The Ultimate Guide to Using Instagram Reels in 2025

Picture a home buyer just starting the process of hunting for a house. As part of their daily routine, they scroll through Instagram when they stumble upon some videos outlining the process of homebuying from A to Z. They follow your Instagram and reach out for a consultation, becoming a new client.

Tapping into the power of using short, engaging videos to grab user attention can boost your real estate business considerably. Reels can be up to three minutes long and include text overlays, music, special effects, and visuals you can utilize to expand your reach.

Benefits of Using Instagram Reels for Real Estate Agents

You may be wondering if you should bother with yet another social media platform and how much traffic it can bring your way. While results vary widely, there are some distinct advantages to using Reels to reach new clients.

Reach a Large Audience

Instagram has an estimated 2 billion monthly active users and continues to grow. It’s the fourth most popular platform, with around 160 million Americans using the app. No matter what location you list and show houses in, you’ll find a core audience on the platform and can target them directly with your videos.

Improve Engagement

Instagram favors Reels in its algorithms, so you’re likely to land in front of people planning to move. Videos are also more engaging than text alone because the sounds, movements and visuals are more immersive. Adding Reels aligns you as one of the experts in your area and gives you authority.

Gain Brand Recognition

It’s crucial to build your brand voice as a real estate professional. People turn to you to find their next home or sell their current one because they trust you to know what you’re doing and can guide them along the way.

Producing videos lets them get an idea of your communication style. The more they see your videos, the more likely they’ll remember your name and what realty areas you specialize in.

Show Listings

Properties naturally sell more quickly when you can get them in front of people. Instagram Reels offers an opportunity for you to showcase your favorite listings and attract interested parties. Do a home walk-through or highlight the best features of a place.

Depending on your selling area, you can create Reels that solve buyer pain points. For example, your target audience may want to reduce energy usage. If you live in a cold climate, a darker roof can help retain heat in winter by attracting the sun’s rays. Warmer climates may benefit from lighter-colored roofs that reflect them. Answer people’s concerns in your videos, and you’ll gain a following.

How to Post an Instagram Reel

Posting a Reel to Instagram is a straightforward process. The main things you’ll need to be aware of are the size of the video you create, the length and the details you will add to the description alongside relevant hashtags.

Step 1: Pre-Planning

Before recording videos, spend time researching the competition. Which businesses get the most engagement? What are their videos about? Take notes on whether each Reel solves a pain point, how long it is and which hashtags the creator uses.

If you sell luxury real estate priced over $1,2 million, your audience is quite different from someone who sells starter homes. Which hashtags and keywords are most likely to reach the people interested in your niche?

Step 2: Sound and Lighting

Excellent videos have professional-quality sound and lighting. With today’s technology, it’s a simple matter to purchase some photographic quality lights, a backdrop and a microphone from multiple retailers. At a minimum, you want a neutral background, such as a blank wall or a setting created specifically for the topics you’ll cover.

Step 3: Video Editing

Editing can take a drab video and make it something special. Add music and illustrations and fix any lighting issues. Cut portions of the video that miss the relevancy or drag the information to a halt.

Tweaking your Reels so they are short and attention-grabbing takes time and practice. If necessary, enlist the help of a professional editor and learn as you go so you can eventually complete the process on your own. You can also use Instagram’s built-in editing tools to add special effects, text and sound. A real estate-focused Instagram Reel is much more effective when it sticks to a single topic and runs smoothly without multiple interruptions.

Step 4: Upload the Video

Once you’ve edited the piece to your satisfaction, it’s time to upload it to Instagram. You can add the videos through your mobile app or the desktop website.

On the mobile app:

• Click on the plus sign near the bottom center of the phone screen.
• A capsule menu appears in the bottom left. Choose the “REEL” tab.
• Choose your effects, music and layout.
• On the bottom left will appear the last photo or video you took on your phone in a tiny thumbnail box with rounded corners. Click on the box to access your photo and video library.
• Select the video or image you want and click “Next” at the top right.
• Trim or finalize edits.
• Adjust the level of volume.
• Click the blue arrow in the top right.
• Add your captures and hashtags, and click the Share button on the lower right.

Congratulations — if this is your first time uploading a Reel, you did it. If you’re an old pro, you may have learned some editing tips.

Step 5: Share and Market the Video

Now that your video is public, it’s time to let others know it exists. Since a strong online persona can be one of the ways real estate agents build their client base, focusing on developing a useful presence on Instagram is a plus.

Some Additional Ways to Optimize Instagram Reels for Real Estate Agents

Getting videos recorded, edited and posted is a great start to developing an online presence on the social media giant Instagram. However, you’ll also need to optimize your posts to reach the right players. Some things you can do to increase their effectiveness include:

• Engage users when they like or comment on your Reels. Take the time to thank them for their support.
• Comment on other people’s posts. Be careful not to give your competition a leg up, but look for accounts in complementary businesses that align with your goals. For example, wedding planners might have access to young couples who will buy a home soon. Boat builders may help you tap into luxury markets.
• Study hashtags. Discover which ones are popular and relevant to your audience. You can get lists of popular hashtags to try, and when you plug them in, you can see how many other real estate professionals are using the same one. More interactions sometimes equals more traffic.
• Play around with keywords. What terms are people most likely to use when searching for your topic? Think of phrases such as “luxury homes,” “starter house,” “current mortgage rates” and “home inspection costs.”
• Post frequently and consistently. Users will come to rely on your new tips. Set up a schedule and stick to it to gain more followers.
• Run ads on Instagram to reach new audiences.
• Tag a location on your Instagram post to put the videos in front of people in your area.

You can also pay attention to questions people ask on other posts and see if anything is unanswered. A great way to fill the knowledge gap is by answering homebuyers’ questions.

A Few Content Ideas to Get You Started

Coming up with fresh content for your digital marketing campaigns can be challenging. Some topics stand the test of time and apply to almost any person buying property, though. Start with these, and they may spur additional ideas that are better suited to your target audience and location:

1. Walk through showings of available properties
2. Inside tips on how to make an offer on a home you’d like to buy
3. How to get the most from your home inspection
4. Understanding mortgage interest rates
5. How much you might need for a down payment
6. An inside look at different neighborhoods in your listing area and what each offers
7. Chats with former clients about their experience and what they’ve done with their new home
8. A day in the life of a real estate agent
9. Decorating tips for after buying a new home
10. Why curb appeal matters
11. Straightforward talks about how much home someone can afford
12. Major issues to check for before buying
13. What to do if you change your mind about a house but have already made an offer and put down earnest money
14. Staging before and after
15. What first-time home buyers need to do to get approved
16. Highlighting local brands near home listings
17. Funniest moments as an agent — your biggest mistakes or funny bloopers
18. What real estate myths are false, and why
19. About you as a person and why you got into real estate
20. Takeovers from partner businesses like a home inspector and roofing specialist — ideally, they will feature you, too

You can also showcase your clients with closing congratulations posts. Include a shot of the family helping put the sold sign on the yard hanger out front.