10 Ways Real Estate Agents Can Use Facebook to Promote Their Services
In today's digital age, the real estate landscape has evolved dramatically. Gone are the days of relying solely on traditional marketing methods like yard signs and newspaper ads. Instead, savvy real estate agents are turning to social media platforms like Facebook to promote their services and connect with potential clients in innovative ways. If you're a real estate agent looking to expand your online presence and boost your business, read on to discover how Facebook can be your secret weapon! 1. Create a Captivating Facebook Page Making an interesting and professional Facebook page is the first step in your journey into the world of Facebook real estate promotion. This will act as your online storefront, giving prospective customers the crucial first impression. Use a professional headshot as your profile picture and a tasteful picture of the place you're representing for your cover photo. Give specific details about your knowledge, credentials, and the areas you serve in the "About" section of your page. To build trust online, keep in mind that transparency and clarity are essential. Don't forget to include your contact information so that potential customers can easily get in touch with you. 2. Consistent Posting for Brand Building When it comes to keeping an active presence on Facebook, consistency is the key. Create a content schedule that combines real estate listings, market-related articles, behind-the-scenes looks at your business, and client success stories. Use captivating subtitles and attention-grabbing images to draw viewers in. Don't be afraid to show off your individuality; sincerity can attract customers in a big manner. To keep your readership interested and informed, try to post at least once or twice per week. 3. Harness the Power of Facebook Ads For real estate agents, Facebook's advertising platform opens up a world of possibilities. You can target your ads to particular interests and even individuals who have recently interacted with content about real estate. Ads for your available properties, upcoming open houses, or informational articles about the home-buying procedure might be considered. The ability to create visually stunning and informative carousel ads is one of the unique features of Facebook ads. These let you display numerous images of a building while emphasizing its salient features. Describe the property's distinctive selling points in compelling copy, and include a clear call to action encouraging interested buyers to contact you. 4. Live Virtual Tours Utilize live virtual tours as part of your Facebook marketing plan to provide prospective buyers with a compelling experience. You can live-stream tours of the properties you have listed using a smartphone or camera, allowing viewers to ask questions in real time. This interactive approach not only keeps your audience interested, but it also establishes you as a tech-savvy agent who goes above and beyond to meet the needs of their clients. Additionally, virtual tours make it simple for busy people or out-of-town buyers to view properties from the comfort of their homes. 5. Engage with Your Audience Don't let your Facebook page become a one-way street. Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and questions promptly. Building a responsive and friendly online presence can go a long way in fostering trust and building relationships. You can also join local real estate groups or community pages on Facebook. Share your expertise by answering questions and participating in discussions. Being a helpful resource within your community not only positions you as an expert but also creates opportunities for networking. 6. Use Facebook Analytics to Fine-Tune Your Strategy The ability to monitor your efforts and gauge their effectiveness is one of the best things about digital marketing. Facebook offers a comprehensive suite of analytics tools that let you learn more about the actions of your audience and the effectiveness of your posts and advertisements. Review these analytics frequently to determine what is and is not working. Are certain post types receiving more interaction? Do certain demographics respond to your ads more favorably? For maximum impact, use this information to fine-tune your content and advertising strategy. 7. Collaborate with Local Influencers Consider partnering with local influencers or real estate bloggers to amplify your reach. These individuals often have dedicated followings who trust their recommendations. By collaborating with them, you can tap into their audience and gain credibility in the process. Whether it's a joint Facebook Live session discussing the local real estate market or having them share your property listings, influencer partnerships can be a game-changer in expanding your online presence. 8. Showcase Your Expertise Through Facebook Live Q&A Sessions By running Facebook Live Q&A sessions, you can establish yourself as an industry authority. Select timely subjects like "First-Time Homebuyer Tips" or "Navigating the Seller's Market," and encourage the audience to pose questions live. These presentations not only demonstrate your expertise but also give your audience members useful information. To encourage attendance, advertise these sessions in advance and think about providing rewards like no-cost home assessments or special access to real estate listings. 9. Encourage Client Testimonials and Reviews Positive reviews and testimonials from satisfied clients can be a potent marketing tool. Encourage your past clients to leave reviews on your Facebook page. Share these testimonials on your timeline to build trust with potential clients who may be considering your services. Respond to reviews, whether positive or negative, professionally and constructively. Address any concerns raised by clients to demonstrate your commitment to exceptional customer service. 10. Stay Updated with Facebook's Features Facebook is continuously evolving, introducing new features and tools that can enhance your real estate marketing efforts. Stay informed about these updates and adapt your strategy accordingly. For example, consider using Facebook Marketplace to showcase your listings, or explore Facebook Groups for real estate enthusiasts. The more you leverage these features, the more your visibility and engagement can grow. In conclusion, Facebook has become an indispensable tool for real estate agents looking to promote their services effectively in the digital age. By creating an engaging Facebook page, consistently posting valuable content, using Facebook ads, and embracing innovative features like live virtual tours, you can unlock new opportunities and build lasting relationships with clients. With a strategic and authentic approach, you'll be well on your way to Facebook success in the competitive world of real estate. Happy promoting! To view the original article, visit the Transactly blog.

