Best Social Media Platforms for Real Estate

“What social media platform should I be on?”

It’s a question I get almost every day from real estate agents. And it’s a critical one. Choosing the right platform is the foundation of a successful social media strategy. The wrong choice means wasted time, money, and effort, shouting into a void where your clients will never hear you.

Many agents take a scattergun approach, trying to be everywhere at once. They post the same content to Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, hoping something will stick. This is a recipe for burnout and mediocre results. I’ve watched agents spend hours each week creating content for five different platforms, only to see minimal engagement on all of them. The problem is not their content. The problem is their lack of focus.

In my experience managing social media for thousands of businesses at Smarcomms, I’ve learned that each platform is its own country with its own language and culture. To succeed, you must be a native speaker. You need to understand the unwritten rules, the content formats that perform, and the audience that lives there. A polished carousel that kills it on Instagram will be completely ignored on TikTok. A long-form article that builds authority on LinkedIn will get zero traction on Facebook.

This article will be your guide. We’re going to go beyond the surface-level advice and do a deep dive into the best social media platforms for real estate in 2026. We’ll look at the data, the demographics, and the specific strategies that work for each. My goal is to give you the clarity you need to focus your efforts and get real, measurable results. If you don’t have time to manage multiple platforms, that’s where social media marketing for real estate professionals like us come in.

The Big Picture: Where Are Your Clients?

Before we break down each platform, let’s start with the most important question: where does your ideal client spend their time online? According to the 2025 REALTORS® Technology Survey from the National Association of REALTORS®, 75% of all agents are using social media, but the most successful ones are laser-focused on the platforms where their clients are most active.

The mistake most agents make is choosing a platform based on what they personally enjoy using, or what they see other agents doing. That is backwards. Your platform choice should be dictated entirely by where your ideal client spends their time. A luxury agent targeting C-suite executives should not be spending their time making TikTok dances. A first-time buyer specialist should not be writing long-form LinkedIn articles.

Here’s a quick overview of the user demographics for the top platforms:

Now, let’s break down each platform in detail.

1. Facebook: The Community Hub

Facebook is the old guard of social media, but don’t let its age fool you. For real estate, it remains one of the most powerful tools available, especially for agents targeting local communities and clients over 40. While younger demographics have migrated to other platforms, Facebook’s user base remains massive and deeply connected to local communities. According to Pew Research Center, Facebook remains the most widely used social media platform among U.S. adults, with particularly strong adoption among users aged 30-65.

Why it works for real estate

Hyper-Local Targeting: Facebook’s advertising platform is unparalleled in its ability to target specific zip codes, demographics, and interests. You can run ads for a new listing and show them only to people who live within a 10-mile radius and have shown interest in Zillow or Trulia. No other platform gives you this level of granular, local ad targeting at such an affordable price point.

Facebook Groups: This is where the real magic happens. Joining and being an active, helpful member of local community groups, neighborhood groups, and parent groups is the most effective way to build local authority and generate leads. The key is to provide value, not just spam your listings. When someone in a local group asks “Can anyone recommend a good real estate agent?”, you want to be the name that five other people tag. That only happens if you’ve been consistently helpful.

Relationship Building: Facebook is designed for connection. It’s the platform where you can share more personal updates, celebrate client successes (with their permission), and have real conversations in the comments. The commenting culture on Facebook is more robust than on most other platforms, which means you have more opportunities for meaningful back-and-forth with potential clients.

Facebook Marketplace: Many agents overlook this, but Facebook Marketplace has become a legitimate channel for real estate listings. Buyers are already browsing Marketplace for everything from furniture to cars, and listing your properties there puts them in front of a local, high-intent audience.

What to post on Facebook

Community-focused content: Highlight local events, businesses, and news. Be the person who always knows what’s happening in town.

Longer-form text posts: Share your thoughts on the market or a recent success story. Facebook’s algorithm actually rewards longer text posts that generate comments and shares.

Video content: Live Q&As, recorded market updates, and community interviews. Facebook Live, in particular, gets prioritized by the algorithm and sends notifications to your followers.

Links to your blog posts: Drive traffic to your website and provide value. Unlike Instagram, Facebook allows clickable links in posts, making it easy to drive traffic to your site.

The Bottom Line: If your target clients are established in their communities, particularly homeowners over 40 who are looking to sell or move up, Facebook should be a cornerstone of your strategy. Focus on building relationships in groups and using the ad platform for hyper-targeted promotion. It’s a core part of our real estate social media management.

