Realtors — this one’s for you! See how this super smart agent uses Pinterest for real estate. It’s opened up SO many opportunities for her business and helped her to stand out above the crowd!
Do you want to know how to have amazing results on Pinterest? Don’t we all?
Well, stay tuned because today I am talking to a real estate agent and interior design expert who is killing it on Pinterest. The first time we talked, she absolutely blew me away with how intensely she dove into Pinterest marketing.
In this podcast episode, she’ll be sharing her business journey from real estate to interior design, and stories about how she had people reaching out to her to learn more about content on her Pinterest page.
During these uncertain times, this business owner has been able to pivot her business. People are buying houses less, but she’s created a pathway to generate new revenue and is getting shocking results on Pinterest.
Related: Pinterest Marketing During Crisis Times
I hope this story inspires you – not to change your business to real estate or interior design – but to really think about the full journey that your audience is taking when they work with you.
And if you haven’t yet, I encourage you to download the Simple Pin Pinterest Planner. It’s a powerful tool that will help you with your Pinterest marketing. With 20 pages of monthly trends, stat tracking, checklists, and more, the 2020 Planner is amazing resource and it won’t overwhelm you.
Pinterest for Real Estate Agents: A Viable Marketing Platform
Meet Nicole – A Real Estate Agent Whose Killing It On Pinterest
Nicole Mickle is a real estate agent based out of Orlando Florida with a love for all things marketing. She gets most of her clients through online marketing via Instagram and (most recently) Pinterest. I met Nicole through our mutual friend, Jenny Melrose.
Before Nicole started using Pinterest for marketing real estate, she knew it was a great place for her to find new ideas as a user. She never thought of it as a marketing platform that she could utilize for her own business.
Her “aha!” moment came when she discovered that her Pinterest boards were responsible for her website being connected to a “best communities in Orlando” article on Google. After she made this discovery, Nicole started to learn more about Google and Pinterest SEO and which opened up a whole new world of marketing opportunities for her.
How Nicole Became a Pinterest Marketing Ninja in the Real Estate Niche
The very first thing Nicole did was to clean up her Pinterest boards. She organized them in a way that she thought her audience would like.
Nicole was able to connect with someone who lived 15 minutes away from her who shared common business interests and was already using Pinterest. They started to talk, and ultimately met up to discuss what Nicole needed to do in order to use Pinterest for marketing.
This friend sat down with Nicole and introduced her about SPM and Jenny Melrose. She encouraged her to utilize the information we had available to create a list of action items to capitalize on Pinterest marketing. Nicole started listening to the Simple Pin podcast and created lists of action items that she would check off each week.
At first, it was hard for her to grasp all of the concepts of Pinterest marketing. But she just kept moving forward and checking out her analytics to see what her numbers were telling her.
Increasing Exposure With Pinterest
The traffic to Nicole’s website increased TENFOLD after she started using Pinterest for marketing. Nicole had a specific pin featuring a pool and tile that was super popular – so popular that the homeowner actually saw it and called Nicole to tell her how amazing it was to see her pool online!
Nicole was also receiving calls from people out of state to learn more about the pool and tile in the photo.
It was shocking to Nicole that a picture she took on her iPhone was so popular with people in and outside of Florida.
Repurposing Instagram Stories for Video Pins
Nicole is all about repurposing marketing material. She makes it a point not to recreate the wheel.
She set out to test how her most effective Instagram stories would perform as video pins on Pinterest. Repurposing these videos allowed her to be seen on two different platforms by people who shared the same interests.
When I asked Nicole more about the content of the Instagram stories, she said that the stories never included her face or her voice. Since she’s a self-proclaimed introvert she communicates in her Instagram stories primarily through captions and descriptions.
She likes to present her design work as a Instagram story highlights, so that people can scan them almost like a catalog. It’s her personal viewpoint of her art that her audience is then able to experience in bite-size pieces.
Adding Income Streams to the Business
Nicole’s interior design arm of the business is what she’s working on most right now. It’s the space where she’s able to create the most audience engagement.
Nicole enjoys figuring out the SEO component, especially in the beginning as she attempted to drive traffic to her website. But she also enjoys creating relationships and communicating with potential customers. She gets a ton of questions about tiles, paint colors, furniture and art pieces that people come across in her Pinterest boards.
This interest in her board content also opens up the option of working with brands through sponsored content. Nicole realized that creating these relationships would allow her to continue to add new income streams to her business.
Using Group Boards to Enhance Client Connection
When Nicole shares with other real estate agents about her experience on Pinterest, some listen with interest, while others do not want to learn about marketing on Pinterest.
Real estate has been marketed with one primary method for so many years. When you start to use a new platform or method, it can be scary for some agents. Lots of Realtors are just focused on a “here’s the house, sell the house” approach. But the world has changed with so many people searching online for real estate.
Nicole is not getting online and immediately trying to sell a house to whoever is interested. Her approach is very non-traditional. There is a specific pathway from the beginning of the relationship to the sale. First, she engages with potential clients, sharing education and information, and that eventually leads to selling houses.
Nicole creates Pinterest group boards that she can collaborate on with a buyer for design ideas, both during and after the sale. Sharing interior decorating ideas with her clients is her unique selling proposition. It creates a connection with a client that can continue after the closing of a home.
The Journey on Pinterest for Real Estate Clients
Nicole is a master at creating a journey for her real estate clients through her Pinterest marketing efforts. When working with her, clients are able to see the types of homes and interior design ideas that they love. After they buy a home, they have the ability to continue using her Pinterest boards to decorate the home they purchased (and even redesign down the road).
Making the effort to really learn about Pinterest, even when it was difficult at first, has opened up so many opportunities for Nicole. It just makes sense for her business. Pinterest helps Nicole to not only have multiple revenue streams, but also to create and collaborate with her clients on a platform that they are most likely already using.
When it comes to tips for how real estate agents should be using Pinterest marketing, Nicole suggests getting started by creating vision-type boards for the type of clients they want to attract within their geographical area. Not every Realtor’s business will have a design component, but each one has their own specific niche.
Go check out Nicole’s Pinterest boards for inspiration. You can browse through all of her beautiful images as well as see video pins created from her repurposed Instagram stories.
For Further Listening/Reading:
It just makes sense for her business. Pinterest helps Nicole to not only have multiple revenue streams, but also to create and collaborate with her clients on a platform that they are most likely already using.