How to Make Your Social Media Feeds Less Awful in 2 Seconds
Have you noticed how social media has lost its shine over the past couple of years? Once upon a time, social platforms were for keeping in touch with friends, family and your sphere. Now they seem more like places to be assaulted by ads and video posts from "suggested accounts" — with maaaybe a few posts from those you actually follow sprinkled in. It's a frustrating experience, to be sure. But did you know that there's a way to see posts from only the people and pages you follow? That way, you can get back to connecting with the people who matter most to your life and your business — without all the added noise. Here's how to accomplish this on the three major social media platforms: Instagram Ditch Instagram's feed algorithm and see posts in chronological order from only the profiles and hashtags you follow. It's super simple to do: 1. Click on the Instagram logo at the top left corner of the app. 2. In the dropdown menu that appears, tap Following. That's it! Now your feed will no longer be full of posts and videos from strangers. Facebook Unfortunately, we have to start this section with a caveat: there's no way to opt out of Facebook's feed algorithm on your laptop or desktop. However, you CAN see posts from only the profiles, pages, and groups you follow on the Facebook app. You can read about the particulars here, but here's the basic gist: 1. Tap your profile photo on the top right of your app. 2. This will take you to the page below. From here, tap Feeds. 3. This takes you to a screen with multiple tabs. Here's what you'll find on each tab: Favorites: Tap this to see posts from the accounts you most interact with. Friends: Tap this to see a chronological feed of posts from only your Facebook Friends. Groups: Tap this to see posts from only the Groups you're a member of. Pages: Tap this to see posts from only the Pages you follow. Twitter Twitter, Twitter, Twitter. It certainly has been on a, uh, colorful journey these past several months. Fortunately, it's extremely easy to avoid the more untamed parts of this wilderness (i.e., Musk musings and posts from the paid-blue-check crowd). Twitter has two tabs: For you, an algorithm-driven feed, and Following, which is composed of posts from accounts you follow. Stay away from For you and stick with Following to avoid being overwhelmed with posts from strangers. Easy peasy! That's all, folks — happy online socializing, and we hope you enjoy reconnecting with the people and organizations you truly care about! P.S. If you want to learn why social media platforms have become so terrible to use, see this post: The Enshittification Lifecycle of Online Platforms.

The Facebook Ad that Home Buyers Can't Resist
A sale, a bargain, a good deal—if there's anything consumers love, it's getting more value for their money. Realtor Jaime Resendiz uses that to his advantage in his advertising. By creating "price drop" ads for listings on Facebook, he attracts a ton of quality buyers. After all, even house hunters are looking for a good deal—especially in this economy. Watch the video above to learn: Two variations of the price drop ad How to create a price drop ad How to optimize for your business

Keep Up with These Seasonal Trends for Google and Facebook Ads
'Tis the season — to master your digital ad strategies and scale your real estate business. Marketing your real estate business with paid advertising campaigns on Facebook and Google helps you gain visibility with internet buyers and online leads. However, the paid ad playing field isn't necessarily evenly distributed all year long. Just like the real estate market goes through its market cycles where the environment is determined by the levels of supply and demand, your paid ad experience will fluctuate over time, too. Depending on how many buyers are shopping online and the volume of advertisers at any given time, your cost-per-lead will adjust accordingly—another critical factor that affects your paid ads performance is the time of year. 2 Need-to-Know Trends for Google and Facebook Ads To prepare you for the changes that are going to impact your digital marketing and paid advertising performance, here are two need-to-know trends that real estate teams will be coming up against in the next few months. 1. Search Volume Matches Market Activity Every real estate professional knows that the high season is usually spring. In recent years, the pandemic did influence the sales cycle and disrupt the industry's normal market pattern. However, the holidays do typically slow down as buyers and sellers settle down to enjoy the holly-jolly end of the year. As fewer buyers typically hit the market in the fall, online searches tend to dip, too. Expect to see the demand fall in October and continue to slow down into December. The market begins to regain its momentum at the beginning of the new year, and it continues to pick up into the spring and summer months — kicking off the spring buyer's rush. If you start to see your paid ad performance decline during the holiday months, keep in mind that it's the natural pace of the market. 2. Expect the Expenses for Social Media Advertising to Rise Real estate professionals aren't the only ones who leverage social media ads to boost their businesses. Around the holiday season, retailers invest heavily in advertising on popular social media channels to capture digital consumers. What does this have to do with real estate agents? Since retailers are flooding ads onto social media, the prices increase. This means that agents who are continuing their usual real estate marketing strategy will see their marketing spend raise during the prime holiday gift shopping months. If you notice that the prices go up around October and November, don't be alarmed. They should balance out again at the end of December and into the new year. Pro Tip: If you're a new real estate team that's just getting started with paid digital advertising, keep in mind that the prices are inflated at this time of year. Don't think that these prices are the baseline and abandon this critical avenue for attracting and keeping in touch with your sphere! 