2. Instagram: The Visual Storytelling Platform

Instagram is the undisputed king of visual marketing, making it a natural fit for the aesthetic-driven world of real estate. If your target audience is under 45, you need to be on Instagram. It is the platform where beautiful imagery meets personal branding, and for real estate, that combination is incredibly powerful.

Why it works for real estate

Visually Driven: Real estate is a visual product. Instagram is the perfect platform to showcase beautiful properties, stunning architecture, and the lifestyle that comes with a new home. A well-curated Instagram feed acts as a visual portfolio that instantly communicates your brand, your market, and your expertise.

Instagram Reels: Short-form video is the most powerful tool on the platform right now. Reels are perfect for property tours, agent introductions, quick tips, and before-and-after transformations. The algorithm pushes Reels to a wide audience, offering a massive opportunity for organic reach that you simply cannot get with static posts alone. A single well-made Reel can reach 10x or even 100x more people than a photo post.

Instagram Stories: Stories provide a raw, behind-the-scenes look at your daily life as an agent. Use them for Q&As, polls, and to show the unpolished side of the business. This is where you build personal connection and trust. Stories disappear after 24 hours, which encourages a more authentic, less curated style of content.

Instagram DMs: The direct messaging feature on Instagram is one of the most powerful lead-generation tools available. When someone responds to your Story or sends you a message after seeing a Reel, that is a warm lead. The key is to make your content so compelling that people feel compelled to reach out.

What to post on Instagram

High-quality property photos and carousels: Don’t just post the front of the house. Show the details, the lifestyle, the neighborhood. Use carousels (multi-image posts) to tell a story about a property, walking the viewer through the home room by room.

Reels, Reels, Reels: Aim for at least 3-4 Reels per week. Home tours, market updates, myth-busting, and personal stories all work well. Keep them between 15-60 seconds for optimal engagement.

Client testimonials: Share a photo of your happy clients (with permission) and a snippet of their story. Social proof is incredibly powerful.

Educational carousels: Break down a complex topic (like the mortgage process) into a series of simple, visually appealing slides. These are highly saveable and shareable.

Pro Tip: Use Instagram’s “Highlights” feature to organize your best Stories into permanent categories on your profile. Create Highlights for “Buyer Tips,” “Seller Tips,” “Neighborhood Guides,” and “Client Love.” This turns your profile into a valuable resource that new visitors can browse.

The Bottom Line: Instagram is a must-have for most agents. Invest in good photography and get comfortable on video. The agents who win on Instagram are the ones who are the best storytellers. It’s a key platform for any real estate social media marketing company.

3. TikTok: The Brand Awareness Engine

TikTok is no longer just for dancing teenagers. It has become a powerful search engine and a place where real estate agents can build massive brand awareness with a younger demographic (Gen Z and young Millennials). In fact, research from Forbes shows that a growing number of young people are now using TikTok as their primary search engine, typing queries like “best neighborhoods in Austin” directly into the TikTok search bar instead of Google.

Why it works for real estate

Unprecedented Organic Reach: The TikTok algorithm is designed for discovery. A single video can be seen by hundreds of thousands of people in your local area, even if you have zero followers. This is something no other platform can offer. The algorithm evaluates each video on its own merits, meaning a brand new account can go viral with its very first post.

Authenticity Wins: TikTok values personality and authenticity over polished production. You don’t need a fancy camera or a script. Just be yourself, share your knowledge, and have fun. In fact, overly produced content often performs worse on TikTok because it feels like an ad. The platform rewards realness.

Educational Content Thrives: “Edu-tainment” is a massive category on TikTok. Agents are finding huge success with videos that explain real estate concepts in a simple, engaging way. Think of it as teaching, not selling.

Trend Participation: TikTok is built on trends, from audio clips to video formats. Participating in relevant trends (while adding your real estate spin) is a proven way to boost visibility and reach new audiences.

What to post on TikTok

Quick educational videos: “3 things to look for during a final walkthrough,” “What a $500,000 house looks like in [Your City].”

Myth-busting: “You don’t need 20% down to buy a house. Here’s why.”

Hyper-local content: “Come with me to check out the newest park in [Your Neighborhood].”

Personal stories and humor: Share a funny story about a showing or a day in your life. Humor is one of the most powerful tools on TikTok.

“Day in the life” content: Take your audience along for a day of showings, open houses, and client meetings. This demystifies the profession and builds connection.

