I’m seeing a lot of creative content posted by apartment communities on Instagram, and I wanted to give you a few ideas for your own posts. 

According to The SatisFacts 2018 Social Media Study, the top five most important posts for residents are:

• Community improvement announcements
• Resident referral incentives
• Community events
• Local business promos and discounts
• Local events

Now let's jump into the first post I thought was really creative. It's for Fusion Apartments promoting their twilight tours. 

Here's another post that caught my eye from The Princeton at College Park. It's more of a branding-style post with good color.

Contests are also a great way to get residents involved, and prizes can be obtained from local businesses or even vendors.

Here's a contest example I liked from BDX Apartments:

Here are a few contest ideas we found to be successful.

• Like/comment to win
• Caption this image contest
• Fill in the blank contest
• Photo contest
• Q & A contest
• Tag someone who is looking to move

Insta stories allows your community to share real-time, behind-the-scenes shots or video, giving the resident an exclusive look at some fun and interesting content, as well as an opportunity to connect with your staff.

Great examples of when to use Insta stories:

• Introduce employees
• Resident testimonials
• Promote the resident event
• Set up the resident event
• Visit local business (tagging the business)
• Maintenance staff assisting residents

Implementing Insta stories strengthens the community’s relationship with residents – and even helps initiate new ones.

Here's a clever Insta story from a student housing property in St. Louis, MO. 

You could use this idea if package pickup is an issue at your community.

Check out their incentive: "Come get your package! Anyone who picks up their package today is entered to win a $50 gift card!"

A best practice for using Insta Stories is to post at least twice a day, 10-12 hours apart.