2 Ways to Overcome the Seasonal Shifts Do you want to overcome the seasonal hurdles and establish a more solid paid ads performance to keep your real estate business top-of-mind? Follow these two best practices. 1. Diversify Your Marketing Plan to Balance Out Your Performance Since you know that your paid advertising on Google and social media may dip during the holiday months, you can overcome the seasonal cycle by diversifying your marketing efforts. Now is a great time to branch out and expand your marketing strategy to balance out your real estate brand's overall performance. This is a classic pivoting strategy that helps real estate teams stay on their A-game, even as the market takes its annual turns. By expanding into different areas, your business won't take as big of a hit as it would if you were fully relying on one tactic. 4 Digital Marketing Avenues to Explore Over the Holiday Months: Microsoft Bing Facebook Amazon Instagram 2. Don't Follow the Competition and Leave the Arena Many real estate businesses will see the paid digital ad market begin to stall and stop investing in it. Yes, demand may slow, and prices may even hike up. But, that doesn't mean the right strategy is to stop your digital ad campaigns altogether. The top-performing real estate teams know that this seasonal adjustment actually clears out the competition, giving your business and your message more visibility. Let your less strategic competitors leave the arena. Even if you continue to advertise at your usual pace, you'll stand out and get more eyes on your marketing campaigns. The logic is simple. As competitors leave, there's less traffic crowding the platforms you're creating ads for. Pro Tip: One paid ad area you should never surrender is Google. Why? Because Google Ads reward consistency. If you create campaigns that don't pause, Google will actually prioritize your ads — helping them perform better when the demand regains its usual pace. Marketing hack, unlocked. To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.

What Channel Fits Your Real Estate Marketing Objectives?
Real estate marketing is about making decisions and setting goals. Are you looking for immediate lead generation or to fill your pipeline for future months? Is your objective to broadly promote your business or drive more attendance to your open house? Different marketing channels help accomplish different goals. Consider this quick guide to four of the most popular advertising channels for real estate agents, as well as best practices for using each. Google Real estate marketing objectives: Short-term lead generation, finding high intent, local buyers and sellers When it comes to intent, think of Google as the opposite of Facebook: Whereas Facebook users are earlier in their real estate journeys, those who are searching on Google are much more likely to transact in the short term, as they've moved beyond the "browsing phase" and are directly searching for real estate. In fact, more serious homebuyers and sellers turn to Google than marketplace websites like Zillow and realtor.com. If your goal is to market your current listings or find serious sellers, you absolutely cannot go wrong with the world's most popular search engine, home to the largest audience on the internet. Recently, Google has more heavily emphasized serving searchers relevant, locally-focused search results. This means that Google is even more weighted towards finding high intent buyers and sellers, as Google searchers are served results full of agents who live and work in their neighborhood, town, or city. All agents should be sure to solicit as many Google reviews as possible, since agents with five or more reviews are eligible to be Google Screened and have a verified badge on their Google Business Profile. This results in more calls and texts from leads, more clients, and more homes that you help clients buy and sell. Facebook Real estate marketing objectives: Long-term lead generation, awareness Put the negative headlines and controversy aside: Facebook is still the world's biggest, most influential social media platform. But its huge user base does not make Facebook a marketing cure-all. Agents looking for immediate, high-quality, ready-to-transact homebuyers and sellers are better served allocating their marketing spend elsewhere, such as Google. That's because consumers browsing real estate listings and agent profiles on Facebook are low-intent. Now, low-intent does not mean no-intent. Many of these consumers are looking to transact eventually; they're just earlier in the buying process. They may be doing cursory research — such as learning more about a certain market or seeing how much house they can afford — or they could be planning for something further down the road, like after a wedding or when they hit a certain savings goal. So, if you can stay top of mind throughout their research and decision phase you're that much more likely to win their business when they are ready to hire an agent or purchase a property—remember the vast majority of consumers hire the first agent they come in contact with. And Facebook allows agents to target and nurture these someday-ready-to-transact leads more effectively than anywhere else. You can calibrate your campaigns to zero in on these users and nurture them with dynamic ads overtime, creating multiple touchpoints and refining your messaging so you're present and easy to contact when they're ready to hire an agent. Instagram Real estate marketing objectives: Marketing videos and virtual tours, finding first-time and younger homebuyers Whereas Facebook's audience skews older, Instagram tends toward the younger. It's the most popular social media platform among millennials, now the largest home-buying demographic in the U.S., and nearly half of all Americans aged 18-49 use it every day. It boasts an engagement rate of up to ten times higher than Facebook. And it's particularly adept at aspirational and lifestyle advertising, of which real estate is included. But Instagram isn't just about marketing to first-time and younger homebuyers. Ever since the pandemic, the