The Bottom Line: If you are targeting first-time homebuyers and are willing to get on camera and show your personality, TikTok is a goldmine. Don’t overthink it. Just start creating. The barrier to entry is lower than any other platform, and the potential reach is higher.

4. LinkedIn: The Professional Networking Powerhouse

LinkedIn is often overlooked by residential agents, but it’s a powerful platform for building professional credibility and connecting with high-income earners, luxury clients, and corporate relocation prospects. If you are in the luxury market or commercial real estate, LinkedIn is not optional. It is essential.

Why it works for real estate

Professional Audience: The user base is educated, affluent, and career-focused. This is the place to connect with doctors, lawyers, tech executives, and other professionals who are prime real estate clients. These are people who are actively building their careers and their wealth, and real estate is a natural part of that journey.

Build Authority: LinkedIn is the best platform for establishing yourself as a thought leader. By publishing articles, sharing market data, and commenting intelligently on industry news, you can build a reputation as a serious, knowledgeable professional. The content that performs best on LinkedIn is data-driven, insightful, and professionally written.

Referral Network: It’s an incredible tool for networking with other professionals in your industry and related fields (mortgage brokers, attorneys, financial planners, relocation specialists). This can lead to a powerful referral stream that generates business for years. A single strong LinkedIn connection with a corporate relocation manager can be worth dozens of transactions.

Low Competition: Compared to Instagram and TikTok, relatively few real estate agents are actively creating content on LinkedIn. This means there is less noise and more opportunity to stand out.

What to post on LinkedIn

Market data and analysis: Share charts and graphs from your local MLS and provide your professional interpretation. Be the person who makes sense of the numbers.

Long-form articles: Write about topics like real estate investing, the luxury market, or the economic outlook for your city. LinkedIn’s native article feature is a powerful tool for long-form content.

Client success stories (framed professionally): “Congratulations to my client, a senior executive at [Company], on the purchase of their beautiful new home in [Luxury Neighborhood].”

Professional milestones and achievements: Share your awards, certifications, and major sales. LinkedIn is the one platform where this kind of self-promotion is not only accepted but expected.

Industry commentary: Share your perspective on housing market trends, interest rate changes, or new regulations. Position yourself as an informed insider.

The Bottom Line: If you are in the luxury market, commercial real estate, or simply want to build a more professional brand, LinkedIn is essential. Focus on providing data-driven insights and building your professional network. The ROI per connection on LinkedIn is often higher than on any other platform.

5. YouTube: The Long-Term Authority Builder

YouTube is not a short-term game, but it is perhaps the most powerful long-term asset you can build for your real estate business. As the world’s second-largest search engine according to Search Engine Journal, YouTube offers a unique opportunity to reach people who are actively searching for information about your market. While other platforms are about the feed, YouTube is a search engine. A video you create today can be found by clients for years to come. Think of every YouTube video as a piece of digital real estate that works for you 24/7.

Why it works for real estate

Searchable Content: People go to YouTube to learn. By creating videos that answer specific questions (“What’s it like to live in [Your Town]?”, “Pros and Cons of moving to [Your State]”), you can attract highly qualified, high-intent clients. These are people who are actively researching a move, which makes them some of the best leads you can get.

Build Deep Trust: Long-form video is the ultimate trust-builder. When someone spends 10-15 minutes watching you talk about a neighborhood or walk them through the home-buying process, they feel like they know you. This creates a level of connection that is impossible to achieve with a 30-second Reel. By the time they reach out, they already trust you.

Showcase Expertise: YouTube is the perfect place to showcase your deep knowledge of your market. Neighborhood tours, school reviews, and interviews with local experts are all incredibly valuable content that positions you as the definitive local authority.

Evergreen Content: Unlike a TikTok or Instagram post that has a shelf life of hours or days, a well-optimized YouTube video can generate views and leads for years. This makes YouTube one of the highest-ROI content investments you can make.

What to post on YouTube

Neighborhood tours: Go deep on specific neighborhoods, showing the parks, schools, restaurants, and different types of housing. These are some of the highest-performing videos for real estate agents.

“Pros and Cons” videos: “The Pros and Cons of Living in [Your City].” These are search-friendly and attract high-intent viewers.

Educational guides: “The Ultimate Guide to Buying a Home in [Your Market].” Break down the entire process step by step.

Client interviews: Interview past clients about their experience buying or selling with you. This is powerful social proof.

