Have you been hearing about service based businesses using Pinterest for marketing? As a realtor, are you wondering if it can work for you? Or maybe someone has told you that you can’t use Pinterest for local businesses. You absolutely can but maybe not in the way that you think.
Let’s take a look at what Pinterest can do for your real estate business.
What is Pinterest?
If you were wondering about Pinterest marketing for business then you know what Pinterest is but just in case… Pinterest is a visual search engine. It’s more of a visual Google than an Instagram or Facebook. While there is some of a social element to it, the main focus is to show pinners what they are looking for.
With social media, interacting with your followers is key to building strong relationships. With Pinterest, you'll let your pins do the talking. It's not a platform where you spend a lot of time answering comments or liking other people's content to bump your visibility. Instead you're going to focus on quality pins and keyword research. I'll go more in depth with that in later sections.
What can Pinterest do for your real estate business?
Pinterest is an amazing traffic driver to your website. People search, they find a pin they want to explore further and click through to the website. Linking is so easy - it's attached right to the pin. No clunky "link in bio", it's a seamless process.
Pinterest is also another prong to your marketing plan. Another prong means another way to stand out, establish your authority in the space and be top of mind when someone thinks real estate. We all know that any platform can go down, be banned or just stop being a popular destination at any given time. Diversifying your marketing is always a good idea.
Building brand awareness is something else Pinterest excels at. You know that anyone can probably name five realtors they know or have seen around at any given time. Be one of those five people think of.
How Pinterest works for service based businesses
You might have noticed during your browsing there are a lot of recipes, DIY and home decor pins. Pinterest is great for those niches (it’s in the kitchen with me every single night). But don’t be so quick to dismiss it for things other than that.
Pinners are also on the platform to get answers to their questions and to get their problems solved. Buying or selling a home definitely raises some questions, especially for first timers. Some searches on the platform are “how to prep your home for sale”, “first time home buyer”, “saving for a house down payment”. Imagine if someone was looking for that kind of information and it led them to you?
Now, before I go any further, I need to address the elephant in the room. The hyperlocality of real estate. Obviously if someone is searching for these things in California and you work in Florida, them finding your content isn’t going to help you. However, by leading them to your blog you can raise your Google ranking provided you are providing valuable information once they’re there. Also by using keywords that include your local market, you're finding people who are looking for information in your area.
I'll talk more about locality a little farther down but another thing to keep in mind, you never know who knows someone that is looking to buy or sell. So even if someone from California is reading your posts, maybe their sister is moving to Florida and needs a realtor. Your name pops into their mind, they tell sister and sister gives you a shout.
If you’re ready to learn more about what Pinterest can do for you as a real estate agent, let’s dive on in.
Related: Why Your Business Needs a Blog
Using Pinterest For Your Real Estate Business
I think every realtor should have their own website and blog. Owning your website means you own your content. It can follow you wherever you might land. When you own your domain, you can also claim it on Pinterest. Pinterest loves a claimed domain because it means it's sending pinners to a legit website. You are also attributed to anything posted to that domain.
Remember what I mentioned earlier about third parties going down, being banned or losing a following? Your website and blog are yours and you're not at the mercy of an algorithm.
Having a blog is also going to attract more people which can ultimately mean more eyes on your listings. With a blog you're able to really get people to know you, like you and trust you without the restriction of 2,200 characters.
I don’t recommend using AI for your blogs. That’s not just the blogger in me speaking. When you’re trying to connect with people who are going to be making the largest purchase of their life, you want to be forming a real connection with them. That means speaking in your own voice, your own tone.
Content
You’ll benefit everywhere that you’re marketing with valuable content not just on Pinterest. Content that:
- Speaks to your ideal client
- Shows your knowledge and expertise
- Establishes you as the local authority
- Infuses some of your personality and USP into it
This is where you’re going to be getting into the locality. Posts like:
- “Best things to do in (your city)”
- “Best schools in (your city)”
- “Hidden gems in (your city)”
- “Top 10 date night spots in (your city)”
People will come to rely on your posts to know what they need to be doing and you’ll be on your way to becoming a local trusted advisor.
General real estate content ideas are also a great way to show off your expertise. Content such as home buying and selling guides, prepping your home for a viewing, checklists for first time home buyers, ways to save for a down payment.
The difference between Pinterest content and say, Instagram content is that Pinterest is more of a long term play. Your pins live forever. Pinners are coming to Pinterest with a problem they want solved. So solve it for them.
You won’t gain as much with popping your listings up or giving home tours. Since you're awesome at what you do, your listings won't last a long time. People can be finding that pin in years when it leads to a broken link. So instead of a home tour, offering up “what we did to get this home listing ready” will do far better on Pinterest.
If you live in a smaller city, mix up content between your specific city and whatever the closest metro area is. It’s kind of like when you’re picking keywords and you use largely searched ones and not as widely searched ones.
You should already have your ideal client in mind. Cater to what they are looking for. Maybe you love working with first time homebuyers so build content around that. If that's your niche, you'll be building up people who love to learn what you have to say directly to them. They'll feel seen by you and come to trust your guidance.
Keywords
Once you have your content bank ready to go, it’s time to do keyword research! Do not skip this step if you plan to have success on Pinterest. Pinterest is a search engine, it needs that SEO. Sit down and take the time to do this. Save those keywords, you’re going to use them all the time!
Do your keyword research right from the search bar. Remember you're going to want to include local keywords!
Boards
Boards are where your pins live.
When you’re building your boards, build at least some around locality. Boards can be searched so make sure you’re using those keywords you researched!
You’ll create them by category so “Things to Do in (your city)” could have the pins “Best Date Night Spots” and “Hidden Gems”. Your “First Time Home Buyer” board could have checklists and tips.
Keep your boards relevant! If you have a personal account that you've been posting business pins to, start a new business account and have it be solely for your real estate business. You can convert a personal account but then hide all the non-relevant boards. When someone lands on your profile, you don't want them to be slogging through pins that have nothing to do with your real estate business.
Pins
Pins can be both static and video. Infographics are easy to make and they drive up your save rate. Then Pinterest sees you’re offering valuable content that people like and pushes you out to more people.
Pins should be vertical, have clear images, easy to read fonts and don’t forget your call to action! For realtors, you are your brand so include a logo and/or picture on every pin.
You can now claim your Instagram account on Pinterest similar to how you claim a domain. It gives you the option to autopublish your posts. I recommend turning this off. The pins do not post in the right size and carousel pins each publish as a separate pin. Instead I would repurpose the Instagram post with the correct dimensions and keywords.
Remember: You can create 3-5 pins for one piece of content. Just change the pin design in some way. Don't just repin the same pin over and over!
I think Pinterest Marketing can be so valuable yet still so underutilized. If you're a realtor and want to start using Pinterest in your marketing, let's talk!
I'm Mindy - a Pinterest Marketing + Content Manager.
I love working with realtors, coaches and creative service providers.
If you want to attract those dream clients organically, stand out and skip marketing overwhelm then you're in the right place!
Let's connect!
Email: mindy@pindysoo.com
Instagram: @pindysoo
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