Real Estate Internet Marketing Archives - 39 Celsius Web Marketing Consulting https://www.39celsius.com/category/real-estate-internet-marketing/ Expert Digital Marketing Fri, 03 Nov 2023 00:59:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3.2 https://www.39celsius.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/favicon.ico Real Estate Internet Marketing Archives - 39 Celsius Web Marketing Consulting https://www.39celsius.com/category/real-estate-internet-marketing/ 32 32 Facebook Ads For Real Estate: 10 Killer Ad Strategies https://www.39celsius.com/facebook-ads-for-real-estate-agents-3-tips/ https://www.39celsius.com/facebook-ads-for-real-estate-agents-3-tips/#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2022 10:59:00 +0000 https://www.39celsius.com/?p=2092 Agency Tested & Proven Ways to Gain More Real Estate Leads with Facebook Ads*Updated with Facebook's latest changes for real estate advertising. *In this post, I am sharing targeting strategies and ad types you as a realtor can implement NOW for your real estate Facebook ad campaigns. Table of Contents FAQsFacebook Lead AdsBuying or Selling […]

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Agency Tested & Proven Ways to Gain More Real Estate Leads with Facebook Ads

*Updated with Facebook's latest changes for real estate advertising. *

In this post, I am sharing targeting strategies and ad types you as a realtor can implement NOW for your real estate Facebook ad campaigns.

What is important to remember about Facebook marketing for realtors is that it is dependent on paid ad strategies – without ads, your organic non-paid page posts will get you nowhere (page posts without ads reach at best 1% of your fans).

FAQs

Do Facebook Ads Work for Realtors?

Yes, Facebook ads for realtors work. Successful real estate marketing has to include Facebook ads as part of the marketing mix.

Facebook Ads can help you capture leads (seller and buyer leads), increase traffic for open houses, and maintain your brand with your target audience - whether that is a future homeowner, current homeowner, or real estate investor.  

Your future prospects are on Facebook in higher numbers and for longer periods of time than any other marketing channel bar none. 

Your success with Facebook Ads depends on your strategy, consistency, and ongoing campaign adjustments.

With Facebook ads, an entire world of potential opens up for marketing real estate.

How Much Does It Cost to Run Facebook Ads for Realtors?

You can spend as little as $1 per day. And there is no upward limit on your ad spending. Your business goals and campaign objectives play a factor in your Facebook spending. And results are proportional to your ad budget. 

Why Facebook Ads for Real Estate Agents?

Because the Facebook ad platform offers an unrivaled rich, diverse, and deep level of ad targeting options that no other advertising platform can provide. This allows you to reach your ideal target customer very efficiently. This cannot be achieved with any other marketing channel.

What Changed with Facebook Ad Targeting to Adhere to Fair Housing Guidelines?

  • No demographic targeting on gender, age, or income
  • Some housing and financial interests have been removed
  • No geotargeting less than 15 miles
  • No zip code targeting

But these changes have had minimal impact on the results you achieve because you can drill down on other exact interests that define your ideal target customer. Plus, you can produce and write ads that appeal to specific audiences, genders, and ages. 

So read on if you want to know how best to run ads that deliver results.

What you need before running ads:

  • A Facebook business page - your ads are associated with your business page (not your personal Facebook page)
  • Content posted to your page so it doesn’t look like a ghost town, but honestly, very few will visit your page or see your non-paid page posts so no need to invest much here
  • Your contact info filled out on your Facebook business page
  • A website or landing page to direct people to after clicking on your ad (although this is not always necessary)

Proven tactics that generate results.

We have tested these ad strategies in our agency with real estate clients nationwide to generate buyer listings, seller leads, awareness for open houses, and omnipresent awareness with the target audience in local markets to more effectively farm territories.

The benefit to you: a shortened learning curve that has been tested, which you can implement now!

Read our related post on marketing to all levels of the real estate sales funnel using Facebook ads, and using Facebook ads to grow seller listing leads.

3 Core Pillars of Success for Real Estate Ads on Facebook

3-legged stool of success for facebook ads for realtors

3-legged stool of success for Facebook ads for realtors

3-legged stool of success for facebook ads for realtors

3-legged stool of success for Facebook ads for realtors

  • Targeting – the most essential component which I’m discussing below (the options available are many – unmatched with anything else you’re doing to drive leads)
  • Your Ad – what type of ad will you run (single image, carousel ad, lead ad, video ad, etc.), and then what is the imagery and copy written into the ad
  • Campaign Objectives – Facebook has more than 10 campaign objectives that align with your business goals. The most effective for realtors include Lead Generation, Brand Awareness or Promote Business Locally, Traffic to Website, and Reach

Campaign Objectives

Many beginning their ad journey are introduced to Facebook ads with the infamous Boost Post, which is part of the Engagement objective – you should stop using that now as most of that ad spend is wasted (related post here on why and another post here on Boost Posts vs Facebook Ads, which is better?), and there are far more effective campaign objectives that align to business goals. 

The Engagement Objective (i.e., Boost Post) is solely focused on:

  • Likes
  • Shares
  • Comments

These are vanity metrics. With this objective, Facebook seeks people in your audience that are likely to like, comment, or share on almost anything. And you can't deposit likes, shares, or comments in the bank. 

Ad Targeting - Essential for Success

The targeting you choose (i.e., interests) for your ads is one of the most critical determining factors to success and your ability to generate seller listing leads and buyer leads.

Why?

Show your ads to the wrong audience, and it doesn’t matter what else you do or what you offer. You won’t be successful.

The best part is that with Facebook's ad platform, you can be precise and targeted, so your ads show to your ideal prospects, and you get results that deliver leads. But equally important, you have Facebook's ad algorithm behind your campaign working to deliver results. Remember, it wants you to succeed and is very effective at learning to deliver results over time. 

The Buckets for Facebook Ad Targeting:

  • Interests – what are people interested in, pages they have liked or visited, and closely related topics. For example, Zillow, Realtor.com, Mortgages, and more.
  • Behaviors – these are removed for real estate and mortgage 
  • Demographics – because real estate falls into a "Special Category," you cannot down select on age, income, education, or gender

So without further ado, here are the 10 proven Facebook ad tactics for realtors (not in order of importance).

1

Facebook Lead Ads

Lead Ads are a particular type of Facebook ad within the Lead Generation campaign objective that allow you to capture either buyer or seller leads right within Facebook. There’s no need to send clicks on your ads off Facebook. Leads Ads are particularly useful for growing seller leads (a related post here on how to target home sellers and grow seller leads).