social network has become the ideal platform for advertising virtual tours and open houses. It makes sense. Instagram was built for media sharing. And as result, promoted videos are more seamless and less intrusive when compared to competing channels. Virtual tours, walkthroughs and open houses are likely here to stay, so you might as well leverage them in your advertising—especially when you're targeting first-time and younger homebuyers. Click here for a complete guide to marketing on Instagram, including the various ad types and targeting options available to you. Waze Real estate marketing objectives: Promoting open houses, virtual billboards and road signs Waze, a navigation app, is often overlooked as an advertising platform, which is a shame, as there's perhaps no advertising platform better for advertising an upcoming open house. Waze offers three types of advertisements, all of which allow agents to safely target drivers within a specified radius of a target location. When a user interacts with any of these ads, they'll be offered an option to (re)direct their GPS navigation to your intended location. All prospects need to do is click "Take me there" to receive individualized, step-by-step directions. It's particularly effective when you're advertising an open house that might be a bit out of the way. In the past, planting a sign in a lawn or posting open house notifications at the top of a busy street was a major marketing strategy for real estate agents. The world has changed, so why not replicate this type of promotion digitally? Click here for a complete guide to marketing on Waze. To view the original article, visit the Homesnap blog.

Using Facebook Live for Your Real Estate Open House
The idea of using Facebook Live for a real estate open house is nothing new. Marketing-savvy agents have been using Facebook Live for some time to promote listings, create brand awareness, and attract business. It helps them reach busy potential buyers who can't attend many open house events, as well as those who are out-of-town and planning to relocate. Facebook Live brings your narrated property tour directly to their screen, at home or while they're on-the-go. They don't have to make any time commitment other than setting aside time to watch your property tour. Agents are even finding it can help them close some clients. This article will show you how to get started taking advantage of this powerful marketing tool which will continue to serve you into the future. Creating a Facebook Business Page If you don't have a business page on Facebook, you'll want to set that up first. This guide from Facebook will help you set it up. You'll need a personal Facebook page to do this, so set that up first if you don't have one. It's really important to put your best foot forward on your business page. Much more than just an online brochure, you need to maximize opportunities for capturing new leads, engage your visitors, and have a solid platform for advertising. You'll find some tips and recommendations here for putting together a real estate business page that has the right professional polish. Preparing Your Online Real Estate Open House Promotional Posts In the days leading up to your live event, you'll want to publish posts on your business page to get the word out. These posts will need a quality photo of the property which could be anything that will make a good impression on potential buyers – interior or exterior. Once you've chosen a photo for your promotional posts, you need to use a graphic editor to add the date and time to the image. Canva is a free tool that's perfect for this task. Canva even offers free templates for creating social media graphics. With your graphic ready, you just need to write a quick blurb for your posts that will get potential buyers excited to see more about the property and attend your online open house. If you want to reach more people in your area outside of your followers on Facebook, you can try using Facebook ads to promote the virtual open house to a much wider audience. Since you can spend whatever you want on Facebook ads, there's very little risk in experimenting and Facebook ads are simple to set up. Planning the Property Tour Preparing for your tour of a property is very important. You don't want to just improvise on the spot. Plan the flow of the property tour and identify the important points and features you want to speak to and share in your broadcast. You might even want to write a script for yourself to make sure you don't leave anything out and do a practice run or two before the event. In your narration, make sure you include the same information that you normally would in an in-person open house, such as insights about the community and local schools. You'll get better at doing these over time, but the important thing is to start! Get (yourself) in your videos. It allows us to showcase who we are as people and build a "know, like and trust" and that's what clients are looking for. I always do 30 minutes because 30 minutes will allow you to give a 15-minute walk-through and 15 minutes to answer any questions. Typically, I'm getting 600-900 views. I'm engaging the audience. Jesse PetersSales AssociateRE/MAX Executive RealtyWinnipeg, Manitoba, CanadaUsing Facebook Live for an Open House – REALTOR® Magazine Go Live Using Facebook Live is very easy. Start with learning the basic features and controls on your phone or tablet, then do some practice sessions to get comfortable with it. Having the confidence in operating the features will make your first online open house go much more smoothly and you'll be less nervous. After the event, you'll even have a link in Facebook for sharing the recorded video to your website or social channels. The biggest hurdle is building the confidence in yourself that you can do this. Pretend it's just like a normal real estate open house. After you have done a few, you'll wonder what you were so nervous about. You'll be really excited about the added exposure as you watch your audience size start to grow over time. Practice makes perfect! To view the original article, visit the iHomeFinder blog.

