You already know that Facebook is the most effective tool for getting leads flowing into your business.

Agents always need more leads, and that’s a fact!

But you also need to be aware of something else.

I like to call it “what’s working now?”

These are tested, tried and true things you can do TODAY to get results.

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It was a rollercoaster of a year for agents across the country!

So many different ad campaigns were launched and tested in an attempt to hit it big with online lead generation.

After the dust settled from this year, 4 Facebook ads for real estate stood out as clear cut winners.

So today I’m going to recap each one of them in detail so you can go out and try the exact same thing!

 

Capture more leads with your LeadSites Squeeze pages – Learn More

 

Now If I’m being 100% honest this blog wasn’t my idea – I have to thank our friend Jon Hazeltine.

Gotta hand it to ya Jon, this was a great idea!

It’s also just another way we can highlight some of the awesome people we’ve had the pleasure of working with this past year.

So let’s jump right into it!

 

Want to Jump Ahead??

Foreclosures/Bank Owned Homes

Single Story Property Searches

Drone Footage For The Win

Holiday Buzz Marketing

 

#1 – Foreclosures/Bank Owned Homes

 

This one we have to give a huge thanks to our friends Brett Muir with Explore Utah Real Estate and Derek Jones from Search Homes Central.

Take a look at Derek’s fantastic squeeze page!

 

Why Did This Work So Well?

First, it’s very simple and straightforward. And when it comes to many Facebook ads for real estate, this is a good thing.

Everyone is looking for a good deal and there’s nothing confusing about the structure here at all.

One of the most important elements of a successful landing page/ad pairing is SIMPLICITY

Now, before this strategy and setup could be considered one of the best of 2016 it had to become REPEATABLE.

If you have something that works amazingly well for you once but it’s not repeatable then it’s not an effective strategy to be leveraging.

So low and behold Brett came along and decided to try the same setup.

 

 

How Do I Set It Up?

 

Brett was kind enough to do a video with me where he actually walks through every step he took.

If you want to see how this DEADLY  landing page/Facebook ad combination worked out just watch the video!

 

 

The title may or may not be a bit of a spoiler 🤔 

Not only did this strategy work for Brett and Derek it worked quite will for other LeadSites users….

 

Show Me The Proof!

 

 

BAM! Our friends Kasie and Jon both used this exact same ad strategy and landed leads right out of the gate!

I’m not done yet though!

 

 

There you have it, 5 days, 16 leads, $35 budget, 25,000 people reached.

If you were on the fence about using Facebook ads for real estate, I hope I’ve managed to convince you.

 

 

I can’t make these things up people….

Foreclosures are hitting it big with potential buyers right now and the EAP family is cashing in on it!

 

#2 Single Story Properties

 

For this next one, we owe a big thanks to our wonderful friend Karin Carr with Northern Atlanta Dream Homes

Basically, what Karin did was recap the year and create an effective profile of the customers she had worked with.

This included the income, age, and property features they were most interested in.

After she finished creating a well-established consumer profile she came up with this!

 

 

Perfect Facebook ad Karin!

Not misleading, very direct and straight to the point. Always go for clarity and avoid click bait with your Facebook ads.

How Can I Figure Out My Consumer Profile?

 

Excellent question and I’m glad you asked!

You could do this how Karen did by thinking back and actually taking note of the similarities you’ve personally come across.

Or you can use this new feature we ran into on Facebook.

 

 

What Do People See When They Click Your Ad??

 

 

 

Woah…strikingly similar to Brett’s Landing page wouldn’t you say?

 

What Does That Tell You?

 

Simplicity works!

A lot of people think that an effective landing page requires lots of design work and a flashy layout.

However, the truth of the matter is being precise and straightforward is the best strategy when it comes to landing pages (regardless of the angle you’re using in your ad).

No, I’m not saying don’t stray from this exact layout.

Always feel free to experiment with adding a video or adjusting your phrasing but at the heart of a successful Landing page is SIMPLICITY.

Which is important to remember!

 

Don’t Just Take My Word For It…

 

 

 

That’s what we like to see!! Another repeatable ad for agents in various different markets.

If you want to see an in-depth explanation of how Karin actually set up this ad check out this video.

 

 

A big part of what helped make her ad so successful is the SPECIFICITY she approached her targeting with.

So take note on how she set up her targeting options and aim to replicate something similar.

Alright, So far we have foreclosures and single story property searches…what’s next?

