The world is becoming increasingly digital, and the real estate business is not left out. Recently, real estate agents have been utilizing the different opportunities the internet gives them to generate and convert leads. From Google pay-per-click ads to website SEO, real estate agents use every means to get clients.
Because of this, most real estate agents and real estate companies have realized the fantastic opportunity to create Facebook ads. While leveraging Google is a good idea, it would be self-sabotaging for any real estate agent to ignore Facebook advertising when creating a digital marketing strategy. It is a vital tool that has the potential to increase your sales significantly if you know how to use it.
In this article, we will tell you why you should not ignore Facebook advertising and how to maximize your real estate ads, so they reach as many people as possible.
Why You Should Not Ignore Facebook for Real Estate
We can try to convince you of the importance of using Facebook and running Facebook ads for real estate agents. However, we think it would be better to let statistics do the talking for us.
Facebook Statistics
- Facebook has 2.94 billion monthly active users. This activity is a 3% increase from last year.
- Facebook has 1.96 billion daily active users on average. This is a 4% increase from last year.
These might look like random numbers, but the truth is Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world. Users are constantly prowling through their feeds and searching for information. Consumers looking for real estate are not left behind. You can leverage this platform to reach your target audience with just a few words. Online advertising is the perfect opportunity to place your brand in front of them; a real estate Facebook ad can be just the ticket. Think of your real estate Facebook ads as digital billboards. These numbers are enormous, and they keep growing
- 67% of Facebook users are between the ages of 25-54. This segment amounts to about 1.4 billion users.
This number is relevant because this is the age range when people are getting serious about investing in real estate. With these statistics, you can’t deny that Facebook is a real estate marketplace and ripe for real estate Facebook ads.
Real Estate Facebook Ads = Connection
Facebook allows you to connect with people. While considering Google Ads are a good idea, let’s not forget that most people making real estate Google searches also have Facebook accounts. Some people on Facebook want to sell their homes but have never made a single search on the process. You can find these people, convert them to leads, and eventually help them buy or sell their home. Real estate Facebook ads can allow you to do just that.
Should Real Estate Agents Consider Facebook Ads?
The short answer is yes. We have already proven that the people you are looking for are on Facebook, and they spend at least 30 minutes a day going through their feeds daily.
You cannot reach all these people organically, even if you tried. Real estate Facebook ads offer the perfect means to reach your target audience.
We know of the fear most people have about how complex Facebook ads are, and they are justified in this fear. Facebook ads are so difficult, and the algorithm is so picky that even ad experts can get lost. However, Facebook ads are still powerful because they allow you to take the conversation to the right people.
Why Organic Reach Isn’t Good Enough Anymore
In the past, organic reach was enough. All you needed to do was consistently post good content, and you would get your message in front of many people. Organic content would drive free traffic to your page. But this is not the case anymore.
Now, Facebook’s algorithm uses machine learning to determine what your audience sees on their news feed. The implication is that if the algorithm decides that your content is worth it, many people will see it.
But this is not the entire truth, especially for companies and brands. Many brands’ goals are to reach as many people as possible organically. But the odds are stacked against them. No matter how hard you try, you will be lucky if your followers see a few of your posts.
Building Relationships
For real estate agents, this is not good enough anymore. Real estate is a business of relationships, which is why social media is an excellent digital marketing platform for real estate agents. However, real estate is also a business of numbers.
The more people you reach, the higher your chances of finding people who are willing to sell. Organic reach can’t get you the numbers anymore.
High-Quality Data for Real Estate Facebook Ads
This is where real estate Facebook ads come in handy. Facebook real estate ads work to boost your message and get to more people. Facebook ads can even target people more likely to be looking for you.
Facebook has a rich bank of information that comes in handy when creating real estate ads because they allow you to target a group of people based on specific metrics. We are talking about metrics like age, education level, income range, marital status, and home ownership status.
If you had been paying attention, you would have realized that all this is essential information in the hands of real estate agents.
A Guide To Facebook Marketing For Real Estate Agents
Now that we have decided that Facebook marketing and real estate Facebook ads are essential, let us try to simplify the process. Running Facebook ad campaigns does not require much. You need an active Facebook page to get started. There are two types of Facebook pages:
- A personal profile
- A business page
A Facebook business page offers you more customization options and the ability to create Facebook advertising. You cannot connect a personal profile to a Facebook ad account.
If you are using a business page, Facebook allows you to create ads that have specific objectives. So before running Facebook ads, you need to decide the ad’s intent. What business goals are you hoping to meet, and which ad objective will help you meet these goals.
Ad Spend Budget Considerations
Regarding Facebook ads and real estate advertising, you need to be mindful of your budget. You don’t want to spend more than you can afford and want to ensure that your ad is effective.
