Facebook Strategies To Capture Real Estate Leads

 

It is important to post client testimonials and listings but you want to optimize your Facebook business page to help you generate more qualified real estate leads.

In this blog post, I will be going over a good amount of information that will give you the tools you need to use Facebook for real estate agents, including:

-Why you should invest time marketing on Facebook

-How to start getting leads today

-How to create posts that create follower engagement

-How to get higher conversions with landing pages

I would like to begin by focusing on why Facebook is one of the best platforms for you to use when capturing real estate leads.

Great Reasons Why You Should Use Facebook For Real Estate Lead Acquisition

If you are already a part of an agency chances are that you already have your real estate website and the agency maintains the site for you. A website alone shouldn’t be the only way to stay in the lead generation game. If you look at some of the top-performing Realtors you will notice they are very active on Facebook. Here are some things they understand.

Facebook is very easy and visual, which will work perfectly to get the attention of prospective clients. Most everyone is familiar with how Facebook is designed to encourage users to share posts. This simple and viral activity has become a favorite pastime for millions of Facebook users.

Prospective clients are on Facebook

The most popular social media platform for today is Facebook.

Think about these facts:

-Around 70% of adults are active users of Facebook

-The average user spends almost 40 minutes a day on Facebook

-50% of people view a home online before walking through it

After seeing facts like that it just makes sense for your real estate business to be using Facebook to market. Facebook provides you with analytical data of other users who see your content. The audience insights will give you plenty of information about your business page like, like how often your followers log onto Facebook. Your regular Facebook profile does not offer those statistics. The information provided will allow you to focus on key demographics that will help you run targeted ads that will get you the best result. Now that you can see why it’s very important to have a Facebook page as a Realtor, we can cover the best ways to use this information to your advantage.

5 Strategies to Win More Real Estate Leads on Facebook

Follow these steps and your calendar will be full very soon:

1. Build A Strong Facebook Business Page

When I say build a strong Facebook Business Page I mean to fill every information section that you possibly can. The more content you have the easier it will be for potential clients to find you in search.

Many Realtors will use their personal Facebook accounts to help them get business from their friend list. Technically this goes against the Facebook Terms of Service policy. The policy dictates users having a Facebook business page to make marketing posts.

 

It’s best to use your personal Facebook account to engage with family, friends, and new people you add. You can invite your contacts to like your business Facebook page and then market to them from your Facebook business page once they follow you.

 

2. Publish High-Quality Content

You should post content that brings value and interest to your followers. You always want to be selling yourself and your service through listings or testimonials, but you must make room for posts that give without asking for something in return.

 

The informative and entertaining posts you make will build rapport with your followers and strengthen your business brand that will keep followers coming back for more.

 

After your followers have been following your posts and they start looking for a home, they will think of you because of the high-quality content they are used to seeing. Your followers won’t feel “sold to” because you have built a rapport with them already. It is a win/win.

 

So how do you get started?

 

Begin with the 80/20 rule

80% of your Facebook business page posts should be useful, relevant content, and the other 20% should be for listings and other real estate information.

 

Make different kinds of posts and not just the picture real estate listings. Ask yourself if your posts relate to your followers and what they may be interested in because so many others are competing for their attention.

 

Focus on sharing content that other top real estate agents share, like:

-Area real estate news updates

-Real estate blog posts regarding selling and buying a home, relocating, or real estate value

-DIY and How-to’s like flipping your home, spotting good investment property, and home staging

-Checklists, and infographics

 

Your focus should be on building relationships and positioning yourself as an expert in your followers’ area. Keep your posts short and attention-grabbing. You must think long-term and not the short sell.

 

Incorporate more videos

Videos are very powerful because it provides your prospective buyers an easier way to visualize a space. You have heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, well a video is worth a thousand pictures.

 

A top Australian real estate group used listings with videos and their prospects' interest rates went over 400% more than listings without videos. Over 70% of homeowners who were asked said they are more likely to list their home with a real estate agent who uses video marketing, but only an estimated 12% of realtors use YouTube to provide this video service.

 

Begin by creating more videos, uploading them to your YouTube account. You can share them to your Facebook account but it will help you more if you upload the same video to your Facebook business page as well.