The main benefits of Lead Ads are:

  1. 1
    No need for a landing page - real estate leads are captured right in Facebook, so there's no need for a separate landing page. 
  2. 2
    Ease of use: the customer can easily submit their information to you as Facebook will pre-fill form fields automatically (even more critical for people on mobile devices that would have a harder time manually filling out a form on your website)
  3. 3
    Leads can be easily downloaded straight out of Facebook or sent directly to a Google sheet (using a 3rd party app)
  4. 4
    Funnel leads directly into your CRM or marketing automation software (such as Keap)
  5. 5
    Most likely to act: Facebook will identify those in your target audience that is most likely to fill out your form

Below is a realtor Lead Ad example for seller listings.

Realtor Lead Ad Example - Selling Listing Lead

Realtor Lead Ad Example - Selling Listing Lead Ad

After the prospect clicks on the "Learn More" button, they are taken to the next step. In this case, the realtor added an optional pre-qualifying question - Are you Buying or Selling?

You can ask different types of questions that what is displayed here, and more questions, but you do have to be careful. There is a proportional decrease in the number of leads (i.e., conversions) as the number of questions increases. And some questions can get your ad disapproved. 

Most importantly, though, asking for too much information is like meeting someone you have never met before at a networking event and right away they ask you a bunch of questions - it's not going to go over well and will likely put you off. 

Realtor Lead Ad Example - Form Questions

Realtor Lead Ad Example - Pre-Qualifying Form Questions

After the prospect clicks the "Sell" or "Buy" button, they are taken to the contact form. Facebook fills this information in automatically, so it makes the process seamless for the user to submit their information to you. This example is on a mobile device.

Realtor Lead Ad Example - Final Step - Adding Contact Information

Realtor Lead Ad Example - Final Step - Adding Contact Information on Mobile Device

2

Buying or Selling a House Audience Targeting

Facebook has very specific Interest categories for people that are potential buyers or sellers. How fantastic is that?

The intent of a consumer in the buying or selling bucket has a higher likelihood of needing a real estate agent among a whole host of other products and services.

Facebook knows these consumers from its rich behavioral data sets that include online and offline data about these specific consumers.

Here's a short list of some of those relevant interests:

  • People that have an interest in Realtor.com, Zillow, Trulia
  • People that have interests in House Hunting or First-time home buyer 
  • People that have an interest in Mortgage loans, mortgage interest

This is only a partial list. Needless to say, Facebook knows what sites these potential Buyers and Sellers are visiting and how often, among other sources of data, that indicate the prospect's interest in buying a home or selling their current home. 

Targeting Real Estate Websites:

What’s MOST important about targeting sites like Zillow, Realtor.com and others is that these companies spend big dollars ($$$$) creating brand awareness for their apps and driving people to their websites. They are sending millions of people to these websites to actively look for properties, or trends in real estate, estimated home values, and more. Facebook knows who these people are, and they are available to you to target. You are benefiting from the ad spend these companies are investing in traditional and digital marketing!

Example of Audience Size with Buyer and Seller Audience Targeting

Suppose you're a realtor in San Diego that focuses your real estate efforts in the northern part of the county. 

facebook ad targeting for realtors in san diego

Facebook ad targeting for realtors in San Diego

facebook ad targeting for realtors in san diego

Facebook ad targeting for realtors in San Diego

With the above Interests and geotargeting of 15 miles in San Diego (15 miles is the smallest geotargeting for Special Categories of Real Estate and Mortgage), we identified an audience of 1.3m to 1.5m - a large audience indeed. 

When is an audience too large in Facebook?  

For specific ad types (Lead Ads and Lead Generation), large audiences are more effective. Facebook works off of data, and the more data it has, oftentimes, the better it performs at achieving your campaign objectives. So, no, this is not too large of an audience, depending on the campaign objective and your ad budget. 

For brand awareness and related campaign objectives with a smaller budget, I would narrow this down with further income, age, and geography segmentation. 

Can you segment and identify people in specific income demographics? 

Sort of...

But I thought you said Facebook won't allow you to segment on income?

You cannot explicitly segment on income within Facebook for real estate, but the workaround requires a bit of creativity. Segment on other interests that you know your ideal customer has in these income brackets. 

For example, what if you wanted to target people with 6-figure household incomes. 

Consider the following sample of segments:

  • Financial Planning
  • Real Estate Investing
  • Stock Market
  • Investments
  • Land and Houses

3

Target Real Estate Investors

What if you want to reach people that are perhaps interested in investing in real estate or flipping home? Facebook has very specific Interest categories for real estate investors. 

Facebook ad targeting for real estate investors

Facebook ad targeting for real estate investors

Facebook ad targeting for real estate investors

Facebook ad targeting for real estate investors

This is a good-sized audience within the geographic targeting selected above - between 500k and 600k people. 

Facebook audience size real estate investors

Facebook audience size real estate investors

Facebook audience size real estate investors

Facebook audience size real estate investors

4

Free Home Evaluation Ads for Leads

Home evaluation leads can be one of the most effective real estate ad campaigns you can run to fill your pipeline with new prospects.

The below Facebook campaign generated seller listing leads consistently at less than $6 per lead by running an ad with free home valuations. You can pique people’s interest in their home valuations by showing them what other homes are valued at.

Lead Ad Free Home Evaluation

Lead Ad Free Home Evaluation

Lead Ad Free Home Evaluation

Lead Ad Free Home Evaluation

And the cost per lead from this campaign:

Home Evaluation Facebook Ad Cost per Lead

Home Evaluation Facebook Ad Cost per Lead

Home Evaluation Facebook Ad Cost per Lead

Home Evaluation Facebook Ad Cost per Lead

5

Testimonial Ads – Satisfied Customers Can Be Your Promoters

Real estate testimonial ads on Facebook can be very compelling at building trust and social proof with your target customer.

Facebook Testimonial Ad - Real Estate

Facebook Testimonial Ad - Real Estate

Facebook Testimonial Ad - Real Estate

Facebook Testimonial Ad - Real Estate

Social proof and trust are critical to growing your long-term lead generation efforts. (read my related post on unstoppable lead generation technique.)

You can build testimonial ads with past home buyers and sellers as single image ads, carousel ads, video ads, and more – there are many options.

And you can land the ad traffic on a page on your website with the testimonials proudly displayed.

Running testimonial ads is more about ongoing branding – part of creating that digital yard sign and creating omnipresence and mindshare in your community.

Testimonial ads are powerful social proof. And remember, if you use a Brand Awareness campaign objective, you can advertise for as little as $1 - $5 per day.