Two things you need to consider when setting your real estate advertising budget: how much money you want to spend and how long you want the ad to run.
Wordstream says the average cost per click for real estate Facebook ads is $1.81. The average cost per lead in Facebook ads across all industries is $19.68, and $16.52 for real estate ads.
Consider these benchmarks when constructing a sound ad spend budget for Facebook and other social media outlets.
What Campaign Objectives For A Real Estate Agent Look Like
While there are campaign objectives that are not suitable for real estate agents and their business goals, there are some that are perfect for you to use, including:
- Generate leads
- Drive more traffic to your website
- Boost your posts and get more interactions
- Promote your page and get more followers
- Increase the level of attendance for events
- Increase website conversion rate
However, you must know that to get this level of customization, you need to register for a business profile and develop Facebook ad sets.
Facebook ad sets are a group of settings that make creating campaigns easier. You can reuse these settings for the different real estate Facebook ad campaigns you run. It is the part of the ad campaign where you decide who you want your message to reach, and it is more than just choosing between different sets of targeting options.
At this point, the best thing to do is to test different audiences with different types of real estate advertising to see which one converts the best. Now with the information you get from these Facebook ad sets, you can create your custom audience.
Now, Onto The Real Estate Ads
We have talked about setting objectives and creating ad sets. Let’s talk about the different campaigns and the type of ad format you can run. These real estate campaigns are based on the objectives that align with your business goals. It would be best if you only started running these real estate campaigns after establishing your business goals and ad objectives.
Note: Special Ad Categories
Facebook has a specific ad category for housing, which agents must adhere to. This category allows agents to target people looking for a new home, whether they are just starting their search or are close to buying. Ads in this category can include images of houses for sale, information about the agent or brokerage, and contact information. A well-done housing ad campaign on Facebook can help agents reach more potential buyers and close more sales.
When creating a new real estate ad on Facebook, select the housing special ad category. Failing to do so can lead to the deactivation of your entire ad account.
Lead Generation
Lead generation is one of the most popular reasons agents run real estate Facebook ads. Lead generation means you have gotten a motivated seller to provide information about themselves. Or a buyer is looking to buy a home in your area. This information will enable you to keep in touch with them even after they have come in contact with your real estate advertising.
The typical information you should collect includes name, email address, and phone number. These are the standard information, but you could get other information depending on the form or method you use to collect this data. For the best results, we advise that you run a Facebook Lead Ad.
How Do I Run My First Facebook Lead Ad?
Step 1: Craft Compelling Copy
Well-crafted copy is necessary because the words and language you use will cause them to click on the ad. You should also include images or videos. The most persuasive and engaging copy makes your audience think about why they should work with you. You would want to make them imagine what it would feel like after they have chosen you to sell or find their home.
Step 2: Create Your Ad Campaign
Now it’s time to get creative. With free software like Canva, you can easily create a great-looking image to complement your ad. Take note of your Facebook ad image’s size requirements. Facebook feed ads recommend a resolution of at least 1080 by 1080 pixels and can be a maximum of 30 megabytes. The minimum technical requirement for size is 600 by 600 pixels with no maximum. Facebook supports image ratios from 1.91:1 to 4:5, though offer ads and ads with stock photos require the 1.91:1 ratio.
Step 3: Publish Your Real Estate Facebook Ads
Once you have your copy and creative ready, you can run your lead advertisement. A Facebook lead advertisement allows your audience to provide you with their information without leaving Facebook. When users click on your Facebook ad, they will see a lead form that is already pre-filled.
They can decide to opt-in with the information on the form or change it to something else. And if they already have a house they want to sell, they can enter the address and submit the form. Voila, you have gotten a new lead, and they didn’t have to leave Facebook.
Your ad copy, along with the ad format, needs to get the attention of your audience. If it doesn’t, your ad won’t do as well as you want it to.
Drive More Traffic To Your Website
This category is like running Google Adwords or optimizing your website to appear on the Google search result pages. The goal is to get more people to visit your website. However, the traffic is not coming from search engines this time, but from your custom audience targeted by your published real estate Facebook Ads campaign.
Step 1: Create a Landing Page
Landing pages are essential to any online marketing strategy real estate professionals create. They are a standalone web page that you create to promote one offer or target a specific audience, such as a buyer or seller. You will also have a lead capture form attached for your Facebook leads to fill out. Landing pages are different from your website’s home page in that they have one specific goal, and all the elements on the page support that goal.
Step 2: Create Copy and Creative
The process is similar to what you have for creating lead ads. All engaging real estate marketing needs compelling copy and an image or video. However, this strategy directs your target audience to your website when they click on the Facebook ad instead of a lead form.