Market update series: Create a monthly or quarterly series where you break down the latest market data for your area. This builds a loyal, returning audience.

Pro Tip: Optimize your video titles and descriptions for search. Use keywords that your ideal client would type into YouTube, like “moving to [Your City]” or “best neighborhoods in [Your County].” This is YouTube SEO, and it is the key to getting your videos found.

The Bottom Line: YouTube is an investment, but the payoff is a stream of high-intent leads that find you for years. If you’re serious about becoming the go-to expert in your market, you need a YouTube strategy. It’s a key part of our social media management services.

6. Pinterest: The Visual Discovery Engine

While often categorized with other social media giants, Pinterest functions more like a visual search engine, making it a unique and powerful tool for real estate agents. Users come to Pinterest to find inspiration and plan for the future, which aligns perfectly with the home-buying journey. People don’t go to Pinterest to scroll mindlessly; they go to plan, dream, and take action. According to Pinterest Business, 85% of weekly Pinners have made a purchase based on Pins they’ve seen from brands, making it one of the highest-intent social platforms available.

Why it works for real estate

Inspiration and Aspiration: Pinterest is where people go to dream. They create boards for their “dream home,” “kitchen renovation ideas,” and “backyard goals.” By creating content that taps into these aspirations, you can position your brand as a source of inspiration and expertise.

Long-Term Traffic Driver: A pin you create today can continue to drive traffic to your website for months or even years. Unlike the ephemeral nature of other social media feeds, Pinterest content has a much longer shelf life. This makes it similar to YouTube in terms of evergreen value.

High-Intent Users: People on Pinterest are often in the planning and decision-making phase. A user who is pinning “modern farmhouse kitchen ideas” is likely thinking about a home purchase or renovation. This makes Pinterest users some of the highest-intent prospects you can reach on social media.

What to post on Pinterest

High-quality photos of your listings: Create a dedicated board for each listing and fill it with stunning photos of the property. Make sure each pin links back to the listing page on your website.

Blog post graphics: Create a visually appealing graphic for each of your blog posts and link it back to your website. This is one of the most effective ways to drive traffic from Pinterest.

Home decor and design ideas: Curate boards with home decor inspiration, renovation ideas, and DIY projects. This will attract a broader audience and position you as a home expert, not just a real estate agent.

Local guides: Create visually-driven guides to your city or neighborhood, showcasing the best restaurants, parks, and attractions.

Infographics: Create infographics about the home-buying process, market trends, or tips for sellers. Infographics are highly shareable and saveable on Pinterest.

The Bottom Line: Pinterest is a long-term play that can pay dividends in the form of consistent website traffic and high-intent leads. If you have a knack for visual content and are willing to invest the time in creating beautiful pins, it can be a valuable addition to your social media strategy. For more ideas on visual content for real estate, check out our guide to visual content for real estate marketing.

If you want to see examples of the kind of social media posts that work across these platforms, take a look at our real estate social media post templates for ready-to-use Canva templates.

How to Choose: A Decision Framework

With six platforms to consider, the decision can feel overwhelming. Here is a simple framework to help you choose:

1. Start with your ideal client. Who are they? How old are they? What do they do for a living? Where do they spend their time online? If you don’t know, go back to the demographics table above and match your client profile to the platform.

2. Consider your strengths. Are you a natural on camera? TikTok or YouTube might be your best bet. Are you a strong writer? LinkedIn could be your platform. Do you have an eye for design? Instagram or Pinterest could be your home.

3. Pick ONE primary platform. Commit to it for at least 90 days. Learn its nuances. Post consistently. Engage daily. Measure your results.

4. Add a secondary platform only after you’ve built momentum. Once your primary platform is generating consistent engagement and leads, you can consider adding a second. But not before.

The agents who win on social media are not the ones who are everywhere. They are the ones who are somewhere, with purpose and consistency.

Choose Your Battlefield

The most successful real estate agents on social media are not everywhere. They are somewhere, with purpose. They have chosen their battlefield, learned the language, and committed to providing value to a specific audience on a specific platform.

Don’t make the mistake of spreading yourself too thin. Review the platforms above, consider your ideal client, and choose the one or two that align best with your goals and personality. Master them. Own them.

This focused approach will not only save you time and energy, but it will also lead to what you’re really after: real connections, real conversations, and real clients. And if you want a team of experts to handle the strategy and execution for you, that’s exactly what our real estate social media marketing services are designed for.