As you can tell, real estate social media marketing on platforms like TikTok and Instagram is a strategic and essential tool for engaging clients and showcasing properties effectively.Conclusion
It’s important not to get too overwhelmed with your business’ online persona. All in all, leveraging social media apps like Instagram and TikTok for marketing real estate should be fun and informative for your audience and potential clients. If worries about social media are keeping you up at night, you might need to change your approach. Social media is an outlet to show off your creativity, your properties, and to generate leads – so find content that inspires you, and when you’re ready, hit “post.”