Effective real estate ads should have ad copy that corresponds with the landing page you are directing people to. Because you can choose the page your potential clients will land on, you can use this ad form to generate new leads.
Step 3: Strengthen Your Offer
Lead magnets will always garner more attention than just a simple “call for a free consultation” call-to-action. Let’s take the following as an example. Assuming you have an e-book you want to use as a lead magnet, you can run an ad that will direct anyone who clicks on it to a page where they will get the e-book after providing information about themselves.
Because you are taking the user outside Facebook, you should ensure that the process is seamless. Your website should be user-friendly and mobile-friendly too. You should also ensure that they do not land on a different page than what was stated in the ad copy or call to action.
Using the example we already mentioned, if you are trying to generate seller leads using a lead magnet, ensure that they are redirected to that specific landing page because it would be frustrating to land on any other page. The user experience is significant.
Boost Your Posts And Drive Audience Engagement
Remember we said that a real estate business is a business of relationships? You can’t form relationships with people who do not see your posts.
Boosting posts is another form of getting your real estate Facebook ads seen. When promoting a post to get more interaction, the first thing to consider is whether it did well organically.
If your organic followers resonate with the post, boosting it is a good idea. This is because your followers are people who resonate with your message, and if they are drawn to a particular post, this may be a message that will resonate with a larger field of your target audience. Boosting such a post will get you more interaction and increase your followership.
You can also compound the effects of boosting posts like these. If you have provided value in the posts and there is a link that takes them to your website, boosting such posts will drive traffic.
Promote Your Page and Get More Followers
When you run this type of ad, you are trying to get more people to like your Facebook page. Enticing people to like your page might not sound like a big deal, but the more people who like or follow your page, the farther your organic reach is. The farther your organic reach is, the more effective your other real estate advertising will be.
Promoting your page is a straightforward ad. Like the other ad forms, you can create this real estate Facebook ad with a copy and an image. However, the call to action will be to get people to like your page.
Increase The Level Of Attendance For An Event
As a real estate agent, part of your marketing strategy would be to host events like open houses. These events can garner a variety of activities like boosting your email database, building relationships with new buyer leads, and getting a prospect to buy your listing.
Events can be physical, like open houses, or virtual, like webinars discussing the importance of property appraisal and how to go about it.
You hope to get as much attendance as possible when you have events like this. A Facebook ad form allows you to get this event in the news feed of a large audience.
Step 1: Set Your Time and Date
To create this campaign, you need to have a Facebook event with a date and a time for attendance.
Step 2: Create Your Event on Facebook
On your business page, you will be able to create an event quickly. Add an engaging header image to liven up your event, and set the time and date. And lastly, add a description of your event.
You will need an ad copy and a video or photo. The copy should be enticing enough to get people interested in the event. It should also promise enough value so that they remain hooked until the day of the event.
Step 3: Run Your Event Ad
Once you finish creating the event, running the ad format is just like the other ads we’ve discussed.
Increase Website Conversion Rate
With this ad form, you can find real estate seller leads and send them to your website. It also comes with a precise means of measuring conversion. This might be the perfect option for you if you want to generate leads using a form on your website.
Option 1: Lead Conversion Facebook Pixel
This process comes with a piece of code, called a Facebook pixel, that allows you to monitor the user’s activities on your site. Let’s say you are trying to find out how many users filled out the Facebook lead form. In this case, you can place a piece of code called the Facebook conversion tracking pixel on the last page of the conversion process. You will be able to see just how many leads you got from Facebook.
Option 2: Retargeting Facebook Pixel
There is another type of pixel known as the Facebook retargeting pixel. This pixel is like a website cookie. It stores information about a user even if they do not fill out the lead generation form. You can target home sellers by creating a specific campaign with this information. This way, you generate more leads, eventually translating to more business.
How Do You Convince Homeowners To Sell
Most of the people you target might not be actively looking to sell their house. Some of them might not even believe that they can sell their homes. It’s up to you to convince them.
Communicate with them using words and visuals that they can relate to. Show them properties that look like theirs and tell them that it is possible to sell their house fast. Get them to connect with your copy on a personal level. Nothing starts a conversation more than creating a connection with your target audience.
Parting Words
Should you be using Facebook ads as a real estate agent? Of course, you should. With Facebook ads, you can target and find people who want to sell their off-market properties. With the ad forms we have listed here, you should be able to understand the basics of running Facebook ads. You can track how well your ad is doing and even retarget several users.
Remember that real estate is a business of relationships, and there is no better place to build relationships than on the biggest social media platform.