If you’re going to create a steady flow of leads ongoing, you have to be branding yourself, too…not just focused entirely on seller leads (a related post here is helpful for understanding real estate Facebook ad strategy at different levels of the sales funnel).

6

Video Ads

Video ads that display a property, for example, will give you amazingly low-cost reach (Reach is the number of unique people that see your ad) with your target customer in the geographic areas you’re farming.

Example of a Video Ad of a home tour for a buyer lead:

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad

How much exposure can you get with video ads?

Imagine 65,000 impressions in the area where your target customer lives for pennies per view - $0.01-$0.05! 

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad Results

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad Results

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad Results

Facebook Real Estate Video Ad Results

Where else are you going to advertise where you can get someone to view your ad for pennies?

Another reason why Facebook is such a powerful platform for you.

If you’re not embracing what Facebook has to offer, you’re missing a significant opportunity.

7

Campaign Planning

Planning out your Facebook ad campaigns will go a long way in creating more success, and real estate leads for you.

Many advertisers do very little planning, but…

If you plan around the season, calendar events (holidays), and your properties, you will be far more successful.

Below the screenshot is the campaign planning guide in Excel that you can download to help get you going – there are 3 tabs (I’m only showing you one here) that will help you plan and organize an effective Facebook campaign.

Facebook campaign ad planning guide for realtors

Facebook campaign ad planning guide for realtors

Facebook campaign ad planning guide for realtors

Facebook campaign ad planning guide for realtors

8

Improve ROI of Traditional Advertising and Increase Response Rates Through Integration

This is one of the most common tactics that is overlooked.

Postcards, flyers, door hangers, and local community papers are still standard tactics for creating awareness for realtors within the geographic area you’re farming for real estate leads.

But, did you know…

You can create a Custom Audience of all the people that go to your website from these direct mail campaigns or other traditional marketing. People will see your website address on your postcard and manually type it in on their phone or desktop computer to learn more. 

And here's a trick: 

If the URL is not user-friendly (e.g., it's super long and you can't put it in direct mail pieces), you can buy a vanity URL that redirects to your existing website or landing page and track everyone that went to that specific URL. For example, BestRealEstateSanDiego.com that redirects to a specific landing page or website, and only those people are captured in your Facebook Custom Audience. 

This tactic extends the life of your expensive traditional marketing efforts into the digital channel where you can market to that person in Facebook ongoing for up to 6 months. We call these integrated marketing campaigns. And the benefit is higher ROI on your ad spend because you extended the life of your traditional marketing dollars. It costs very little to do this. 

9

Benchmark Off of Your Realtor Competitors
Create An Ad Swipe File

Did you know you can see what ads your competitors are running? 

It's easy.

You can use this to see what they are up to what properties are they pushing. What are their image and copy like in their ads? How many ads are they running? You can use this also to build up a swipe file of ad ideas you can leverage in the future. 

But keep in mind, you cannot see how much they are spending or what ad targeting they're using. 

Here how to see their ads and what you will see. There are two ways to get to a page's ads and it depends on what version of a business page they currently have. 

Method 1: 

Go to a realtor's Facebook page and scroll down the left-hand menu and you should see a section called Page Transparency. Click here. 

Facebook business page transparency section

Facebook business page transparency section

Facebook business page transparency section

Facebook business page transparency section

Once you click on Page Transparency, you will see a button titled, Go To Ad Library - click on that.

Facebook page transparency - Ad Library Real Estate

Facebook page transparency - Ad Library Real Estate

Facebook page transparency - Ad Library Real Estate

Facebook page transparency - Ad Library Real Estate

And if the page has ads running, you will see them listed; and if they do not you will not, you will not see any ads. This example shows this realtor’s Facebook page launched two ads in August (below). 

Ad Library Showing Facebook Ads for Business Page

Ad Library Showing Facebook Ads for Business Page

Ad Library Showing Facebook Ads for Business Page

Ad Library Showing Facebook Ads for Business Page

Method 2: 

If you don't see a section for Page Transparency on the left-hand menu, go to the page's About section and then click on, See All.  

Facebook business page transparency under About

Facebook business page transparency under About

Facebook business page transparency under About

Facebook business page transparency under About

10

Create Retargeting and Lookalike Audiences

Retargeting Audiences - Custom Audience:
If you have a customer list of a decent size (at least ~200 people), you can load that audience in Facebook and retarget it with ads. Perhaps these are people purchased some time ago and may be good candidates for selling or even buying a second home. You can run inexpensive ads to these audiences to maintain mindshare and brand awareness. 

Creating a Custom Audience in Facebook

Creating a Custom Audience in Facebook

Creating a Custom Audience in Facebook

Creating a Custom Audience in Facebook

Lookalike Audiences based on your customer list:
What if you could find people with very similar Facebook profiles to those in your past customer list? Those people will be a good fit for your real estate services too. 

This is another workaround to the targeting limitations that Facebook applies to real estate. While you can't segment on demographics like income, gender, age, and education, loading a list like this already has ideal segmentation. 


Creating a Lookalike Audience in Facebook

Creating a Lookalike Audience in Facebook

Creating a Lookalike Audience in Facebook

Creating a Lookalike Audience in Facebook

To summarize, I presented 10 Facebook ad strategies for real estate that included campaign strategies, ad types, and audiences that you can implement for improved success.

If you want to grow your lead real estate leads this year and gain a solid competitive advantage over your slower, less sophisticated peers, Facebook ads for real estate will help you secure your niche and capture more leads and sales.

The tactical ad strategies presented above are just the tip of the iceberg – many more targeting options exist.

With Facebook, you can be incredibly targeted and endlessly creative in how you sell real estate and reach the home buyer or seller audience.

Don’t let your competitors steal your customers!

If you need help with your local Facebook advertising, we can help. Please call or email today and find out how we can help you win in your market.


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Facebook Messenger for Realtors to Build Your Contact List https://www.39celsius.com/facebook-messenger-for-realtors-to-build-your-contact-list/ https://www.39celsius.com/facebook-messenger-for-realtors-to-build-your-contact-list/#respond Wed, 18 Jul 2018 20:56:37 +0000 https://www.39celsius.com/?p=4874 We know our contact list is extremely important because as it grows, so will your business. With a contact list, you are able to communicate your message, you are able to reach people who already know you which is less expensive than reaching someone new. Especially these days, people are inundated with spam messages from […]

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We know our contact list is extremely important because as it grows, so will your business. With a contact list, you are able to communicate your message, you are able to reach people who already know you which is less expensive than reaching someone new.

Especially these days, people are inundated with spam messages from companies they don’t know. We’ve all been, in a way, trained to ignore these messages with just a swipe.

