Facebook Ads, IDX and CRM to Generate Real Estate Leads? You Bet!

There was a time where you could not find a single agent that believed in Google AdWords, ad retargeting, or any online advertising at all. Real estate professionals would contend that the marketing vehicles were unproven, ineffective and other forms of marketing such as magazine ads, door knocking, cold calling, etc. were where they were going to put their focus.

Well, times have changed. What once was an unknown is now a known, and we're finding agents that have their hands in just about every aspect of online marketing possible. I say "just about" because, by and large, we see one amazing form of online marketing that is being overlooked by the majority of agents we come into contact with. So what is this one online marketing platform that I am describing? Facebook.

Why I Love Facebook as a Marketing Platform

1) Market Share: No matter how you slice it, it is impossible to say that Facebook isn't anything less than a force to be reckoned with. They have been around since 2004 (that makes them about 120 years old in dot com years). In all that time, many platforms have come and gone. Many more have sprung up, are hanging on, and still have yet to make a dent in their almost astronomical marketshare. For that one single reason alone, if you are ignoring this platform, you need to rethink your entire marketing strategy. You want your marketing messages out where the highest number of people are going to see them.

2) Demographics: In my opinion, one of the most appealing features of the Facebook advertising platform are the vast demographics that you can pull from to target prospective leads, and how you can save yourself from the typical "fickle lead that goes nowhere" that we frequently hear about from other online lead providers.

How does this work? It's simple. Facebook allows you not only to sort by things like geography (which is effectively what Zillow, Trulia, Market Leader, and companies like them are doing for you), but they also give you a much, much deeper arsenal of tools to use for your targeting.

There are many, many things you can sort from. For instance, if you are targeting sellers, Facebook uses a third party data service that is able to pinpoint which people are most likely to move, allowing you to target ads to pick up sellers, only to those that are most likely to move soon. You can also sort by income. This one is major one. Think of all the Trulia or Zillow leads you get and then you find out the lead is looking for a $20,000 mobile home? Granted some real estate agents are actually looking for those leads, but the vast majority are not. By using a minimum income level in your ads, you can make sure the prospects you get truly are able to afford to sell or buy the types of homes you are interested in representing them for. Lastly, you can also sort by people's interests. Let's just say you specialize in selling properties with multiple garages (coined by some as "Car Properties"). If you have listings that have 4, 6 or even 10 car garages, you can craft a marketing campaign that specifically targets people that buy vintage cars.

There are literally hundreds of ways that you can use these demographic tools. The take home message here though is that a tool like this is LIGHT YEARS more effective than ad services like Zillow or Trulia. Why is this? Because Facebook advertising doesn't just give you any old lead. They give you the specific best leads that you are looking for and want to work with.

3) Cost Effective: The other great thing about Facebook ads is you can actually name the price you want to pay per click, and name the length of the campaign you wish to run. When you combine this with the extra ways you can target prospects, this becomes very powerful.

For instance, you can set your bid to the minimum bid (say, $1-2 per click on an ad), and run it for a month with a $50 budget. By the end of the month, if you properly targeted your target group, law of averages says it will generate 6-10 qualified leads.

Six to ten people that are your target market, that are actually interested in doing business with you, for only $50 a month is not a bad way to go.

4) You can combine Facebook Ads, Your IDX Feed, and Your CRM (AND KILL IT): You knew I had to eventually pull it around to the title of this article, right? Well, today, instead of giving you the hows and whats, I'm going to bait you with my next article. Sorry! In my next article, I'm going to show you, step by step (with screenshots), how you can take this amazing online advertising platform and make it work seamlessly with your IDX and CRM solution.

Stay tuned. I know the sizzle is worth the steak, and you are going to like it.

To view the original article, visit the Leading Agent blog.

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