It’s not too late to grab some year-end real estate leads

Short on real estate leads? Now might be the time to consider Facebook contests and campaigns.

Start with Halloween

Halloween, like many events, will be different this year. Most of the folks in my NextDoor.com neighborhood responded to a poll about trick-or-treating saying their kids won’t be participating this year.

And, they are desperate for alternatives.

The easiest alternative is to buy a bunch of candy and bags and do a reverse trick-or-treat to those in your sphere who have kids. Don’t forget to stick a business card in each bag in case they aren’t home when you arrive.

Other alternatives exist, and they all involve social media. You’ll need to work quick but they aren’t too difficult to set up and you can start today.

First, decide on a title for your contest, such as “Best Costume.” This can even be broken down into age groups, such as “Best Costume, Kids infant to 5 years old, Best Costume, Kids age 6 to 12,” etc. Or you can use the type of costume: scariest, cutest, etc.

If you don’t like the costume idea, consider Best Pumpkin Carving, Scariest Pumpkin or Most Creative Pumpkin.

Next, you’ll need to come up with a prize or prizes if your contest has multiple categories.

The prize will depend on the contest. If it’s a kids’ costume contest, go online and find gift certificates or cards for toy stores (or give an Amazon, Target or Walmart gift card).

Check out sites where tweens love to shop and offer a gift card:

Don’t be cheap. The more compelling the prize, the more engagement your contest will receive.

If you’re short on cash, consider teaming up with a local business, offering exposure and promotion in return for a prize donation:

Bakeries
Cupcake shops
Candy stores
Toy stores
Local attractions (ask for free passes to use as a prize)

Need some inspiration? Check out Minnesota broker Kris Lindahl’s two Halloween contests on Facebook (here and here), where he offers “… two different ways you can win big!”

While you’re there, notice the engagement from his followers. Not only are tons of people getting in on the contest, there is a respectable number of “shares” for the post as well – and that’s what you need to build brand recognition.

Contest alternative: Why not start a campaign to collect items for a local charity? For instance, do you know what most charities that cater to the homeless need most every fall and winter?

Socks. They are the least-donated item and, therefore, the most needed.

Find a shelter in your area and let them know what you’ll be doing. Then, create some graphics to share on Social media (Canva.com is free and easy to use). You can find ready-made, free graphics at Happysocktober.com.

A Montana agent we know places collection barrels at her office and also spreads them around town at various merchant locations. You can even offer to pick them up if they fill out a request form. That form, by the way, will be on a dedicated landing page on your website.

Don’t have the energy to ramp up your real estate leads gen by Halloween?

The same idea can be used for a Thanksgiving contest, but there are other topics as well from which to choose:

A drawing for a free Thanksgiving dinner for a specified number of people (the catering department at Whole Foods Market and, quite often, other markets and restaurants offer complete holiday meals for pickup or, you might want to pick it up and deliver to the winner).
A drawing for a large gift card for a local supermarket to help them buy what they need for Thanksgiving.
Consider a photo upload giveaway. Ask followers to upload a photo of their family with their Thanksgiving feast.
“Best Non-Traditional Thanksgiving Dish”
“Best Thanksgiving Decorations”

Thanksgiving real estate leads

You can also switch up the topics for Christmas:

Best outdoor holiday decorations
Most unique holiday tree
Ask for photos of their holiday cookies

Mind the rules

After reading through tons of Facebook contests, we’re shocked that Facebook has rules. We couldn’t find even one that adheres to them.

“Personal timelines and friend connections must not be used to administer promotions (e.g. “share on your timeline to enter” or “share on your friend’s timeline to get additional entries” and “tag your friends in this post to enter” are not permitted).”

Facebook also requires a disclaimer stating that they aren’t in any way connected with the contest or giveaway for your real estate leads. Consider adding something like this:

“This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Facebook.”

Dana Kilroy, at shortstack.com, has created a blog post and infographic detailing Facebook’s rules. She also offers a brilliant suggestion:

“Don’t run your contest on Facebook!”

She suggests running it from your website (with a landing page) and promoting it on Facebook and tells you how in another post that you can find here.

It’s not too late to get closer to your 2020 real estate leads goal.