Facebook ads for Real Estate are one of the best ways to generate quick agent leads. They are cheaper compared to Google ads and offer better targeting. However, many agents fail to make the most of them so this week we had Andrew Fogliato and Sam Mehrbod sit down and talk about 3 Secrets for REALTORS® Running Facebook Ads in 2024.
3 Secrets for REALTORS® Running Facebook Ads in 2024
Let’s see how agents can make the most out of Facebook ads without further ado.
What Does a Successful Ad Campaign Look Like?
whether your ad campaigns are successful or not depends on what your goals are. Most obviously for most agents getting business out of ads is the primary goal for running Facebook ads. Therefore metrics like cost per lead or cost-per-transaction do not matter. On the other hand, if you want to get your brand name out there, measuring the success of your ad campaign is a bit more complicated.
Brand Marketing vs. Direct Marketing
It is for agents to confuse these two concepts. Direct marketing is when you target a customer and send a consistent message to get a lead. However, in brand marketing, you spray and pray for someone to see your ad, get to know your name, and remember it. In the past, most marketing agents had brand marketing but now we are moving closer to direct marketing where we hyper-target to deliver a specific message.
These two are very different concepts and are to be approached differently. For example, a new agent should do very little brand marketing and go very high on direct-response marketing because they need people to talk to to build their database right now.
After the agent gets to a specific size and gets leads and referrals, you can do brand marketing to get more quality leads, but it takes longer to work. As you start your business as a Real Estate agent you start high on Direct-Response-Marketing and very low on brand marketing. As you progress through your career you gradually decrease direct response marketing and increase brand marketing.
Ignore The Boost Button
One of the mistakes most agents make on Facebook and Instagram is when they click the Boost button on these two platforms and run ads for their existing content. The problem with the boost button is that it works automatically and tries to target your audience that sometime in the past engaged with your content.
Therefore, you will be targeting your lookalike audience. And guess what? In most cases, your current followers are not all interested in your business. They can be your friend and family and targeting people who look like them is a bad idea. The only advantage the Boost button has is that it is quick. And Facebook optimizes your content for engagement like comments, likes, etc.
Why Your Ads Don’t Work
There could be a couple of things wrong with your ads. Many agents run an ad in which they introduce themselves and ask their audience to give them a call. However, that is wrong. People see your ad and they already know who you are. Basically, you have to answer this question for your audience:
What’s in it for me?
Everything in the ad from the images, videos, and messaging should be designed in a way that tells the audience what they will get from reading or watching the ad.
Promoting Listings vs. Educating
It is recommended that agents focus on sharing educational content with their audience. However, if they need to promote a listing which listings should they go with? Andrew believes the listing should not be a luxury one as it shows your audience you are trying to show off the listing. It is always better to go with second homes. Homes that are suitable for those who want to upgrade. In this case, you are targeting those people who also need to sell their homes. So you are shooting two birds with one stone.
This is a great way to generate some seller leads. By targeting people’s next home you find these leads who need to sell their current home. Stop chasing seller leads other ways.
Most sellers do not care about their current home. They focus on their next home.
Facebook Organic Reach is Dead
Many agents wonder why the content on their business page is not getting enough engagement or even views. The fact is, these days Facebook is a Pay-to-Play business and unless you are paying for your content to be seen you are not going anywhere with it. However, Facebook Business Pages are still used for:
- Being able to run ads
- As a business brochure in case, people look you up.
What’s in it for Me?
Many agents try to come across as luxury agents who sell million-dollar homes. Contrary to common belief, no one cares if you are a luxury. At least the typical population of cities does not care. On the other hand, Posting “Just Sold” content on social media and even worse running ads on them is a very bad idea and is frowned upon by many users.
Instead, if you want to show your expertise in selling homes, take your audience through a journey in which you tell a story of what your client needed and how you helped them through the process. You want your audience to put themselves in the shoes of your previous clients.
Leads to Prospects
You are going to get leads by running Facebook ads. However, 90% of these leads will be ready to buy or sell a home on average 12 months later! Only 10% may be thinking of buying or selling a home right now, which we call prospects. You need to nurture these 90% of leads by educating them, helping them, adding value, etc. so that you are the agent they want to work with when they are ready to buy or sell a home.