How This Toronto Agent Gets 30% of His Business From Instagram

Christine George
4 days ago
4 min read

There is a story we tell ourselves in real estate: that social media only works if you go viral, buy followers, or post ten times a week until you burn out. Chris Wannamaker is living proof that none of that is true.

Chris is the co-team leader at The W Group at RE/MAX Connect in Toronto. Before real estate, he spent nearly a decade in PR, advertising, and management consulting, including time at Edelman, the world's largest PR firm. Eight years ago, he joined his partner Edward in the business. Today, 30% of his personal book of business comes directly from Instagram. He does it with an audience of about 9,000 people.

Professionalism is a competitive advantage

Chris came to real estate from the corporate world, and it gave him something many agents never build: a standard of professionalism.

"It really prepared me to be a consummate professional," Chris says of his years at Edelman. "That's something I definitely bring into all of my client touchpoints now."

An engaged audience beats a big one

Chris was stuck around 7,000 followers for years, then a few posts took off and moved him to around 9,000. He is quick to point out that the number was never the point.

"These aren't bot followers. I don't have 200,000 followers across Canada. That's not going to serve my business too well," he says. "I have a pretty targeted base of followers located mostly in Toronto. It's an engaged audience who cares about what I post, and that is more important than trying to reach everyone."

Most of the people who follow Chris are people he has actually met, or who came to him through a referral or his content. That is what makes the audience convert.

The right content mix is the one you will actually keep up

Ask Chris for the perfect personal-to-professional ratio, and he will not give you a formula. His advice is simpler: share your listings and your wins, but let people see your real life too, your dog, travel with your husband, workouts, friends.

The proof is in his most successful post ever. It was not a listing. It was a curated carousel of wedding photos for his two-year anniversary, and it brought in more than 1,000 new followers.

"People are connecting with you about your personal life just as much," Chris says. "Having a blended channel of both is how you're going to reach the most people who actually trust you."

That blend is also on brand. The W Group aims to be elevated but approachable, professional but not overly serious. As Chris puts it, "We can have fun with real estate. That's how I am as a person, and that's what I want to show on my social media."

The $100 strategy that turns followers into clients

Late last year, the team started putting a modest amount behind their new listing videos, about $100 over two weeks, sometimes $150. The goal is not clicks or messages. It is brand awareness and follows.

For every new follower, Chris sends a personal, same-day message. Not an autoresponder. Most people ignore it or say thank you. But a meaningful few reply with, "I was curious about that listing," or, "I've been saving, and I don't know where to start." And that is where Chris does the thing so many agents forget: he tells them the next step.

"People want to be guided by you," he says. "I'm not just saying, 'Thanks for letting me know.' I'm saying, 'Okay, cool. Let's have a call. What's your name? Can you share your email and phone number?'"

From this small change alone, in a matter of months, Chris landed a listing referral, a buyer who purchased in a blue-chip Toronto neighborhood, and two more active buyers. The whole thing takes about five minutes a day.

Systems make it sustainable

Chris also invests in systems. Every listing gets the same three-piece content mix: a photo (with Chris and Edward actually in it), a polished reel with text, and a walkthrough video. Captions are templated from the listing write-up, so nothing gets reinvented from scratch.

"I don't believe in reinventing the wheel every time," he says. "A quick, cute message with some personality is a lot more effective than three lines of ChatGPT garbage."

Take the online relationship offline

For all the Instagram talk, Chris is clear about where the team actually spends its money: engaging the existing database. A 200-plus-person annual client event, smaller micro events, holiday drop-offs, client dinners, and a real investment in their CRM, Follow-Up Boss. The systems remind him when it is someone's birthday. The message he sends is personal.

"People want to hear from me. They don't want to feel like they're just in my system," he says. "AI is a useful tool, but people value human connection now more than ever."

The takeaway

You do not need 50,000 followers. You need a real audience, a genuine presence, and the discipline to guide people to the next step. As Chris says, "Don't worry about the number of followers. Focus on the quality and authenticity of your content."

Links:

Chris Wannamaker, Co-Team Leader, The W Group at RE/MAX Connect

Website: wgrouprealestate.ca
Instagram: @cwans
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