But getting a message from a company we know is acceptable and often even desired. That’s why Facebook’s Messenger has great open rates.

The Importance of Privacy

With the proliferation of Messenger (Facebook’s messaging app), people started developing groups where participants could blast messages to just their personal group– message groups very common with families or close groups of friends.

People feel Facebook’s Messenger is a more private way to communicate.  Whereas posts on good ol’ Facebook will get seen by all your friends (the most common setting on people’s profile), Messenger posts only go to that specific “inner circle” group.

It’s Texting!

People check their Messenger app multiple times a day – why? Because that’s where text messages from your friends and family get sentdirectly and specifically TO YOU.

So, when someone sends you a text, your phone beeps, and you open the app.

This is where and how Messenger from Facebook became so powerful. Messenger puts in one place your “normal” text messages AND your “chat” messages from Facebook. All In One.

Since we don’t find TEXTS intrusive, after all, if someone is texting us, they must know us because they have our phone number…., we open the phone every time we get a “text”.

Ok, so here’s the value to advertisers….

Messenger Has Huge Open Rates – Up to 80%!

If you send a message through Messenger to someone that knows you, IT WILL GET OPENED. Open rates are typically in the 60% – 80% range for messages sent to Messenger from businesses. That’s huge! Compare that to email open rates which have been declining for years, but you’re lucky as a business if you get 20% open rates with emails. But along comes messenger and you’ve got open rates that are huge circa the year 2000 with email.

How to use Facebook Messenger to get Contacts

So knowing how to get people on your Messenger list is key.

The first step is to advertise. Yes, it all starts with plain advertising. The call to action is what differs. We want to create an ad and encourage people to “message us”.

How do we do that?

By providing something of value. AND THIS IS THE HARD PART. You have to put yourself in the shoes of your target market and ask yourself:

“WHY would this person want to message ME for?”

The answer is NOT simple. It’s NOT as easy as “Message me if you want to know more about my services!” NO ONE EVER answered to that…. Ok, maybe a couple of people but that’s not the way to do it.

You have to think hard to add real value –  Why? Why? Why? Why will they want to message me?

For example, if you’re a realtor, perhaps people maybe want to know the last 5 properties that sold in their neighborhood. Or if you’re a retail business, maybe people want to receive a coupon for a good discount to your store (which IS in their neighborhood). Think about it from your perspective as a potential customer, if a company showed you an ad, what would make you want to reach out TO THEM via a message?

Click to Message

Once you have something OF VALUE to give to the person you’re advertising to, then you create an ad with the CALL TO ACTION to CLICK TO MESSAGE.

So you start with a Facebook ad with the Campaign Objective of REACH or BRAND AWARENESS (learn more about FACEBOOK ads for real estate here: real estate Facebook ad ideasFacebook ads for real estate listings and using the real estate sales funnel). Then, send the traffic you get from that ad to Messenger. As people respond, you’ll be adding them to your contact list within Messenger. This is how an ad that is served in Messenger within your inbox looks like:

For the purpose of having people interact with you and have them start the interaction, we’ll start the process with a Reach or Brand Awareness ad.

The first step is to select the campaign goal of Reach.

Next, when setting up the Placement, Unselect Instagram.

Next, under Budget and Schedule, select your frequency cap. The default is 1 impression every 7 days. You can adjust to 1 impression a day, or 1 impression every 3 days, or whatever fits your strategy. This will depend on the duration of your campaign, the geographic segmentation, and your budget.

Next, continue building your ad. When you get to the Copy and Images section, draft your ad so that it tempts people in an enticing way to connect with you. In this case, we say “This home just sold in your neighborhood for a record price. It’s always good to know….Click to see price and address!”

Check the box to Add a website URL and ADD YOUR MESSENGER LINK. If you don’t know it, it’s simple. All messenger links are in this format:   https://m.me/yourfacebookpagename

Even if you have not set one up, your messenger link exists if you type that. You will type that in the Website URL field.

Now, publish your ad. When someone sees this ad, if they click on the button they will be directed to your Messenger Inbox as if they had typed your contact information to send you a text!

If you set up a chatbot, it can immediately and automatically respond with the right price and address of the property you’re advertising, and now, you’ve established this visitor as a contact on your Messenger list. In the future, advertising to this contact will be more genuine and thus more effective, because this contact has already communicated with you. And remember – open rates for Messenger are in the 50% – 80% range…some of the highest interaction rates of any channel.

The use of mobile phones is enabling people to connect. And in Advertising, the value of connecting on a one-on-one basis is huge.

What’s even better, is that simple strategies like these can be automated so you don’t have to respond to every single person manually, to give them the price and address of a recent sale! You can set up a chatbot to do so! Read more about chatbots here.

Messenger can be used in automated and customizable forms to let people connect with YOU.

Finally, I need to reiterate the importance of collecting first-party data. When you buy a list of people that live in the neighborhood you’re targeting, you’re using second party data. This information is not only more expensive, but you don’t own it. So every time you use it, you pay for it. That’s why businesses spend a lot of time and effort collecting primary source data (our own data). Messenger allows you to scale this effort – and most importantly….you’re already doing the heavy lifting with ads! So take it a step further and invite people to connect with you while at it!

Having people connect with you via Facebook Messenger not only moves people from awareness into a higher intent category but most importantly allows you to build your messenger contact list that has far higher open rates than email.

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How To Get Motivated Seller Leads for Realtors – Facebook Lead Ads https://www.39celsius.com/how-to-get-seller-listing-leads-for-realtors-with-facebook-lead-ads/ https://www.39celsius.com/how-to-get-seller-listing-leads-for-realtors-with-facebook-lead-ads/#comments Mon, 25 Sep 2017 02:49:50 +0000 https://www.39celsius.com/?p=4045 We serve a large group of Realtors, and one of the main reasons agents contact us is to teach them how to generate more real estate seller leads, or in many cases, they want us to run listing campaigns for them. So in this post, I will outline an actual case study of how you […]

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We serve a large group of Realtors, and one of the main reasons agents contact us is to teach them how to generate more real estate seller leads, or in many cases, they want us to run listing campaigns for them. So in this post, I will outline an actual case study of how you can use Facebook ads to consistently acquire listing leads.

One of the most common technique Realtors use to get “seller” leads is through direct mail – a full or half page 2-sided glossy page distributed to homes in an area. Many realtors, especially independent realtors, or new realtors often have a difficult time spending the $2,500 cost (on average) of sending postcards. (see our related posts, Facebook Ads For Realtors: 10 Killer Ad Strategies, and Targeting The Real Estate Sales Funnel With Facebook Ads).