 

You will need more video content ideas. Here are some ideas that Realtors are having great results with on Facebook:

-DIY home fails

-Renovation videos of before and after

-Drone video of areas you specialize in

-360-degree walkthrough videos

Make one to three posts daily and ramp up to around five posts. Be sure to test the engagement rates often to get an understanding of the best times to post. The stats are on your Facebook business page back office. Try not to focus too much on how many likes, comments, or shares you are seeing. Those are NOT true leads. The whole objective is to showcase the value you are providing to your followers.

 

Discover from your audience the optimal post times

You can create the highest quality content but if you are not posting at the optimal viewing times, your posts will be missed.

 

The best time of day to post on Facebook is between 1-3 p.m. and the timezone should match the same timezone as your target audience. Thursdays and Fridays are also some of the best days to post on as well. Internet research shows that 80% of Americans live in the Central and Eastern time zones. As far as best engagement times, Saturday and Sunday will bring the most engagement rates on Facebook.

That gives you a good idea of when you need to get started with your Facebook posting.

 

Do some thinking about the best time of the day for your audience to be browsing on Facebook. Are they super-busy parents who are juggling school and work schedules, or a retired couple shopping for a new beachfront property?

 

Free content is great for your followers but gated content is wonderful for both you and your followers.

3. Grow Client Base With Gated Content

You will provide value to your follower base with the content you post each day. Gated content will grow your contact list that will convert to new real estate leads.

 

Gated content works much like a “lead magnet” because it attracts leads but gated content has more detailed information. Visitors to your site or landing page simply trade their contact information to receive gated content from you.

 

Here are some examples of gated content for Realtors which include, eBooks, PDF’s and whitepapers on topics like:

-Purchasing a home

-Selling a home

-Relocating to your city

-Guide to living in your city

-Area and neighborhood reports from schools, crime, traffic, etc.

 

You can use gated content as a regular post if you like or create a Facebook ad with it. Either way, gated content is strong.

 

4. Going The Next Level With Real Estate Facebook Ads

Let me make a very bold statement. Every Realtor in the country should be utilizing Facebook ads to target and reach their potential clients.

 

After you have a good practice of what I’ve mentioned so far, keep the following tips in mind:

Use the Carousel ad format so your followers can scroll through several different photos and listings in the same ad.

 

There are slow times in the real estate industry but be sure to invest most during the peak months of the year. A good example of this is a home in San Francisco may net over $15,000 more if it is marketed during mid-late April.

 

After saving money during the slower times of the year, you can invest more in Facebook Ads to get yourself in front of the potential buyers and sellers during the most important peak times to reach a wider audience.

 

Target a custom audience and market

Facebook will target your ads when you upload a CSV file. They focus specifically based on your contacts’ information.

This will keep you connected with clients who you have worked with in the past and just might work with you again in the future. They may even refer your services to another Facebook contact.

Use a lookalike audience to test

Once you have uploaded your client contact list, Facebook will be able to create a “lookalike audience” that will be very similar to your real target audience.

Facebook sorts through your contacts and will make comparisons to users in the Facebook database with the same age, locations, and incomes.

Once Facebook gets similar connections in the “lookalike audience”, your ads will be sent to them. This allows you to market outside your typical audience and get more contacts because of the similar connections with your current customers.

Target newly married or engaged couples

New young married or engaged couples are a great demographic to target as buyers. They are in a major life-changing time and looking to invest in a new home together or upgrade their home.

It is a fact that almost 40% of married couples purchased their very first home before they were married two years, according to a study by Coldwell Banker.

On the other side of the coin, you can target relationship statuses that will pull up divorcees. This demographic fits into seller leads and will collect in the grouping because their relationship status shows separated or divorced.

Target by behavior

Facebook will use its data and even a third-party source to collect information on people who are likely to move. Those potential movers just might need real estate agent services. They will be listed under a new mover or likely to move.

You can add on more demographic data

You can laser focus demographic data like age, income, and zip codes that you want to work in to target potential buyers and sellers. In the search, you can go to Locations, Age, and Detailed Targeting.

Install Facebook Pixel

Have you ever browsed online and then a short time saw a Facebook ad that featured the same product or service you searched for? It can evoke a strange feeling but rest assured it’s not voodoo or even someone stalking you. It’s the power of pixels.

When someone takes a specific action online, a piece of JavaScript code tracks the action. A pixel is a piece of JavaScript code and they are used to target ads based on those specific actions online.

