Dominate the Web: How to Advertise Your Open House Everywhere Online

Show off your home’s best features on Instagram

Instagram remains a vital platform for creating buzz around your open house, especially with its focus on visual storytelling. With new tools like Reels, Stories, and interactive posts, it’s easier than ever to capture attention and engage potential buyers.

Here’s how to make the most of Instagram in 2025:

• Open house announcement post: Feature the best exterior shot of the home with a captivating caption, including the date, time, and key selling points. Use hashtags like #OpenHouse, #DreamHome, and your city’s real estate tags to maximize visibility.
• Reels for interior highlights: Create short Reels showcasing the property’s interior — buyers’ favorite rooms like the kitchen, living room, and master suite. Add trending audio to increase engagement and reach.
• Close-up story features: Use Instagram Stories to share detailed shots of custom features such as granite countertops, unique light fixtures, or custom carpentry. Add stickers or polls to encourage interaction.
• Influencer collaborations: Partner with local influencers or businesses to expand your reach. Invite them to a sneak peek of the open house and encourage them to post about it. Tag them in your posts, and ask them to share your content. Ideal partners could include interior designers, real estate influencers, or local cafes and shops.
• Interactive content: Use polls, quizzes, and Q&A sessions in Stories to engage your audience. Ask followers what they love most about the home or which feature they’re excited to see.

Share even more in Stories

Here’s how to leverage Stories effectively for your open house:

• Boomerangs & Quick Clips: Use a Boomerang of cookies coming out of the oven or a champagne toast setup — great for highlighting refreshments at the event.
• Interactive elements: Add polls like “Which room is your favorite?” or emoji sliders to boost engagement.
• Walkthrough videos: Post short clips of key features like a spacious walk-in closet or a luxurious master bath. Use voiceovers or captions to point out highlights.
• Close-Up features: Showcase custom details such as countertop materials or unique fixtures. Use stickers or text overlays to emphasize quality.
• Local lifestyle content: Share consecutive photos or short videos of nearby dining spots, cafes, or parks to highlight the neighborhood’s appeal. Tag these local businesses to increase your reach.
• Agent interaction: Record your agent explaining raffle prizes or special open house incentives. Add a Q&A sticker for followers to ask questions about the property.

Harness the power of hashtags

Hashtags remain a crucial tool for increasing visibility and engagement on Instagram, but their effectiveness depends on choosing the right mix. Today’s best practice is to use a combination of trending, moderately popular, and hyperlocal hashtags to help your posts reach the right audience.

Here’s how to update your hashtag strategy for 2025:

• Popular hashtags: Choose broader, trending hashtags that have a large following, but aren’t overly saturated. Aim for hashtags with about 300k to 1M posts. These can help your posts appear in wider searches and expose them to more people. Examples:
  • #NewListing (1.3M posts)
  • #DreamHomes (400k posts)
• Moderately popular hashtags: Focus on hashtags that are niche but still widely used. These will help target a specific group interested in homes or real estate. Examples:
  • #ColonialHouse (70k posts)
  • #HouseHunters (300k posts)
  • #OpenHouseSunday (50k posts)
  • #PhillyRealEstate (150k posts)
  • #PhillyRealtor (60k posts)
• Hyperlocal hashtags: Use community-specific hashtags to target your local market. These are essential for reaching potential buyers in the immediate area. Example:
  • #PhillyOpenHouse (1k posts)
  • #CliftonHeights (5k posts)
  • #AdamsRealEstate (1k posts)
• Custom hashtags: Create a unique hashtag for your property (e.g., #402Winslow) and encourage collaborators (agents, partners) to use it. This will help consolidate all posts related to your listing and allow potential buyers to easily follow updates.

Spread the word to the neighbors on Nextdoor

Nextdoor is the social hub for neighborhood information, events — and a bit of gossip. It’s the perfect outlet to advertise an open house to your local community.

• Create an event on Nextdoor: Use your agent’s business account (if they have one) to create an open house event. This ensures your listing reaches the local community and appears on their events calendar, in the neighborhood newsfeed, and in the Digest emails.
• Temporary real estate listing: After the event, your post will remain visible in the Real Estate section for a limited time, continuing to attract attention even after the open house concludes.
• Target local buyers: Nextdoor is best for hyper-local marketing, so make sure to craft your post to emphasize community features (schools, parks, etc.) and neighborhood highlights to increase engagement with potential buyers living in or near the area.

By leveraging Nextdoor’s unique community-focused tools, you can effectively market your open house to a local audience, building awareness and excitement right in your neighborhood.

Leverage Virtual Tours and Live Streams

Virtual tours and live streams give potential buyers an immersive experience from the comfort of their homes. Create a high-quality virtual tour to showcase your property’s layout and unique features. Hosting a live stream on platforms like Facebook or Instagram allows real-time interaction, answering questions and highlighting key selling points. This expands your reach beyond local attendees and engages out-of-town buyers.