So the oft-asked question we get is:
How can I get more seller leads and for less investment than what I’m investing in traditional marketing?

The answer: 

Facebook Ads, specifically Lead Ads. Which is one of the best ways to generate real estate leads – which you will see why shortly.

Lead Generation on Facebook allows you to collect the contact information from people who are interested in potentially selling their home.

Why Facebook Ads Work Better

Unmatched Segmentation, Precise Interest and Behavior Targeting, Combined With Demographics

Facebook’s ad platform provides unmatched psycho-demographic segmentation and targeting that no other advertising platform offers anywhere in the world.

Unlike the carpet bombing that occurs with direct mail (carpet bombing because you’re merely hitting a neighborhood with almost no segmentation other than by zip code or postal carrier route), Facebook allows realtors and real estate investors to be very targeted and discrete with their ad spend – the benefit of this is more leads, less waste, and a better return on ad spend.

What’s unique about Facebook’s ad platform – and what makes it stand out among all the advertising channels you have available – is that Facebook’s ad platform provides both online Native Data which it collects from its users but also it merges offline Third-Party Data with its online data. These data include not only basic demographics like age and gender, but also factors like homeownership, household income, home market value, married or single, kids in the house by age, and even whether there’s an immediate interest in Realtor.com or Zillow. Facebook even goes as far as purchase behaviors such as “first-time home buyers” (this is an actual targeting behavior on Facebook). And most importantly, when you advertise on Facebook you’re reaching the decision-makers right within their newsfeed, not just a mailbox with all the other junk mail.

Consumer Behavior Changes Affect Your Advertising Strategy

The other factor to consider is consumer behavior:
People spend up to 3-4 hours per day on their phone and an hour of that time is spent on Facebook! No other advertising channels – traditional or digital – provide this level of access to your target audience. As a matter of fact, if you summed up the number of time people spent on the next 10 most popular social apps (i.e. YouTube, Google, Twitter, Pinterest, SnapChat, etc), it would not sum to the amount of time people spend on Facebook.

To grow leads, you need to be where your audience spends their time.

Why Facebook Lead Ads are Best To Capture Seller Leads

Lead Ads are a specific Facebook ad type that allows you to add a form to your ad where you can collect information from people that include name, address, etc right within Facebook – the person never has to leave the platform.

“Oh but I send my traffic to my website, where there’s a form to fill, why not send the traffic there?”

The reason these forms in Lead Ads work better than sending traffic to your website is that when people view ads on their mobile phones, filling out a form on the web can be challenging. Lead Ads on Facebook pre-fill the form right within Facebook with the information that the user has already given to Facebook, so submitting the form can be a one-touch event.

We have run tests that show that Lead Ads convert as much as 12 times better than a form online, YES, 12 times. In one example, we received 505 forms with lead ads versus 42 forms submitted via a form on a website landing page during the same period.

Facebook Lead Ads to Acquire Sellers – A Case Study

The technique we use to acquire active sellers for realtors is with the hook, for example, “Your home is worth more than you think”

The Audience

For this campaign, we choose an audience of 300,000 people within a 10-mile radius of our desired area. We selected this area by dropping a pin and adjusting the mile radius.

Within this geographic area, we chose the following psycho-demographics:

  • Homeowners
  • Age: 33 – 65+ years of age
  • People who had been browsing sites like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia (all behaviors you can target inside Facebook)
  • Excluded other realtors from seeing this ad
facebook lead ads to acquire sellers for realtors geographic segmentation

Facebook geographic segmentation of where we had the ads run

facebook lead ads to acquire sellers for realtors geographic segmentation

Facebook geographic segmentation of where we had the ads run

This ad’s value proposition is that you will be surprised about how much your home is worth, it creates a sense of urgency by indicating that prices are up (so take advantage now). It offers a FREE evaluation of your home’s value and a call to action – Learn More.

Equally important is the image in the ad.

We tested images of people moving boxes, realtors showing homes, homes with sold signs in front of them, but the best performing ad was one clearly showing a map (of the area we were targeting) with actual values of homes for sale in the area – this is customizing and aligning the ad creative with the target audience – we weren’t using some generic image that didn’t resonate with the target audience.

facebook lead ads to acquire sellers for realtors ad example

Facebook Lead Ad To Acquire Sellers

facebook lead ads to acquire sellers for realtors ad example

Facebook Lead Ad To Acquire Sellers

The form

The form requires people to fill out the property address (what property they wanted an evaluation for, along with their name and email.

Facebook lead ads to acquire sellers for realtors form

Facebook Lead Ad form to capture home seller information

Facebook lead ads to acquire sellers for realtors form

Facebook Lead Ad form to capture home seller information

The results

In 1 week, we reached 3,481 people (Reach in Facebook is defined as the number of unique individuals that saw the ad), and received 22 forms at a cost of $5.81 per form fill on average.

facebook-lead-ads-to-acquire-sellers-for-realtors-results1-

Lead Ad Results From Acquiring Seller Leads

facebook-lead-ads-to-acquire-sellers-for-realtors-results1-

Lead Ad Results From Acquiring Seller Leads

Now, these results do not mean that all 22 leads resulted in a home listed – converting a lead to an actual customer is referred to as the lead to customer ratio and that part relies on the realtor’s ability to close leads.

But this conversion process from lead to an actual customer is no different than any other form of advertising. For example, when you send out a postcard, you don’t expect all the leads you get from that effort are going to turn into customers. This is what realtors tell me, “yes, but if I send out a postcard, I know I will get 1 or 2 listings”.

So I invite you to do this math – I think you will be surprised.

Stay with me here…

Volume of Leads Higher with Facebook Ads, & Cost per Lead Lower – Actual Results

Realtor Postcard Results

If a postcard costs you $3000, and you got 2 listings, that means that 1 listing costs you $1,500.

Facebook Ads Seller Lead Results

If this same realtor spends $3,000 on ads with Facebook, the realtor would have received between 400-500 leads.

Even if you ONLY close 1% of those leads to actual customers, you’d receive 4 listings.

However, because the target audience generated from the Facebook ads is so much closer to the ideal seller demographics (because of the precise behavioral and demographic targeting that Facebook provides) versus a carpet-bombing postcard where there’s no down selection for the target audience, the closing ratio is higher than 1%. In fact, in a recent campaign, a realtor we worked with received 10 leads, from which 3 turned into clients – a 30% conversion rate from lead to customer.

Now, turning a lead into an actual client is where your effectiveness at sales comes into play – Facebook delivers pre-qualified leads very efficiently, but turning a lead into an actual client (your lead to customer conversion ratio) does require a good sales effort on your part.