Facebook provides this pixel code and you can add it to your website code on a specific page or landing page. For example, when one of your visitors fills out a contact form on your website where the pixel is placed, Facebook will target your ads to the engaged potential client.

When the ad is targeted to the best match it performs better for your conversions than an ad targeted towards someone who is not familiar with you.

Another great way to increase conversion rates is by driving traffic to unique landing pages.

5. Build a Unique Real Estate Landing Page Experience

Your conversions will suffer if every ad or gated content sends your followers to your website. The reason for this is most websites are very busy with a lot of information to take in at once. There’s information like your business, rental openings, homes for sale, links to make appointments, and many other things.

Individual landing pages make things much more focused and simple.

Landing pages are one page with one goal

When someone gets to your landing page, there should be a very clear message of what visitors are supposed to do.

The landing page uses in real estate include:

-Facebook Ad traffic. Traffic from your ads will help you have higher conversions and a better (ROI) return on investment if your traffic is directed to landing pages that are specific to your marketing campaign.

-Content that is gated. When you direct your followers to a landing page, they will need to provide their specific contact information before they can receive free content.

-Add subscribers to your list. Your landing page can be used to get followers to sign up for email blasts, a regular newsletter, or mass text alerts. Your followers will appreciate hearing about updates and new properties as soon as they are available.

-Property landing page. Every single property listing you have should showcase its landing page. A single landing page will keep followers focused and informed on each listing.

-Home appraisals. When you target people who are thinking about moving or selling their home with landing pages, they will give you their contact information to receive a free home evaluation. They want to know the value of their home on the current market.

Do you have experience setting up a landing page? Maybe you are wondering how to make our current landing page better?

If you decide to set up a landing page or optimize your current landing page, here are a few things to remember:

-Use just one call to action and one goal in mind. Don’t give your visitors too many choices. Keep your landing page simple and clean. For example, if you want your visitors to book a showing, the only link you should have is one that will allow them to do exactly that. Too many links or multiple options will overwhelm your visitor and could keep them from taking any action.

-Entice your audience with the right images and words. What is your audience looking for the most? Use the images and words that match what your target audience is looking for.

Remember the lead capture form

Keep the lead capture form as minimal as possible. You will capture the most leads by requiring the least amount of information. For example, a first name, last name, email, and phone number are very effective. You can add that information to your CRM and nurture it accordingly.

Remember the highest converting landing pages are the simplest. If you are not creating your landing pages, we can help you with this. We create laser-focused and responsive, high-converting landing pages that will get you results.

Use Facebook to Get More Real Estate Leads

Now is a good time to put all I’ve covered with you to good use. Be sure to create a Facebook business page if you have not already. Think of some great content ideas you can post to your real estate business page that will act as magnets for attracting some leads. Remember to drive every potential lead to a unique landing page.

 

Follow all of these steps I’ve mentioned to help you get results. If you are looking for some help in putting a system like this in place be sure to contact me for a free marketing consultation.

The sooner you get a laser-focused landing page campaign running the better for your real estate business.

Why You're NOT Generating Leads From Your Website

 

You have a great website with the features you think will drive traffic. You spend time and money driving traffic to your site only to have visitors leave and end up buying from a competitor in your industry. Believe me, I know exactly how that feels and it’s not good. In this blog post, I would like to cover some reasons why your website is not generating leads. 

1. Your calls to action confuse visitors

When I see most web pages that have low conversion rates, my first action is to look at the call to action. There are two big mistakes website owners make:

Many “Call To Actions” on a page. You only need one Call To Action for every page. If you want a visitor to buy something then you just need one “order now” button. You can have more than one CTA but it’s important to track the results and it must be an extension of the first Call To Action. 

Let’s say the landing page you have set up has several sections and your visitor must roll down past most of the content, it’s safe to say the visitor will not engage with the main Call To Action you have so you may have to offer a lower bar Call To Action and hopefully convert the visitor later on.

We see other sites that incorporate popups that the computer mouse moving will initiate and that seems successful. The popup will also engage if the site visitor moves the cursor towards the close box on the popup.

For all the other examples and particularly for the small landing pages, I would encourage the singular use of Call To Action. This will make your landing page generate more leads.