 

 

#3 – Drone Footage For The Win

 

 

This one comes from our friend Cole Holley from Holley Real Estate

Basically, Cole is a huge advocate of using drone footage to highlight properties and their surrounding area.

 

 

 

This is a great way to take advantage of how Facebook is prioritizing video these days too.

Now in Cole’s specific case, he managed to get both the buyer and the seller on this listing.

The person who saw his video ad called him directly and didn’t have an agent!

 

Cole walked away with a cool 8% commission 😎

 

Here’s the video where Cole actually breaks down his ad and his targeting.

 

 

Now, Karin had success with an effective consumer profile, Cole had success with targeting specific interests.

He actually used fishing as an interest for his Facebook ad and that proved to be a powerful influencer in his campaign.

I don’t recommend using more than 1-2 interests max on a Facebook ad to help keep it as concentrated as possible.

 

 

Also, if you’re looking for a cost effective long term strategy for promotion always consider video.

It’s very common to get a cost per view of around $0.01 which is insanely cheap advertising.

Even if your video doesn’t generate immediate lead generation results, they work very well for effective brand exposure.

 

 

#4 – Holiday Buzz Marketing  

 

 

Next up I have Chase Binney from Live In Minnesota, and he managed to land well over 100 leads through the month of December.

Chase took advantage of the seasonal holiday buzz by creating a landing page with information on the area’s best light displays!

 

 

Super short text and what I love is that he included a video on the page he’s the first on the list here to do that.

Anytime you can incorporate video into your strategy…..

 

 

Now another thing I loved about this idea was the map he provided after users filled out his form.

 

 

It’s just a standard Google map search not very time intensive to put together and people were very satisfied with it!

Bravo Chase 👏👏

 

 

What Does It All Mean?!

 

Everything we’ve covered here today is pointing to one common equation Squeeze Page + Facebook Ad = Success

That’s the structure you need to be advertising with.

Now if you want to experiment with the content you’re using to create your landing page I would encourage that!

You can use the same 4 tactics I listed here for rest of your time as a real estate agent.

I’m just saying these 4 strategies are a tested and repeatedly proven way to obtain results.

Learn Facebook Ads! (Video Course)

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We’re still in the golden era of real estate Facebook ads.

Will it come to an end? I believe it will yes…

However, I don’t think Facebook will ever fade away.

It will always be a useful platform for real estate agents.

The potential there outside of ads will always be incredibly useful.

Groups especially still show a significant amount of untapped potential.

But I digress….

This post is about what you should do with Facebook RIGHT NOW.

As well as what you should do in the likely event that increasing

saturation eventually makes Facebook ads a less viable strategy for

real estate agents.

Let’s Get into it!

You’ve Just Begun To Scratch The Surface

Make Your Real Estate Facebook Ads Better

There Are Two Parts To This Equation

The first thing I want to discuss (since it’s the most important)

Is establishing your own short term lead strategy on Facebook.

I want you to GET WHILE THE GETTING IS GOOD!

Lately, I’ve had a number of comments and emails coming my way saying

“FACEBOOK ADS DON’T WORK FOR ME!”

Now, if that’s the perspective you have and you’re going to stand your ground on that

You should stop reading this blog now because I wholeheartedly disagree with you.

You’ve Just Begun To Scratch The Surface 😮

I feel that it’s very important to remind you of something…

just because one strategy worked for one agent in a DIFFERENT MARKET,

doesn’t necessarily mean it will work the exact same for you.

There are a number of variables that go into the Facebook ad space.

• Bid Amounts

• The Audience You’re Targeting

• The Relevance Score Of Your Ad

• The Time Of Year


I could go on and on and on…

So the examples and strategies we give you here at EAP have been PROVEN to work BUT…

You should always be experimenting with the fine-tuned details to make it work best for you.

Things always work better for some agents in certain markets.

All the case studies we provide are meant to give you a starting point.

What Are Those Starting Points?

Precomposed Searches

These are performing well statistically across the board.

Single story homes, houses under 300k, homes with pools, homes in certain school districts.

The concept of precomposed searches being effective isn’t new either.

There will ALWAYS be interest in searches like this that help eliminate some of the time

your prospect has to spend filtering through various properties.

Now, if the single story home search ad didn’t work for you

It doesn’t mean Facebook doesn’t work for you,

it means the climate and interest points of your market are probably different.

So try a different type of search….

is there a large number of people relocating to your area because of a big employer?

Is there a larger population of people looking to retire and downsize?

Effective Facebook ads really come down to how well you know your market and much you’ve experimented.