However, we know from hundreds of campaigns that the quality of the leads that will come from Facebook is, by far, better than the ones coming from a blind, carpet bombing postcard tactic with expensive postcards.

Pause for a moment and think about how much waste is involved with postcards? There’s no segmentation or targeting other than geography generally (zip code or carrier route), and then layer on the fact that most of the direct mail pieces go straight into the garbage – this doesn’t happen with Facebook ads.

There’s no segmentation or targeting other than geography generally (zip code or carrier route), and then layer on the fact that most of the direct mail pieces go straight into the garbage – this doesn’t happen with Facebook ads.

What else can be done?

The greatest power of digital marketing is that once someone sees your ad, you still have access to them and are able to remarket to them ongoing for months – not possible with traditional advertising. With a postcard, once that goes in the trash, the “impression” is gone. In the case of Lead Ads, for example, you can re-target to all people that saw your ad as well. People that opened the lead form on Facebook, but did not submit it. On Facebook, you can serve the ad to those people again greatly increasing your conversions and leads further; this is something that you just can’t do with traditional marketing.

AND….. one more thing….chatbots!  Read about how chatbots can help you here!

Layering Ads Is Another Advantage

Layering ads is a highly effective digital tactic.

For example, you can advertise listings where the goal is to send people to your website to view the listing. Well, perhaps these people may need to sell in order to buy, so now, since they’ve been to the site to view a property, you can now put them in a bucket of people, called a custom audience, and you can select this audience to serve them the “seller” Lead Ad we’ve been talking about. You can do all of this for a tiny fraction of what you spend with postcards.

The biggest objection we find realtors have is the fear of trying new media, but once they do and they see the results, they don’t turn back. Give it a try!

Let us know what questions or comments you have below. If you found this post helpful, would you mind tweeting it out as well. [Tweet “How to use Facebook Lead Ads to generate motivated seller leads. #realestate #facebookads”]

If you’re boosting posts from your page, read our latest post on the differrences between Boost Posts and Facebook ads and why you need to be running Facebook ads NOT Boost posts, and one additional post, are Boost Posts worth it?

The post How To Get Motivated Seller Leads for Realtors – Facebook Lead Ads appeared first on 39 Celsius Web Marketing Consulting.

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Targeting Real Estate Sales Funnel With Facebook Ads https://www.39celsius.com/generate-more-realtor-leads-facebook-ads-sales-funnel/ https://www.39celsius.com/generate-more-realtor-leads-facebook-ads-sales-funnel/#respond Fri, 18 Aug 2017 23:22:53 +0000 https://www.39celsius.com/?p=3913 In this post, I will outline how you can leverage Facebook ads to target all levels of the real estate sales funnel to produce more buyer and seller leads (read our related post, Facebook Ads For Real Estate Agents: 10 killer ad strategies). The unique ability of Facebook’s ad platform to target prospects at all levels […]

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In this post, I will outline how you can leverage Facebook ads to target all levels of the real estate sales funnel to produce more buyer and seller leads (read our related post, Facebook Ads For Real Estate Agents: 10 killer ad strategies).

The unique ability of Facebook’s ad platform to target prospects at all levels of the sales funnel, combined with flexibility in budgeting and robust targeting features makes it one of the most effective ad platforms for realtors (never mind the fact that the average consumer spends an hour per day on Facebook!).

I will walk you through the importance of the real estate sales funnel, but most importantly, how your Facebook ad tactics change at each level to nurture more buyer and seller leads. (Read our popular related post, How To Get Seller Listing Leads With Facebook Ads)

For each of the 3 levels of the sales funnel, I will cover:

  • The goal
  • Facebook campaign objectives
  • Facebook ad content differences
  • Budgeting
  • Targeting differences

But first, let’s briefly discuss the concept of a sales funnel and why it’s important.

What Is A Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is a framework for placing potential customers or audiences in a hierarchy that is defined by their differing needs at each level of the funnel and by the amount of time each customer segment is away from becoming a potential client or needing your realtor services.

Advertising without the context of a sales funnel means your ad tactics are not well planned and only focused on any one area of the sales funnel with no clear overall strategy. The result of this is that you’re competing with all the other realtors focused on that same goal and your advertising is far less effective.

The Different Levels Of The Sales Funnel

Below is a graphic depicting a sales funnel.

Realtor Sales Funnel

The Sales Funnel

Realtor Sales Funnel

The Sales Funnel

Top Of The Funnel - Awareness:

Top Of Realtor Sales Funnel

At the top of the funnel, we have the Awareness stage. These people are the furthest away from becoming a buyer or seller lead.

The reasons this audience may be further away from becoming a customer are many and varied – perhaps they don’t have enough equity in their home to sell now, or maybe they are waiting for their kids to move out of the house before selling.

However, just because they are not ready to act now does not mean they will not be in the future. Actively marketing to this stage creates awareness that will increase demand and grow leads lower in the funnel at a later point.  By advertising at the top, you are cultivating future leads that other realtors are not. Traditional tactics commonly used by realtors that advertise to this segment are community garage sales, food drives, etc.

Without advertising at the top, you are left to fight with everyone else at the bottom.

Branding and awareness at this level of the funnel builds trust and familiarity – people feel as if they already know you. This is why big brands spend so much money on branding and awareness ads. They are building awareness and creating familiarity with the brand. And if you’re worried it’s expensive to do this with Facebook ads, it’s not…stay with me here; I will cover budget examples at each level of the funnel down below.

A Side Story Example

Some of you may have heard me talk about how my wife and I arrived at our decision to choose the realtor to sell our first home, but it was a result of years of awareness built up with one particular realtor. Now, this was just before Facebook ads were available, but he was everywhere we went in our community consistently. We saw Claude’s face in the for sale signs, in the grocery store that we frequented, and had his direct mail pieces on our kitchen counter. We lived in this community for four years, and Claude had a presence that nobody else had. So, when we started thinking about selling, he was front and center in our minds and therefore our decision-making.

The adage, out of sight, out of mind still rings true today.

Middle Of The Funnel - Consideration

Middle Of The Realtor Funnel

People in the middle of the funnel are in the Consideration stage, and they are closer to potentially becoming a lead. Perhaps it would just take a special deal or situation to get them to act – perhaps the value of their home was greater than they thought and they can now sell with enough equity to move up to a bigger home.

Bottom Of The Funnel - Leads

Bottom Of The Funnel

People at the lower part of the sales funnel are actively looking to buy or sell. These are people that need a realtor and are ready to act.

