Real estate agents in Israel have been posting apartments to Facebook groups and Marketplace for years, and Instagram stays on the side: everyone knows they should, nobody has the time. This guide explains how BuzzPost's Instagram auto-posting works, what the software does with your video and photos, how to switch it on in 5 minutes, and what it deliberately does not do.
Why an agent needs Instagram at all
Facebook groups bring the people looking for an apartment this week. Instagram brings something else: the owner checking you out before handing over an exclusive, the tenant comparing two agents, the colleague referring a client. They all do the same thing - open the profile and look at what went out last. A profile with last week's apartments, with video, says "working agency". A profile with three posts from six months ago says the opposite, even if you have 25 apartments in stock.
The problem is not willingness but time. Uploading one apartment by hand with a clip and six photos takes about 10 minutes: pick the files, crop the clip to a format, retype the text, fix the order. With 5 new apartments a week that is nearly an hour, and by the end of the day it simply does not happen. So the solution has to add no step at all to what you already do.
What auto-posting can do
The idea is simple: the listing you already sent to the BuzzPost software for Facebook groups and Marketplace also goes to Instagram, from the same server and the same browser. Nothing is written twice or uploaded twice. The full description is on the Instagram auto-posting page; here is the essence.
One carousel: video first, photos after
Instagram allows up to 10 files in a post. The software puts the apartment video first and up to 9 photos after it, all in one carousel. Whoever sees the post gets the clip straight away and swipes through the photos. If the listing has no video, only the photos go out.
The format is chosen from the video size
This is what gets in the way most with a manual upload: Instagram crops clips. The software measures the video before uploading and picks a format: landscape goes as 16:9, a vertical phone clip as 9:16 (4:5 in a carousel with photos), a square as 1:1. Anything that fits none of them goes as Original, so the caption "3 rooms, 4th floor" burned into the clip is not cut off. For a post without video the format follows the setting in the panel: original, square or 4:5.
The caption is your text, with no hashtags
The caption is the listing text as you wrote it, in Hebrew or Russian. Before and after it the software adds the fixed lines from the settings: agency name, phone. No hashtags are added, and that is a deliberate decision: a clean post reads like a person wrote it, not software. If the text contains links, you can set them to be removed from the caption.
Up to 4 posts a day, every listing once
The software posts no more than 4 listings a day per account. The rest wait in the queue and go out on the following days in order. There is a window of hours (8 to 23 by default) and a pause between posts, and both can be set. Every listing is published once; if you want a repeat, there is a Publish again button.
A screenshot of every post
After every successful post a screenshot arrives in Telegram, and the same screenshot is kept on the Instagram page in the panel, under Post screenshots. The listing gets a link to the post. If something fails several times in a row, a screenshot of the problem comes to Telegram so you can see what Instagram showed.
How to switch it on in 5 minutes
- The Instagram page in the panel. Open the panel, go to the Instagram page and turn on the Post to Instagram switch next to the server.
- Instagram login. Click Instagram login. A window with Instagram on your own server opens and you sign in yourself - the password is handed to nobody. After login the software scrolls the feed a little, checks the account and sends a confirmation to Telegram.
- Fixed lines. On the same page write what goes at the start and the end of the caption: agency name, phone, address.
- Add to Instagram. Every listing has an Add to Instagram button. Click it on the ones you want on the profile, or turn on New listings automatically - and every new listing joins the queue by itself.
From that moment the software is working. The Instagram page shows the state of every listing: not added, waiting, published with date and link, failed. There is search, sorting and bulk actions: select all, clear all, retry failed.
What the software does not do
Better to know in advance, so you do not expect what is not there:
- It does not post Stories, only feed posts.
- It does not answer in Direct and does not comment. Enquiries reach you as usual, and you answer them.
- It does not add hashtags.
- It does not connect several Instagram accounts to one server: one account per licence.
- It does not show reach analytics and does not promise followers.
What about account safety
The software uses neither the Instagram API nor third-party apps. It works in the same browser on the same server where your Facebook account already runs, and behaves like a person: opens the feed, scrolls, opens the create dialog, picks files, types the caption, clicks Share. Pop-ups (OK, Not now, X) it closes by itself, in Hebrew, Russian and English.
The pace is limited on purpose: 4 posts a day, a pause between posts, every listing once. If Instagram still holds back publishing temporarily, the software stops the session, sets a status in the panel and tries again an hour later. The listing's attempt is not lost. Nobody can guarantee the absence of blocks, but the software gives Instagram no reason.
What it costs
Instagram is part of the regular BuzzPost subscription: 249 ILS a month for the first licence, 200 ILS for each additional one, no long contract. The same subscription includes the Facebook groups software, the Marketplace software, Instagram and a personal website with all your listings. The first week is free. Refer a friend and you get a month free, while the friend pays 199 ILS for the first month.
Short questions
Can I connect my personal account rather than the agency's?
Yes, any Instagram account you sign in to in the panel window. One account per server.
What happens with 30 apartments at once?
Tick them all. The software posts 4 a day, so all of them will be on the profile in about 8 days, in the order you ticked them.
What language does the post go out in?
The one you wrote the listing in, Hebrew or Russian. The software does not translate and does not change the text.
How do I know the post went out?
A screenshot in Telegram and in the panel, and a link to the post next to the listing.