Very Targeted Video Content

Here’s an agent who picked up both the buyer and the seller.

He put together a very targeted Facebook video ad using drone footage.

Not sure how to go about getting your own Drone footage for Facebook?

Check out Droners.io it’s a really cool site where pilots get matched with agents.

Foreclosures/Investors

I understand why agents are hesitant to deal with foreclosures.

However, this can lead to a recurring relationship with investors.

It’s also a large general interest point among buyers, and a good way to grow your CRM.

This ad landed this agent 100+ leads that’s a huge bump to her database!

Which brings me to another very important point.

You’re being sidetracked by the short-term

There are a lot of agents who don’t want to put in the time and effort to convert Facebook leads.

If you’re judging the potential success of Facebook ads based on who is ready to sell the next day…

You’ll be sorely disappointed. On Facebook, there are prospects at every possible stage of the real estate process.

So you need a diverse approach in terms of both the content you’re creating and the angles you’re leveraging.

Make Your Real Estate Facebook Ads Better 🔥

What’s Your Angle?

If any of you have attended my Office Hours presentations every Friday you’ve heard me ask you this question.

If you can’t answer it more than likely your ad won’t perform well.

Let me give you a fantastic real estate Facebook ad example from my friend Chris with Space Coast Homes And Lifestyle.

Yes, it’s a list of single story homes but we’re using the angle of maintenance-free communities.

This is going to impact two very important things.

The relevance score of the ad, and the targeting.

Both those things will impact Chris’s costs and success.

How Can You Add More Value?

Another huge complaint I’ve seen is “I’m getting a lot of clicks but no leads”.

Now that observation is helpful but what you do about it is even more important.

If your ad is reaching lots of people and better yet they’re clicking on it…

Then the angle you chose to advertise is great!

The problem (in this situation) usually can be found on the landing page.

If you’re in this situation you should do two things.

Make Sure Your Messaging Is Succinct

Sticking with Chris’s example you can see below his ad and landing page use the exact same message strategy.

If you want to diversify the images and phrasing I’d suggest you split test your campaign.

Meaning: Run a certain number of people to both pages and see which one converts better.

Have you Looked At Your Targeting?

Again for the sake of simplicity let’s take a look at Chris’s targeting.

Now Chris is dropping pins on a map and getting really customized with his locations.

Which is very important given the location of the maintenance free homes.

He’s also started exploring the detailed targeting section to refine his potential audience.

According to Facebook, his audience is on the border of being too broad.

Given the population density of his area, I would say 40,000 is a comfortable projection to sit at.

Eliminate Redundancy

Finally, don’t fall into the pitfall of being completely redundant with your messaging.

Chris sent me a screen shot of his final ad layout before launching.

Make sure you’re adding diversity to the messaging of your real estate Facebook ad.

Earlier I mentioned making sure the messaging on your landing page and the ad was succinct.

Here I’m saying the text above the ad and the headline/link description below the image should be different.

I’ll give you an example using one of our own ads.

You can see there’s a similarity but the headline and ad text are not verbatim.

Also, we’ve been experimenting with how adding the link in the text impacts our ad performance.

There Are Two Parts To This Equation 🤔

One of the biggest components of successful online lead generation comes down to email.

Half the equation is basically “How can I buy email addresses?”… i.e. FACEBOOK ADS.

The numbers (according to emarketer.com) really back up why that’s the first part of the equation….

The other half is “How can I convert these leads to clients?”

During the golden era of Facebook ads you SHOULD BE BUYING as many emails as you can.

Because anywhere from 3-6 years down the line (or whenever Facebook ads decline in usefulness to you)

You’ll be left with a database of hopefully THOUSANDS of emails.

Having a database like that will give you a HUGE advantage over your competition.

I’d experiment with a range of different ad sets to see which one is buying emails at the most Cost effective rate.

Then I’d double down on the ad with the lowest CPA (cost per acquisition).

I’ll leave you guys with this video that Tyler made which I think breaks this subject down really well.

So let’s revisit the question that brought you here…

Are Facebook ads dead? HELL NO!

If real estate Facebook ads aren’t working for you YET…

It doesn’t mean they can’t work for you, so get going while you still can.

Also, If you’re still confused on how to setup your own Facebook ad join us in Office Hours!

All LeadSites users have access to FREE daily coaching and we cover Facebook ad setups.

We’d love to get you started on a successful real estate Facebook ad campaign!

THANKS GUYS!