Goals, Objectives, Ad Content, Budget Consideration For Each Level Of The Funnel

Awareness – Top Of The Funnel

Goal:

  • Branding
  • Mindshare

If you’re not familiar with Facebook’s campaign objectives, it provides more than a dozen to choose from that align with specific business goals. Many people are familiar with the Boost Post objective (referred to as Engagement as well), but this is only one of a dozen different campaign objectives to choose from (a related post here on  Boost Posts vs Facebook ads and why you need to be running ads, not Boost Posts).

Here are the Facebook campaign objectives – you can see they have different objectives to choose from at each level of the funnel. In this case, Facebook is referring to the three tiers of the funnel as Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion.

Facebook Ads Campaign Objectives

Facebook Ads Campaign Objectives

Facebook Ads Campaign Objectives

Facebook Ads Campaign Objectives

Facebook Ad Content:

Because the audience at the Awareness level of the funnel is not ready to buy or sell, the advertising goal is to get your image and your brand in front of the audience on a consistent basis. So the actual ad content, for example, can focus on, “Top Realtor in 2017”, or “Leading Agent in Morgan Ranch – these are just examples but notice that we’re not trying to capture a lead – just build awareness.

Budgeting:

For the top of the funnel advertising on Facebook, you can spend as little as $150 per month creating ongoing awareness and mindshare with potential prospects.

Targeting:

  • Geographically: focused on the local neighborhoods that you are farming at a minimum

Consideration – Middle Of The Funnel

Goal:

  • Traffic capture to nurture leads into potential prospects

Facebook Ad Content:

  • Listings, market updates, open houses.

Budgeting:

  • Because these are lead acquisition ads, you need larger budgets – a good starting point is $400/mo

Targeting

  • Geographically: focused on the local neighborhoods that you are farming at a minimum

Leads (Sellers) – Bottom of the Funnel

Goal:

  • To acquire seller leads

Facebook Ad Content:

  • Prices in your neighborhood are rising. Find out how much your home is worth with a FREE online home evaluation report.

Budgeting:

  • A minimum of $700/mo – If you are running lead ads to capture real potential sellers, you will need a higher budget than what is necessary at the top or middle of the funnel
  • Leads at this level can cost $20/lead or more so larger budgets drive better results

Targeting

  • Geographically: focused on the local neighborhoods that you are farming plus homeownership at a minimum

Managing Facebook Ad Budgets

Remember budgets for Facebook ads are typically set up by the day. This setup facilitates running multiple types of campaigns even with a smaller budget.

The way to manage a budget is to plan by the week. For example, when we recommend a budget of $700 per month for Lead Ads, it really means a daily spend of around 25 dollars per day if you spread 700 into 30 days.

However, you could decide instead to spend $100 dollars per day for 7 days and spend the same 700 dollars. In other words, setting a daily budget and stopping ads when you reach your target budget will give you the flexibility to plan for a smaller budget even if you choose to run campaigns that are more expensive. This technique also allows you to run multiple campaigns and stay within a target budget.

Example With Limited Ad Budget

Here's an example of how to plan your budgets with a limited budget yet targeting all areas of the sales funnel:

Facebook Budget Planning All 3 Levels Sales Funnel
Facebook Budget Planning All 3 Levels Sales Funnel

The benefit of this planning is that it allows you to plan and control spending at all levels of the funnel.

Placing your Facebook advertising tactics within a sales funnel and allocating budget at different levels of the sales funnel will allow you to become a far more successful realtor and the advertiser and to differentiate yourself over the long haul from your competition.

Still have questions? Please ask them in the comments below – I welcome comments and questions, and it helps the community as a whole.

Read our related post, Facebook Ads For Real Estate Agents: 10 Killer Ad Strategies

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6 Ways Realtors Can Use Facebook Live Video to Drive Results https://www.39celsius.com/6-ways-realtors-can-use-facebook-live-video-to-drive-results/ https://www.39celsius.com/6-ways-realtors-can-use-facebook-live-video-to-drive-results/#respond Tue, 14 Jun 2016 02:25:30 +0000 https://www.39celsius.com/?p=3219 As a realtor, did you know that 9 out of 10 home buyers today rely on the internet as one of their primary research sources? And studies show that many of those home buyers are watching real estate videos to help in their decision-making process. Here’s a breakdown of the specific information they’re looking for: Maybe you […]

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As a realtor, did you know that 9 out of 10 home buyers today rely on the internet as one of their primary research sources?

And studies show that many of those home buyers are watching real estate videos to help in their decision-making process. Here’s a breakdown of the specific information they’re looking for:

Real Estate Video Statistics House Hunters
In the graph above, ZMOT = Zero Moment of Truth. A concept Google created that refers to the very moment someone seeks out information for a need or question they have.

Maybe you already know how effective video can be for real estate agents. You might even have a YouTube channel that showcases the homes you’re selling.

But are you using Facebook Live Video to reach your real estate customers?

If not, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to establish yourself as an expert and attract home buyers and sellers. People spend 3x longer watching videos that are live compared to videos that have been pre-recorded, and you should take advantage of that.

Here are a few other reasons you should use Facebook Live Video as a realtor:

  • Facebook recently updated its news feed algorithm to give Facebook Live Videos major preferential treatment, which means there’s a better chance people will see your live videos than your other content.
  • Facebook Live Videos stay on your Facebook page so followers who miss the live broadcasts can easily view them later.
  • You can pin a Live Video to the top of your Facebook page, and that video could be a featured property overview, a client testimonial, or something else that helps you win more business.

On top of that, when you start recording a Facebook Live Video, Facebook immediately notifies everyone who “likes” your page. That means there’s a good chance you’ll get plenty of eyes on your live broadcast!

And if you’re a fan of Facebook ads, you’ll be happy to learn that you can amplify your Facebook Live Videos via ads to bring even more exposure to your business (A related post here on Facebook Ads For Real Estate Agents).

Interested yet?

If so, keep reading. By the time you’re finished with this post, you’ll know how to start using Facebook Live Video and execute a marketing strategy that establishes you as a real estate expert, attracts interest in your realtor services and properties, and helps you win more business.

How to Get Started Using Facebook Live Video

As long as you have a Facebook page and a smartphone, you can start using Facebook Live Video right away. Simply open up the Facebook app on your phone, navigate to your Facebook page, and tap “Publish” near the top of the page.

Then, you’ll see these options at the bottom of your screen:

How To Do Facebook Live Video

Tap “Live Video,” and allow Facebook to access to your microphone if you haven’t already.

IMG_1886

After that, Facebook will give you the option to change your privacy settings and describe your live video so people know what it’s about.

