Along with its core function of enabling users to share images as posts on their profile, Instagram offers a tool appropriately known as “stories” to allow people to share what is happening in the moment. This feature gives Instagram users the ability to share photos and videos in a slideshow format that will stay live for 24 hours. Once the 24-hour window has ended, the story will disappear.

As a real estate agent, you can utilize Instagram stories to promote your business and brand. Following are some ways to do this.

• Share How-To Guides and Tutorials: Pass along your insights about home staging and preparing your home to sell.


• Go Behind the Screens: Show all of your hot, new listings for the week in one post by linking all of the photos together, posting a tour of a home before it goes on the market, or previewing an open house.


• Show a “Day in the Life” of Your Business: While you can put a lot of planning into your videos, sometimes a simple snippet of daily life can be very effective in promoting your brand.


• Give Shout-outs to Your Partners and Clients: Publicly acknowledge your photographers, loan officers, real estate team, lawyers, or even the barista who prepares your morning coffee. Tag them if they are on Instagram.


• Announce News: Celebrate a company or professional milestone.

How to post an Instagram story:

1. From the Instagram homepage, swipe to the right or tap the camera button in the top left-hand corner of the screen to access the Instagram stories camera.


2. You will be presented with a camera screen that includes several options, including: LIVE, NORMAL, BOOMERANG, HANDS-FREE and SUPERZOOM.


3. This screen also includes options to turn the flash on or off and switch between front- and rear-facing cameras.


4. Once you have captured a photo or video, you can use Instagram stories’ editing features (text, drawing and stickers, etc.) to enhance your creation.


5. If you are not happy with your post, hold and drag elements that you want to delete. Then drop them into the trashcan icon at the bottom of the screen or tap the X icon in the upper left-hand corner to delete the entire post.


6. If you want to save the individual piece of content to your camera roll, tap the Save button denoted by a downward arrow and line underneath. This button is located in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.


7. Tap the encircled + button in the lower left-hand corner to post the content straight to your story. Another option is to tap the arrow button in the lower right-hand corner of the screen to access options such as SEND DIRECT, which allows you to send the post directly to other accounts (Be sure to check the circle next to your story to post your creation publicly.).

As you share stories and posts on your business Instagram account, remember to keep your content polished and professional. For more information about how to use Instagram stories for business,  click here.