In the fast-paced, digital world of real estate, it’s important for brokers and their agents to find ways to maximize the time and budget they spend on seeking out prospective buyers and sellers. And Facebook ads are a simple, yet powerful tool that help you do just that.
According to Facebook, nearly 80% of homebuyers use online resources, including mobile, to help aid their home search. Which means brokers and agents have the ability to bring their inventory to prospects, instead of the other way around. Not to mention the added bonus of increased brand awareness for your brokerage.
What we really love about Facebook ads for real estate is that they give you the ability to target local customers, leverage the visual nature of the platform to show off your listings, and develop strong relationships with prospective buyers and sellers.
If this type of sales tactic seems daunting, you’re not alone. But it’s a logical addition to your marketing efforts—and once you get started, it’s easy to maintain. Check out these five easy steps below to help you get started.
1. Start With the Basics
If you don’t already have one, the first thing you’ll need is a Facebook page for your brokerage. Then, you’ll need to create a Facebook Ads Manager account associated with that page. Once that’s created, you can add team members and assign them roles through your Ads Manager settings.
Once your brokerage is set up in Facebook Ads Manager, you can update your profile and familiarize yourself with the campaign dashboard, which is where you view all of your running ads and create new campaigns.
The Business Suite (located by pressing the home icon) is where you’ll find daily updates such as notifications, messaging, and analytics for your various accounts.
Quick tip: Since Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram, it’s easy to integrate and run your ads on both platforms. That means double the exposure with minimal added effort.
2. Understand Your Advertising Goals
Before you start creating ads, take some time to set your goals and priorities. Think about what you want to accomplish—are you looking to increase awareness around your brokerage, drive people to your website, or generate leads?
Focus on one to two solid goals for each advertising campaign. This will help you choose the right campaign objective, set smart targeting parameters, and strengthen the content you create for the campaign.
Quick tip: If lead generation is your goal, you’ll need to create a lead form to go along with your campaign. For best results, keep the number of questions to a minimum. Consider the top three to five most important pieces of information you need to capture and limit it to that.
3. Set Your Target Audience
Think about who you want to see your ads and why. Are you promoting a listing or hoping to find a new one? Are you focused on a single location, or several? Has the price changed on one of your properties? Then think about the kind of content those audiences might be interested in. Being able to refine your audience is hugely helpful in maximizing budget and minimizing overall effort.
Facebook also provides a Special Ad Category that’s beneficial for high-level targeting and allows real estate agents to even further hone in on their ideal clients. With this feature, you can target your ads by geographical locations or by interests.
Quick tip: Although you can’t target exact zip codes, you can target by location using the pin-drop tool, which sets a 15-mile radius for the location(s) you’re interested in.
4. Decide on a Budget
Knowing the goals you want to achieve and the audience you want to reach will go a long way in helping you narrow down a budget that works best for your brokerage. Consider factors such as how much you have to spend overall and how much you want to pay per click, impression, or lead.
Quick tip: Don’t be afraid to start small. Give yourself $100-$200 for a trial run, then increase as you feel comfortable.
5. Monitor Results
Once your campaign is up and running, you can monitor the results through the Business Suite section of Facebook Ads Manager. Facebook recommends monitoring your progress daily so you can make the right adjustments as you go.
Quick tip: As you gain performance insights, you can adjust your budget, audience, placement options, and creative to optimize your ads and improve leads.
The Weichert Advantage
It’s easier to take advantage of the power of Facebook when you have the right tools. Weichert brokers and agents, for example, have access to Facebook ad integrations and automations through the myWeichert powered by kvCORE platform. Brokers and agents can purchase ad space and boost listings right from their dashboard, while also managing custom IDX-ready websites, creating AI-driven follow-up campaigns, and accessing a host of selling tools, such as squeeze pages and landing pages that can also be promoted on social media. With everything in one place, it’s easier for agents and brokers to utilize a variety of tactics to help them be as productive as possible.
Want to learn more about the resources and support Weichert Franchise provides to our brokers and agents? Visit our Resources & Support page today!