FullSizeRender (9)

All that’s left to do next is tap the “Go Live” button and get started!

Worried that your video equipment isn’t good enough?

The great thing about Facebook Live Video is that you don’t need fancy equipment to get engagement and reach your target audience.

All you really need is your smartphone, a strong WiFi signal, and some decent lighting. You can improve the lighting for your video by using natural light (open up a window and face it!), or a phone case with built-in lighting. If you’re sitting in one place during the broadcast, also consider buying a tripod for your phone.

You may want to outline the points you plan to discuss in your video too. If you do this, keep the outline in front of you as you talk so you can stay on track and remember each key point.

Here are a few more things to do before you broadcast:

  • Get ready to monitor and respond to comments. When you go live, people will be able to leave comments on your broadcast. Make sure you answer their questions and address their concerns in your video.
  • Write an enticing description. The description should let your followers know what to expect from the video and why they should watch it. Just a few words can mean the difference between no viewers and tons of viewers!
  • Promote the broadcast. If you can build hype and anticipation around your Live Videos, you’ll get much more engagement and better results.

But remember, the whole purpose of Facebook Live Video is to give your followers an authentic, behind-the-scenes look at your business. Don’t get too caught up in creating a perfectly produced video – just focus on sharing something valuable with your followers.

Now that you know how easy it is to get started, let’s talk about 6 ways you can use Facebook Live Video to drive results.

1.      Virtual open houses

Let’s face it – not everyone has time to attend a traditional open house. Even those who do may be reluctant to drive out to the location without learning more about the home first – especially if they live far from it.

Holding a virtual open house is a great way to combat this issue. By sharing a live video where you walk through the house you’re selling and talk about its features, you allow interested buyers to take a tour of the home without ever actually setting foot in it.

While you’re showing off the house, make sure you encourage people to ask questions in the comments section of the video. You can answer their questions and address any concerns live, which may make them more likely to buy the home.

2.      Client testimonials

Research shows that 88% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations from friends and family members. On top of that, client testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating for all types of content marketing.

With those statistics in mind, it’s easy to understand how client testimonials could work wonders for any real estate agent.

But you don’t want just any testimonials – you want the most effective testimonials possible. Since 65% of your audience are visual learners, video testimonials are your best bet. Here’s how to make the most of them:

  • Keep it short. According to the data presented in the chart below, most people think that the ideal length of a customer testimonial video is 30 seconds or less. You can make yours longer if necessary, but try to keep it under one minute if possible.

realestate_videochart

  • Guide the client, but don’t use a script. If you have the client read from a script word-for-word, their testimonial will seem less trustworthy. Let the client know what points to mention (the benefits of working with you), but encourage them put it in their own words.
  • Don’t forget the hook. The point here is to catch the viewer’s attention immediately. That way, they’ll stick around to watch the rest of the video.

Also, make sure every video you put out is high-quality. Even on a shoestring budget, you can use lighting and angles to your advantage!

3.      Local sightseeing

Location is a major factor to home buyers when they’re deciding which house is right for them. Everyone wants to live somewhere that will allow them to have a short commute to work/school and easy access to appealing attractions.

That’s why it’s so important for realtors to use Facebook Live Video to tell a story about the location of the home they’re selling. If you can get people to buy into the location, it’ll be much easier for you to get them to buy into the house too.

So, let’s talk about exactly how you can make this strategy work. Here are a few examples of places you could live stream from:

  • Popular local bars and restaurants – Have a meal, and live stream the experiences. If you positively review the food and the environment, you’ll build hype around the location.
  • Tourist attractions – If the home you’re selling is near one of these, you can talk about it to get them excited about the home’s location.
  • Shopping centers – Everyone wants easy access to the places they need to visit regularly. If the home you’re selling is conveniently close to a grocery store like Whole Foods, consider live streaming as you walk through the store.

Remember, for this strategy to be effective, you need to consider your target audience and what they’re looking for in a location. For example, a family of four will likely have different needs than a few college-age roommates. Figure out what your target audience wants most in a location, and if the home you’re selling can offer them that, be sure to mention it when you go live on Facebook.

4.      Neighborhood tours

This tactic is similar to local sightseeing in that it allows you to show potential home buyers what it might be like to live in the area.

But don’t limit yourself to just driving around and showing what the nearby homes look like. If the neighborhood offers attractive amenities like parks and shopping centers within walking distance, be sure to showcase those amenities when you stream live to Facebook. The quality of a neighborhood can be a major factor home buyers consider when making a purchasing decision.

5.      Real estate tips

Put yourself in a home buyer’s shoes for a second. Would you feel more comfortable working with a real estate agent you knew was an expert or one who you didn’t know much about?

Obviously, you’d want the expert.

The home buyers and sellers you want to work with feel the same. And what better way to showcase your real estate expertise than to regularly share real estate tips via Facebook Live Video?

Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

  • Talk about how home sellers can stage their homes in a way that will help them sell faster.
  • Talk about what home buyers can do to financially prepare for securing a mortgage.
  • Share your best house-hunting advice and talk about what to look for in a home/neighborhood.

Because this tactic positions you as the go-to real estate agent in your area, it can easily help you expand your reach and attract more business.

6.      Q&A sessions

Like sharing real estate tips, hosting a Q&A session helps you win more business by positioning you as a helpful expert.

While general Q&A sessions are effective, consider holding sessions about specific topics too. For example, you could devote one session to answering questions about buying a home and devote a separate session to answering questions about selling a home. That way, you’re tailoring each session to a specific audience so you can hold their attention.

Make sure you’ve built up a following (even a small one!) before you try this, and let your followers know exactly when they can expect you to go live ahead of time. Otherwise, you could end up live streaming with no one asking questions!

Over to you!

Do some digging online, and you’ll notice that there aren’t many examples of real estate agents using Facebook Live Video right now. In fact, only 14% of marketers are using live video – all the more reason for you to take advantage of the opportunity and be an early adopter with first mover advantage!

Make no mistake – Facebook Live Video can help you win more business if you do it right.

Well-known marketer Gary Vaynerchuk wrote an entire article about how live video is the next big thing for real estate agents and marketers in general. And Mike Stelzner, CEO of Social Media Examiner, recently said, “Live video is the future of marketing – live video is hot.”

Don’t miss out on this chance to get a head start on your competition. According to Social Media Examiner, 76% of marketers plan to increase their use of YouTube and video marketing in 2016, and you definitely want to be one of those marketers.

So, tell me in the comments section below – do you currently use Facebook live video to engage your audience? If not, will you plan to use it soon?

 

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