# How to market a listing on TikTok A practical guide to marketing a listing on TikTok, from account setup and the first two seconds to music rights, captions, comments and what to measure. ## Set up the account first Before you post a listing, make the account look like a real agent's account. People who find one of your videos will tap through to your profile, and that's where they decide whether to follow or message you. - **Use a business account if you're marketing listings.** TikTok offers personal and business accounts. Business accounts get analytics and a contact button, but they're limited to music cleared for commercial use (more on that below). Check your brokerage's social media policy too; some require a disclosure or the brokerage name on the profile. - **Write a plain bio.** Your name, your brokerage, the area you work in, and how to reach you. "Listing agent in the north suburbs. Brokerage name. Text or email below." is enough. - **Pick a clear profile photo.** A headshot works better than a logo, because people follow people. - **Link to one place.** Your website, a link page, or the current listing. Don't make people hunt. ## Keep the videos short You don't need long videos to market a listing. For most listing content, 15 to 60 seconds is the right length: long enough to show a room or make one point, short enough that people watch to the end. TikTok allows much longer uploads, and limits change, so check the current guidance in the app if you want to post a full walkthrough. One video, one idea. A kitchen tour is one video. The backyard is another. The neighborhood park is a third. Splitting a listing into several short clips gives you a week of posts instead of one, and each clip is easier to finish. Film vertically, in 9:16, so the video fills the screen. Hold the phone steady or use a small gimbal, move slowly, and shoot in daylight when you can. ## Win the first two seconds People decide very quickly whether to keep watching. Open with the most interesting thing you have, not your logo or an intro card. Some openings that work for listings: - **Start on the best shot.** The view from the deck, the kitchen island, the light through the big front windows. Show it first, then back up. - **Ask a question on screen.** "Would you cook in this kitchen?" or "Guess the year this house was built." - **Start mid-motion.** A door swinging open, a walk down the hallway, a pan across the yard. Movement in the first frame holds attention better than a still. - **Put the news first.** "Just listed in [neighborhood]" or "Open house Saturday" as the first line of on-screen text. ## Put captions on the screen Many people scroll with the sound off. Add on-screen text for the main point of each video, and turn on auto captions for anything you say out loud. Check the auto captions before you post, because they often get street names and local places wrong. Keep on-screen text short, a few words at a time, and keep it away from the bottom and right edge of the frame, where the app's buttons and caption cover it. The written caption under the video matters too. Lead with the neighborhood or the standout feature, add a line on how to see the home, and finish with a handful of relevant hashtags such as your city, your neighborhood and #justlisted. You don't need thirty. ## Original audio vs. trending sounds This is where agents most often get caught out. Many of the songs trending on TikTok are licensed for personal use only. Business accounts, and personal accounts used to promote a business, generally can't use them in commercial posts. TikTok provides a commercial music library of tracks cleared for business use; check it in the app, and read TikTok's current rules for your account type, because they change. You have three safe options: 1. **Use a track from TikTok's commercial music library.** Easy, but other businesses use the same tracks. 2. **Use your own voice.** Talk through the home yourself. It's free, it's yours, and it builds trust. 3. **Use original music you have the rights to.** A song written for the listing means nobody else has the same soundtrack, and you're not borrowing a trend you might not be allowed to use. [Hit Listing](https://hitlisting.com/) writes and records an original song about the home and cuts your listing photos into a vertical video timed to the beat, so the pictures change when the music does. It's one way to get original audio without hiring a musician. Your first song is free. ## Post on a steady schedule Consistency beats volume. A realistic plan for one listing: - **Launch week:** three or four short videos (the reveal, one or two rooms, the outside). - **Before the open house:** one invitation video with the date and time on screen. - **After that:** one video a week while the home is on the market, plus updates for a price change, under contract and sold. Post when your audience is on the app. Your analytics show when your followers are most active once you have some history. Until then, try a few different times and compare. ## Reply to comments Comments are where TikTok marketing turns into conversations with buyers. Reply to questions quickly, and keep answers short and factual. You can reply to a comment with a new video, which is a good way to answer "What does the backyard look like?" and get another post out of it. If someone asks for details you shouldn't share in public, like the seller's reasons for moving, invite them to message you. Delete spam and obvious scams. ## Fair Housing still applies TikTok's casual style makes it easy to say something you wouldn't put in an MLS description. The same rules apply. Describe the home and the amenities nearby, never who should live there. - Say "four bedrooms and a fenced yard," not "perfect for a growing family." - Say "a ten-minute walk to the trailhead," not "great for active young people." - Don't call a neighborhood "safe" or describe the people who live there. - Watch your hashtags too: tags that describe people (#familyhome, #bachelorpad) raise the same issue as words in a caption. See our [Fair Housing guide](https://hitlisting.com/guides/fair-housing-safe-listing-marketing) for a list of phrases to avoid and safer alternatives. ## What to measure TikTok gives you a lot of numbers. For listing marketing, a few matter most: - **Average watch time and completion.** If people leave in the first few seconds, change your opening. - **Profile visits and link clicks.** These show whether a video is sending people toward you, not just entertaining them. - **Messages, calls and showing requests.** The numbers that matter in the end. Ask buyers at showings where they saw the home. - **Shares and saves.** A saved video is someone planning to come back to it. Views alone can mislead. A video with fewer views that brings two showing requests did more for your seller than a viral one that brought none. ## Frequently asked questions ### Should I use a personal or business account for listings? If the account markets listings, a business account is the safer choice because it comes with the commercial music library, analytics and a contact button. Check your brokerage's social media policy as well. ### Can I use a trending song in a listing video? Often not. Many trending songs are cleared only for personal use. Business accounts should use TikTok's commercial music library, their own voice, or original music they have the rights to. Check TikTok's current guidance for your account type. ### How long should a listing video on TikTok be? For most listing content, 15 to 60 seconds. Make one point per video and split a listing into several short clips. TikTok allows longer videos, but limits change, so check the app. ### How often should I post about one listing? Three or four videos in launch week, then about one a week while it's on the market, plus updates for an open house, price change, under contract and sold.