Email a video tour to buyers and their agents

In 2025, email marketing remains a powerful way to promote an open house. Real estate agents have access to vast networks, and personalized email campaigns are still an effective way to get your listing in front of the right audience. You can take advantage of your agent’s CRM system to send targeted emails to buyers who match the property profile, ensuring you’re reaching interested prospects.

Here’s how to craft the perfect email campaign:

• Informative subject line: Keep it clear and compelling. For example, “Open House This Weekend: 27 West 15th Avenue, Your Lakeside Dream Home.”
• Engaging body content: Focus on captivating visuals with bright, high-quality photos or a short, dynamic video tour no longer than 30 to 60 seconds. Place key details — such as open house time, date, and location — near the top to ensure they’re seen quickly. Remember, attention spans are shorter than ever, so keep it brief, easy to skim, and highlight the property’s best features immediately.
• Clear call to action: Invite recipients to RSVP via a link to the Facebook event page or another platform, making it easy for them to confirm attendance. If you’re offering an incentive (like a raffle prize for RSVPs), be sure to include that information to boost engagement.
• Personalization: If possible, include a personal touch — mention specific details that would appeal to the buyer or agent based on the data you have in your CRM.
• Mobile-friendly design: With increasing reliance on mobile devices, ensure the email is optimized for phones and tablets. A responsive design that adjusts to screen size is essential.

By creating a concise, visually appealing email with clear calls to action, you’ll maximize the effectiveness of your video tour and open house promotions in 2025.

Sprinkle in a few offline efforts

While online marketing is a major player in open house promotion, offline efforts remain an important complement in 2025, especially when targeting local buyers. Print materials and physical promotions can increase visibility and build trust in your community. Here are additional offline strategies to elevate your marketing plan:

• Flyer and brochure distribution: Hand out high-quality printed flyers and brochures to the neighborhood and popular local businesses. Places like coffee shops, gyms, community centers, and library bulletin boards can all help expand your reach. Also, consider including a QR code on flyers that leads directly to the property’s website or your open house event page. Use one of these easy, online templates to help you design a graphic work of art:
  • PosterMyWall
  • Adobe Creative Cloud Express
  • Canva
  • Flyerco
• Yard signs with a twist: While classic yard signs are essential, consider investing in interactive yard signs that include QR codes, short links, or text-to-register features. These will engage passersby and encourage immediate action.
• Postcards to local residents: Send postcards directly to homes within a certain radius of the property. Personalized messages can encourage local buyers or their friends/family to attend.
• Partner with local businesses: Build local partnerships by collaborating with nearby businesses to display your open house flyers or feature your listing in their storefront windows. In exchange, you can offer to promote their services in your marketing materials.
• Door hangers: If allowed, you can leave door hangers on nearby homes with event details. This traditional method often reaches homeowners who might not be active online but still want to be informed about local events.
• Newspaper ad or local magazine feature: Depending on the area, local newspapers or community magazines (digital or print) may still be a highly effective way to reach certain buyers.
• Open house signage at major intersections: Boyland says, “Ideally if we can, we put out 15-plus signs. That’s more than a lot of agents who just put a sign at the end of the driveway and maybe one at the end of the street. Extra signage really helps capture those eyes. When you go out a little bit further, you bring more people in.” Place your eye-catching open house signs at nearby busy intersections leading to the home to guide traffic directly to your event. Make sure these signs are clear, professional, and easy to follow.

When combining these offline efforts with your digital marketing, you’ll maximize your reach and connect with a broader audience.

Create a Google My Business event listing

Boost visibility by adding your open house as an event on your Google My Business profile. This feature helps your open house appear in local search results and on Google Maps, increasing exposure to nearby buyers actively searching for homes. Include essential details and an engaging description to capture interest.

Use targeted online ads for wider reach

Invest in targeted online ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Google Ads to promote your open house. Define your audience by location, demographics, and interests to attract serious buyers. A well-crafted ad with eye-catching visuals and a compelling call-to-action can generate significant buzz and drive attendance.

Deliver on your open house promises

Now that your open house is advertised, learn how to prepare for the event and ensure its success. Capture photos and videos, share live updates, and post recaps on social media.

In today’s competitive real estate market, making your open house stand out online is critical. A well-crafted online advertising strategy ensures your listing reaches the right buyers and generates buzz, even if they don’t attend in person. By using multiple platforms — social media, email, virtual tools, and even local networks — you increase visibility and create excitement around the event. When you pair solid online marketing with a well-executed open house, you’re setting yourself up for success and giving your property the best chance to sell quickly and for top dollar.

Header Image Source: (Feverpitch / Depositphotos)

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