Social media for a new listing: a seven-day posting plan

The first week of a listing is when it gets the most attention it will ever get, and most agents spend it posting one carousel on day one and nothing after. A week of posts is not a week of work if the seven are written and scheduled before the sign goes up. Here is the plan, with the rules that apply to every post in Ontario.

The rules that apply to every post

A social post about a listing is an advertisement, and the Code of Ethics under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002 treats it as one. The parts that matter for a week of posts:

• •Your name and your brokerage, every time: section 36 says a registrant discloses the name they are registered in, clearly and prominently, in all advertisements, and a salesperson or broker does not advertise unless the ad clearly and prominently identifies the brokerage that employs them, by its registered name. A caption on your personal account still needs the brokerage.
• •The right title: section 36(4) lists the terms: “brokerage” for the brokerage, “broker” or “real estate agent” for a broker, and “salesperson”, “sales representative” or “real estate agent” for a salesperson. REALTOR® on its own is allowed if you are a CREA member. Made-up titles are not.
• •Consent before you identify the home: section 36(8) says nothing in an advertisement may reasonably identify specific real estate unless the owner has consented in writing. Your listing agreement usually covers your own listing; a “coming soon” teaser before it is signed does not have that cover.
• •Consent before you post a price from a deal: section 36(9) covers the contents of an agreement, including the price. A “sold over asking” post with the number needs the parties’ written consent.
• •Accurate, always: section 37 says no knowingly inaccurate representation about a trade. “Renovated” means renovated, and the square footage in the caption is the one on the listing.

Put your name, title and brokerage in your profile and in the caption or the graphic itself, since a post gets shared without the profile. Describe the property and the neighbourhood, never the buyer you imagine living there.

The seven days

• •Day 1, the reveal: the hero exterior, the price, beds and baths, the neighbourhood, and where to see more. A carousel of the five photos buyers see first on the portals. This is the post you boost.
• •Day 2, the best room: one room, three photos, and the one fact that makes it the best room: the kitchen renovation and its year, the primary bedroom’s size, the view. One room per post is more watched than ten.
• •Day 3, the neighbourhood: the walk to the school, the coffee place on the corner, the park, the transit stop. Shoot it yourself in ten minutes. Buyers moving to the area watch this one longest.
• •Day 4, the walk-through: a 60 to 90 second phone video from the front door through to the back yard, with a spoken script you read as you go. Post it as a reel and as a story, and put the long version on the listing page.
• •Day 5, the open house: the date, the time and the address, with a photo of the room people will walk into first. Post it again as a story the morning of. If you use a QR sign-in, put the poster in the story.
• •Day 6, the detail buyers ask about: parking, the basement apartment, the lot, the furnace year, the condo fees and what they include. Pick the question you have been asked three times this week and answer it in a post.
• •Day 7, the recap: the week in numbers that are true: showings, open house visitors, the next open house. Then the link. If an offer date is set, say so.

What to skip

• •A teaser of a home that is not yet under a listing agreement, or one whose owner has not agreed in writing to the marketing.
• •A “sold” post with the sale price before the parties have consented in writing. Post that it sold, and leave the number out.
• •Posts that describe the buyer: “perfect for a young family”, “ideal for retirees”. Describe the home.
• •A caption that claims a feature the listing does not: a “new roof” that was patched, a “finished basement” with a bare concrete floor.
• •Posting without the brokerage name because the account is personal. The rule applies to the post wherever it appears.

Write all seven before launch

The plan fails when the posts are written on the day. Block an hour before the listing goes live: the photos are back, the copy is approved, the open house is booked. Write the seven captions, make the seven graphics, record the two videos, and schedule them. Launch week then runs itself, and the hour you saved each day goes to the showings and the calls that actually sell the house.

Frequently asked questions

How Listing Launchpad handles a week of posts

Listing Launchpad was built so the posts come from the listing you already entered, with the same facts in every one of them.

• •Seven captions from one listing: the social caption is written once to work on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and X, with up to five hashtags or exactly the ones you saved, plus an emoji highlights caption and a condensed version for the days that want a different shape.
• •The walk-through you have to script: the video script is a spoken walkthrough you read while filming the tour on your phone.
• •The graphics: the Design Studio lays your listing photos into story and reel covers, square and 4:5 posts and a ten-layout ad set, from the real photos and the listing’s details.
• •The facts that drift: every caption is written from the listing, so the furnace year and the square footage are the ones on the record. When the price or an open house changes, the pieces written before the change are marked so you know which to regenerate.
• •Your voice, your details: save a brand voice and every caption is written in it. Your name and brokerage are on the listing, so they are there to carry on every post.
• •The open house story: the open house QR sign-in poster is ready to print or post, and the date sits on the listing page the posts link to.

Captions, the video script and the listing page are on every plan, Free included. Designed graphics use AI Credits on Pro and Studio, and the brand voice is on Pro and Studio, and in the 14-day Pro trial.