Any good real estate agent or home builder knows that high quality photos can make or break a home sale. Luckily for you, one of the most popular social media tools out there today, Instagram, thrives on the sharing of creative photos and videos.

If you aren’t in the know, Instagram is a photo and video sharing app available for all smartphone devices. Sharing content is easy! Just take a photo or 15 second video, choose from the available filters and share the media to your profile, as well as your other social media profiles. Once you’ve posted your media, it will be viewable from any smartphone or browser, and it will be saved to your phone (so you can use it again later).

So the question is, how can you use Instagram to attract new buyers? Here are some of my favorite real estate uses:

• Shoot photos of various rooms of the home and the most impressive design elements.
• Show your followers the construction process by taking photos and videos throughout
• Create a collage of pictures from your finished model homes
• If your community has great amenities, show them off
• At closing, snap a quick picture of your happy homeowners in front of their new house (Be sure to tag them if they’re on Instagram, but get their permission first)
• During events, take and post photos and videos while it’s happening (and don’t forget to tag your guests with their permission)
• Show a day in the life of a real estate agent or construction worker
• Establish yourself as the expert by filming short “how to” videos

However, you shouldn’t be the only one taking pictures of your homes and communities, you should also be encouraging interaction! Have your sales agents and homeowners take and share pictures of their homes or favorite places in the community, and remind them to tag you in the caption, so that you can see it, too.

Instagram is free, easy to use and makes getting more photos of your products easier than ever, so be sure to add it to your social media marketing strategy.

Mitch Levinson, MIRM, CAPS, CGP, CSP is managing partner with Marketing RELEVANCE, Managing Broker for MLC FlatFee Realty and the author of “Internet Marketing: The Key to New Home Sales” published by BuilderBooks. He is an Internet marketing expert with expertise in search engine optimization, website development, email marketing, social media and CRM consulting services. If you’re looking to improve your online presence through website development or mobile website design, contact Marketing RELEVANCE or connect with Mitch Levinson on Google+.