Create a social content calendar with our free guide for real estate
A content calendar helps you map out future content to encourage variety and help you post more consistently. Content calendars can also help with larger campaigns spanning multiple channels such as email, print, video, and blog posts, but we’ll be focusing on how they can help you improve your social media game specifically in this guide.
Social media experts use content calendars to schedule posts, handle campaigns, and assess ongoing strategies. In Part 3, we provided you with a few best practices to organize, schedule, and analyze the success of each post—but what about the actual content you’ll be posting? A content calendar helps you plan out the exact text, images and/or video you’ll use to achieve a particular goal. Think of it as both a micro and macro look at what your posts will say and what they will achieve.
Luckily, there’s no shortage of interesting content that you can post as a real estate agent. When you’re first starting out, we recommend aiming for 2 posts per week, or about 8 posts per month. It’s better to start out small and post regularly, rather than posting a bunch of times with a long gap before posting again. Remember, consistency is key if you’re going to stay fresh in the minds of your target audience.
In general, posting on Mondays and Wednesdays first thing in the morning will get you the most likes, comments, and shares. People tend to wake up and start their day by browsing social media. Weekend posts typically garner the least engagement because people are more likely to be off their phones for longer periods of time. Keep an eye on your posts’ engagement and feel free to tweak your schedule as needed.
Example real estate social content calendar
While there’s no one right or wrong way to plan out social content for your unique real estate business, we’ve created an example content calendar to help you get up and running with inspiration from some of Open Homes’s most social-savvy real estate partners.
Week 1
Monday: Introduce yourself to any new followers, including details about your education, experience, hobbies, family, and what makes you unique. These posts are an important step in developing an emotional connection with your followers and can be highly influential when homebuyers or sellers are evaluating which agent to trust with their biggest transaction.
Other personal post ideas include day-in-the-life photos or videos about your typical day as a real estate agent, or partner/brokerage spotlights, where you introduce a co-listing agent or your brokerage.
Below: The Hatvany Team, made up of family members, shares a team photo in a homey environment. The caption asks an engaging question of the audience and provides a friendly glimpse into the team’s family life.
Wednesday: Show off your newest listing with photos, video, and text that bring the home to life for buyers. This would be a great time to try out our brand new, complimentary Vertical Teasers (perfect for Instagram Reels/Stories, YouTube Shorts, Tiktok, or Facebook Videos/Stories). These will be included automatically – for free – in every order that contains a Video Tour or Aerial Video.
Below: The Gunderman Group’s “Just Listed” announcement features an enticing picture of their new listing at sunset with all of the home’s relevant information in the caption. The post also includes a call to action (CTA), encouraging their audience to contact the group if they’d like more information.
Week 2
Monday: Show off something you love about the region, city, or neighborhood where your real estate business is located. These posts help to position you as a regional expert for homebuyers and attract engagement from people who already live there.
Below: In a post that humanizes the team and shows their local expertise, The Hatvany Team tags and highlights a favorite local eatery. There’s a brief explanation of why it’s one of their favorite places to eat in the neighborhood. There is great engagement in the comments by locals and even a comment from the eatery itself!
Wednesday: Share some information about a recent listing you sold that you’re really proud of. This is a great opportunity to tout your strengths, demonstrate your commitment to your clients, and fill your feed with more real estate eye candy.
Below: Wendy Storch showcases her recent listing that sold for significantly more than the asking price, calling attention to the fact that she gets top dollar for her clients. At the end, she encourages potential future clients to learn more by visiting the home’s property website.
Week 3
Monday: Compare before and after photos of a home makeover for a current or past listing, providing details about the project and encouraging your audience to provide their input to increase comments.
Wednesday: Provide a market update for your region along with your thoughts about what it means for buyers and sellers there. This is another great opportunity to establish regional expertise, which is especially important when market conditions are rapidly changing.
Below: The Gunderman Group commands attention with bold, on-brand colors, a large font, and a simple message about what their audience can expect in the first quarter of 2023 in their market.
Week 4
Monday: Offer a tip about home maintenance or how to improve home value, especially if the timing is pertinent. For example, the beginning of summer is a great time to remind homeowners to get their HVAC systems checked. These posts illustrate your expertise beyond real estate transactions and help position you as a proactive real estate partner.
Wednesday: If you have glowing written or video testimonials from past clients, social media is a great place to show them off! People are much more likely to trust opinions from their peers, so if you don’t have many testimonials yet, now is a great time to start asking satisfied clients to leave you a review on business platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook.
Below: The Helena 7×7 Real Estate team allows their client’s words to do all the talking in this simple post. The 7×7 logo reminds the viewer of the agent and their brand, but the eye is drawn to the most colorful part of the post: the five bright, yellow starts that signal a perfect score given to the team.
More content ideas
Searching for more inspiration? Here are some other post ideas to add some variety to your real estate social accounts:
- Listing video walkthroughs
- Upcoming open houses
- Exceptionally interesting or unique homes/home features
- What to expect at an open house, inspection, etc.
- Mistakes to avoid as a buyer or seller
- Interior design inspiration
- Polls, questions, or other ways to solicit comment feedback
- Community involvement
- Holiday well-wishes
- Trending challenges on TikTok or Instagram Reels
Conclusion
We hope this guide has been helpful and that you have a better understanding of why social media is important to elevate your brand and attract more clients. If you have questions or are interested in learning more about using social media, we’d love for you to tell us more about your social media goals so we can set up a 15-minute strategy session.
Finally, if you share photo or video content from Open Homes on your Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, please tag us so we can share and engage with your posts!
