Stop posting listings. Start telling local stories.
Turn hyperlocal news into shareable content that builds visibility, relationships and business.
Lynley Ciorobea has spent the past decade using her @lynleyresidential Instagram to make herself more visible, more relatable to the communities in her farm area of Coral Gables, Pinecrest, South Miami and Palmetto Bay. “Video changed how I was able to interact with people,” says the leader of Lynley Residential Group at Real Broker. Her content has evolved from videos filmed on her phone to street interviews, features about local businesses and hyperlocal news. One of her early series, Know It or Blow It, put residents on camera and quizzed them about their own neighborhoods. “They were sharing the video because they knew the people in it.”
Today, much of Ciorobea’s content centers on hyperlocal stories about restaurants, businesses, developments, parks and events.
Ciorobea and her videographer nearly skipped a video about the sale of Red Bird Shopping Center because the property had sold months earlier. They filmed it anyway. The video attracted nearly 300,000 views, more than 10,000 shares and 1,400 new Instagram followers. It also generated business. “That led to several people looking for commercial real estate space,” Ciorobea says. She also traced referral business directly to the video. “It works.”
Here’s her strategy:
1. Hook viewers in 3 seconds.
“If I don’t get your attention in the first three seconds, you’re scrolling,” Ciorobea says. “Never lead with something boring.”
2. Mine the neighborhood for content.
Ciorobea follows local news outlets and business publications, watches city council meetings and keeps an eye out for restaurant openings, closings, developments and “coming soon” signs. She and her videographer keep running lists of ideas.
3. Don’t force the real estate angle.
Ciorobea doesn’t believe every community story needs to circle back to real estate. “I try not to come off being salesy,” she says. Often, she shares information people will find interesting and lets familiarity and trust build over time.
4. Talk to followers like people.
Ciorobea uses ManyChat, a chat marketing platform, to start conversations with new Instagram followers, and 8% to 10% respond, she says. Many are there for the local content, so she avoids immediately treating them like leads. A Minnesota family initially followed her for Miami content and began chatting with her through Instagram. They later met her for coffee during a visit and plan to buy a local home in 2027.
5. Every sale has a story.
“Nobody cares about my Just Listed,” Ciorobea says. “Every sale has a story.”
She looks for what made the transaction interesting—why someone sold, what went wrong or what made the sale unusual. Ciorobea says agents don’t need a full production team to start. “You can do it yourself with your phone,” she says. “The biggest mistake is starting and then stopping. Don’t stop.”