2. The Call To Action is not bold or exact enough

Using a weak Call To Action is a very dominant reason your site is not drawing the leads it should. You may have seen many Business 2 Business landing pages that show a dead-colored button that says “Submit” and if you think about it this can come off as negative. A Call To Action button like this is dull and does not excite your visitors to action.

Your Call To Action button should tell your visitor exactly what to do and be active when it’s clicked. If it is an email then it should say “Email Me Now” to encourage action. If you’re giving away a free report it should say “Get Your Free Report Now!”. You get the idea and you should test each call to action button.

3. Your web forms are too complicated

If you manage a sales team it might seem easier to use many form fields to gather detailed information from your visitors. The fact is though that the simple web forms get greater results than the more complicated forms.

Your lead capture form should have as few input fields as possible. Your sales process would probably not suffer at all with this smaller form and you will experience many more form fulfillment. An email and address or phone number will get the results you're after.

If you are working with business-to-business lead generation and you want to improve that then your Customer Relationship Management or CRM will be able to gather more information because of the email address from the lead. 

 

4. Your website is not getting enough traffic

 

When you are brainstorming on Business To Business lead generation I want you to think about a funnel. You get 200 visitors to your homepage, 20 will navigate to your product or service page, 2 visitors will fill out your form. This is a decent conversion of 2%. You might make changes to your product or service page like rewording the Call To Action, color change, but nothing happens. You must get more traffic to your site. Your traffic is dictated by math. If you have 200 visits and get 2 leads, get 1,000 visitors and get 10 leads.

You don’t have to get all the traffic for yourself. It’s tons of work and you probably don’t have time for that. This is where a professionally educated marketer comes in like me. Highly targeted marketing campaigns through social media will generate leads for you.

 

5. Your site has too many choices for visitors

You may be giving your visitors too many choices on your website which can keep you from generating more leads. The best lead generation landing page needs to be very focused and service a specific purpose. If you are giving away an eBook on your page in exchange for contact information, the ONLY “clickable” link should be the Call To Action button under the lead capture form.

 

You can find a countless number of landing pages with tons of links that will distract your visitor away from taking the action you want them to take. With too many choices you increase the chance of a visitor clicking away from the Call To Action and decrease the chance of gaining that visitor as a lead.

 

6. Your Marketing message is confusing

If you have made changes and you still aren’t getting the results, it is a good idea to look at your marketing copy. Too many business owners write their copy for their website. It’s most effective to write for your specific target audience or persona. This is where the power of inbound marketing comes in. For a great inbound marketing strategy, it's important to create around your target’s personas. If your titles or copy is not focused this may keep your visitor from relating to your message, which can cause you to lose them as a lead.

It might seem like a simplification but the power of “less is more” and a laser-focused message tailored to your target audience will immediately be relatable to your visitor. Your visitor will get the message and you will get the lead.

7. Your website doesn’t solve problems

If you want your site to generate leads it must add value. It is just fine to brag a little and be self-centered but if it’s all about you it won’t be very relatable to your visitors. Be sure to focus mostly on the needs of your target audience.

You might have one of the best services or products people can find but if you are not telling your visitors HOW to solve their problem, they won’t be converted into a lead. Relate to your visitor in a friendly way by showing them you understand their problems and show them that you have the solution to their problem. You will see more leads coming in by doing this.

8. Your site is poorly designed

If the design of your site is outdated that can have a huge effect on the ability of your site to generate leads. Small things about your site like the font and color can affect your conversion rate. Two things to consider here are understanding your desired target audience’s preferences if possible and doing split-tests to learn what colors and layout combinations result in higher conversion rates.

Also, it is good to consider the layout of the information on your site. Be sure to have your written content evenly spaced and put into paragraphs in smaller content sections. You want your entire site visually appealing.

9. Your site’s landing page is not mobile-friendly

The majority of people today are accessing the Internet through their mobile devices. The number of computer desktop users declines every day. Eventually, the desktop era will be a thing of the past. Most tech-intensive niches are driving this among their target audience to create a higher quality of user interface that converts to more clients and customers. 

Most mixed niche websites report over 60% of mobile vs. desktop users. It’s a good idea to be shifting your you or your team’s mindset to “mobile dominate” and then optimize everything else online afterward. 

The competition in your niche is very strong and if your visitors do not relate or have an informative experience at your site they will not come back and more than likely visit a competitor’s website.