Most industries need advertisements. Companies want to expand their market, reach new clients and soar to unforeseen heights… right? This is no different in the Real Estate business. Realtors want to expand their market, reach new clients looking to buy and sell their homes, and make more commission than they ever knew possible. To make all of the above happen for your business, you, or someone on your team needs a basic understanding of Facebook advertisements.
Your first questions might be “Why Facebook, Elysse?” Statista wrote that Facebook has a platform of 241 Million people in North America alone, with a healthy number of those people being baby boomers, and adults typically in the market to buy and sell their homes. These are the people you should be targeting, as they’re the ones with the finances, and pre-existing properties that will probably be hitting the market sooner rather than later.
In this article, we’ll cover the must do items you’ll need to check off your list when advertising on Facebook.
Note from the author: Since Facebook’s algorithms are detailed, and ever changing its best to get advice from a company or frequent Facebook user before putting a massive marketing budget behind your ads. This article is designed to give you new insight and guide, and will not solve every Facebook problem you’re facing. If you’re having difficulties, or want to reach a bigger group of people – we suggest reaching out to the pros!
Now that’s out of the way, let’s get started.
Style & Creativity
If you’re anything like me, you fly past most advertisements on Facebook unless they stand out aesthetically.
I’m naturally pulled towards ads that are minimalistic, clean in nature and easily understood. The WORST thing you can do with your Facebook ad is make them obscure and vague so people have no idea what you’re selling or asking. Garrett Sloan wrote that Millennials are scrolling through Facebook pages two and a half times faster than people in their 50’s and 60’s which means that in some cases, your ads need to be striking and effective.
As a rule, it’s important to understand your target audience, and build ads that will adhere to their interests and desires. If you’re not sure how to style your ads – don’t fret. Google has a vast variety of example you can use as templates. Do a bit of research and understand your audience. This will overall help with the success of your advertisement, and ultimately help you convert more leads and sales. Jerry Kelly, an author on Facebook Lead Generation wrote that because of specific target and ad styles, he had attracted and converted over 1,000 leads over a 60 day period. Goes to show that a little bit of research can go a long way.
Specific targeting option
In order to properly attract and convert leads, your targeting options need to be dialed in. Facebook is great in the way that their targeting is set up. You can focus on broad targeting like age, gender, and location.
After targeting some general options, you can then focus on more details targeting techniques. Some of these include interests, behaviors, and demographics… with each having their own sub-category for more detailed options.
One of the biggest components to having a successful ad is targeting specific people, and not everyone as a whole. You want to have a narrowed audience so you have a greater chance for conversion and conversations with serious people interested in your business. Facebook targeting also gives you the freedom to make changes if things aren’t working. Try a campaign for a week, and make changes if it doesn’t perform well. You can even modify your spending costs so you conserve your spending as much as possible.
Saving your leads in a database
You need to have something to do with your leads. Plain and simple. You need a plan, somewhere to house them, and a follow up strategy to contact them afterwards.
The leads that click through your ad might just be curious. They clicked through your advertisement may need a little more nurturing before converting – which means your follow up process needs to be bang on. There are several different CRM’s out there that can help you with that. StreetText, as an example helps realtors set up their ads, houses their contacts in their efficient dashboard, and has several options for follow up processes.
Drip functions are especially important in these circumstances. You can have a handoff approach, while sending your prospects a series of automated emails, or text messages – giving them insight into the value of your company and your services.
Conclusion & Facebook’s Value
Facebook is valuable for more than just one reason. For broad reasons such a connecting distant friends and family members, to being a big benefit for small & large business growth. Once your lead clicks on your ad and fills out the funnel information past the initial ad itself, you’re focusing on follow up and conversion – which is a great place to be. Keep yourself organized, and consider that reports show that the fewer fields required on funnel pages… the higher your chance of conversion will be.
Again, Facebook is so beneficial for your business growth, but its essential that you do it right, and make all the right choices when building ads. If you have any apprehensions about your level of creativity when building ads, or if you know enough to make this work for you – then you might want to consider leaving it to the pros and bringing in the big gun’s…. As an example, a company like StreetText. But don’t knock it until you try it. Who knows… Facebook could be the key to bring your business from good, to great.
“Elysse Bujold started her career at Disney Interactive Studios, where she grew on a project team advancing initiatives for the company. To further her professional growth and development, she then decided to join StreetText – an online platform for Real Estate agents to Generate Leads using Facebook Ad Marketing. Over the last year, Elysse has been driving marketing strategies and initiatives as well as content creating. StreetText is rooted in Kelowna, British Columbia.”
