Hashtag strategies differ based on the social media platform and are usually an important method of getting maximum exposure to your target audience.

For some social media platforms, hashtags are integral (Instagram and TikTok). For others, they are a waste (Twitter and Pinterest).

I’ve compiled a list of common real estate hashtags for each of the major social media sites.

Instagram and Facebook Hashtags for Realtors

Hashtags are essential to good Instagram lead generation strategy and earning exposure for your brand.

Hashtags are the equivalent of categories and one of the only ways users can actually search Instagram content.

While you can have as many as 30 hashtags on Instagram, many real estate marketing pros recommend 5 to 10 hashtags per post, though I see top real estate agents on Instagram using more than that often enough.

Unlike Instagram, hashtags are not as essential on Facebook. Yes, you can search hashtags on Facebook in the search bar. And many agent posts have hashtags in them, often because they are sharing them both to Facebook and Instagram (they’re the same company, if you didn’t know). At most, Facebook hashtags are useful for organizing your content.

Instead, you’ll want to try other strategies to promote your posts on Facebook.

TikTok Hashtags for Realtors

TikTok and Instagram are similar when it comes to hashtags (not surprising given Instagram is not shy about copying TikTok).

Because TikTok post captions are limited to 100 characters and tags count toward your character limit, you have to be much more selective about which tags you use than you do on Instagram.

TikTok, being a short video format, has a lot of funny real estate videos, too.

FYI, #fyp means “For Your Page”, which is TikTok’s recommended videos. Some people think #fyp will help your content get shared, but that is not likely the case. Instead, try Neil Patel’s tips for getting more exposure for your videos.

Tat Londono is a fun account to follow as an agent if you aren’t already.

LinkedIn Hashtags for Realtors

LinkedIn hashtags are important elements of the ecosystem, serving as informal “groups” that you can follow, similar to Instagram or TikTok. Tagging your content is definitely a good idea for getting more exposure.

Only use up to 3 hashtags based on LinkedIn’s own recommendation. This is a professional place of business, after all!

Consequently, you won’t get as many weird permutations of common keywords like #momsofrealestate and #realestatemoms. Search keywords and identify which hashtags have the most followers, and stick with that hashtag.

Consider tags with fewer followers. This increases the odds of your content being seen. For example, don’t bother with #realestate. At over 4M followers, you probably won’t rise to top.

Instead, be mindful about what your buyers and sellers would belong to. Because the LinkedIn audience is smaller, higher tier hyperlocal hashtags probably will get more traction, like a simple #Minneapolis instead of #MinneapolisRealEstate.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn is a professional network with a lot of professional resources. There might be some worthwhile tags to follow yourself to keep plugged into industry news and trends.

Pinterest Hashtags for Realtors

Pinterest hashtags are probably a waste of time.

Pinterest searches its content based on keywords, not hashtags. So there is not much use in selecting special hashtags except as a personal method of organizing your content, which you can do in Pinterest boards, anyway.

Nor are the hashtags even clickable anymore, so one can’t easily search content by hashtag without actually writing it out.

The number 1 result for #realestate on Pinterest does not even have a #realestate hashtag on the post.

Instead of using hashtags to promote your Pinterest content, you need to do some search engine optimization for Pinterest. Choose good keywords!

Twitter (X) Hashtags for Realtors

Twitter, or “X” since Elon Musk’s acquisition of the site, isn’t a great place to market your brand. It is for people to share their thoughts (and politics) unfiltered, and get angry at each other for it.

This is my personal opinion as an avid Twitter user. Even though Twitter will sometimes show trending hashtags in their Explore area, Twitter hashtags are also a waste of time for businesses.

Most people using hashtags on Twitter are trying to spam.

Trending topics in the Explore area are usually based on news and trends, so by all means use one if you are commenting on current events. But otherwise, I would steer clear.

For example, I looked up the hashtag #Realtors.

The top post for today has ZERO engagement, from luxury agent Jack Cotton (whom you’ve probably seen on YouTube if you’ve spent time searching in the luxury niche).

Other tags like #RealtorLife show just a bunch of mostly promotional content from brands, and not a lot of engagement.

Top real estate Twitter accounts earn their keep by being authentic, engaging in conversations with each other, and almost completely avoiding promotional content. Their focus is becoming an influencer, not lead generation.

Skip the hashtags. Just find influencers, follow them, and comment and engage.

Hashtag Best Practices for Realtors

• Dont spam. Be sure your hashtags match what you are sharing. Tags that are not germane to the content can actually get your account in trouble. E.g. using #Beyonce on your listing picture will get you in front of Beyonce fans briefly before your account is suspended.
• Tag Your Brokerage. Doing so is a best practice for complying with most states’ rules about advertising your brokerage correctly on social media. E.g. #AgentsOfCompass
• Avoid banned hashtags. That’s right – some sites have banned hashtags, and not just the obvious stuff related to sex, drugs, or violence. A rather humourous example from Instagram includes #adulting. The rationale is that these are terms that are too often spammed. This is just a partial list as there is not an official source of banned hashtags from the likes of Facebook or Instagram.
• Use the REALTOR trademark appropriately. Remember not to append superlatives to the word “realtor”, e.g. don’t use #bestrealtor.
• Sniff out your competitors. In addition to my list of agents succeeding at Instagram, searching by hashtags yourself is a great way to find other agents with popular posts. Reverse engineer their posts and copy it for your brand! Instagram shows the most popular recent posts for a hashtag at the top, so it’s easy to see which ones are getting good engagement.
• Mix it up. Don’t use the same hashtags for every post. Sure, you may have some favorites or a brand hashtag you want on all your content. But try some different ones. And always make sure they are relevant to the content you are sharing.
• Go niche and hyperlocal. #Realtor or #realestate are pretty broad categories. It will be harder to earn attention for those tags versus getting more hyperlocal like #austinrealestate. That’s why hyperlocal post types are great. You can easily tag the local attractions with less competition for the top spots.
• Lean into the season. #AustinChristmas, for example, isn’t too competitive and a great way to earn some seasonal love for your account.
• Create a brand hashtag. If your business has a value proposition or tagline, consider turning that into a hashtag.

Conclusion

Those are the best Realtor hashtags for your social media!

Ultimately, don’t get stuck on hashtags. Your content, video, cover photos, and visuals will be far more influential on the reach of your social media posts.

Updated April 13, 2024; Originally published December 3, 2021