16 Real Estate Facebook Groups for Lead Generation and Advice
Are you leveraging Facebook for your real estate business? Facebook Groups are an agent's watering hole for real estate leads. Many prospective buyers and sellers seek out the advice of others online. Agents can use the world's number one social media platform not only for lead generation, but also advice. Use these groups below to grow your real estate knowledge and customer base. Join these 16 real estate Facebook Groups for lead generation and advice: Facebook Groups with Buyer and Seller Leads Buy, sell, rent your dream home (Closed Group) DIY Home Improvement Projects (Closed Group) Credit Secrets (Closed Group) The Holiday Edit (Closed Group) Flipping Houses Like a Ninja (Closed Group) (Insert City or State) Buy Rent Sell (e.g., Buy Rent Sell San Diego) (Insert City or State) Real Estate Investment (e.g., DFW Real Estate Investment, California Real Estate Investment Professionals) First-Time Home Buyers (Insert Your City or State) (e.g., Florida Panhandle First Time Home Buyers Group) For Advice from Other Real Estate Professionals Lab Coat Agents (Closed Group) Real Estate Rockstar Agents (Closed Group) Real Estate Closers (Closed Group) Real Estate Entrepreneurs Group (Closed Group) Next Level Agents (Closed Group) WhatsUp for Real Estate Resale Brokers (Closed Group) Tech Savvy Real Estate Agents Foreclosure and REO Tired of prospecting cold Facebook leads? Zurple's uses Facebook ad space to generate leads within your target markets. Check for availability in your market. To view the original article, visit the Zurple blog.

The Best Facebook Ads to Target Real Estate Buyers
Facebook ads are a popular way for real estate agents to market their listings to potential buyers. But like any widely adopted advertising tactic, efficacy varies. Some agents generate scores of high-intent leads from each and every campaign. Others struggle to source a contact or two. As we've run tens of thousands of successful Facebook campaigns on behalf of our agents, we wanted to shed light on what strategies lead to greater resonance with buyers and more effective lead generation. High-quality photos With every agent carrying a state-of-the-art camera in their pocket, there's no excuse for a lack of crisp, high-resolution property photographs. It's the only standard, really. Many buyers, especially younger, more digital-adept ones, assume that poor photos are a deliberate attempt to obfuscate a less-than-desirable property or features. As a result, ads with poor quality photographs receive fewer clicks and, in turn, generate fewer leads. Read our tips for taking better listing photos. Inclusion of video A year ago, video wasn't an expected component of any real estate listing advertisement. After the pandemic, though, it's the norm. Why? Prior to the pandemic, prospective homebuyers would attend showings and open houses if they had even so much as a passing interest in a property. Facebook advertisements were essentially teasers, designed to get an agents' name out there and entice buyers into attending an in-person showing. No buyer expected to see every corner of a property displayed in a Facebook ad. But because of Covid, homebuyers are more choosy when it comes to in-person attendance. They'll only visit a property if they believe there's a serious chance they'll make an offer. Videos provide a way to approximate that in-person experience. Essentially, without video, you run the risk of a consumer not seeing enough value in the property and opting out of further pursuit. Read our tips for optimizing your video marketing. Immediacy + Humblebrag = Winning Copy Facebook (or social media in general, really) is never a place for humility. Successful agents leverage their past successes in their advertising. So, for example, when promoting your listings, try highlighting how a particular property won't be on-market for too long because your previous listings went under contract in days in your advertising copy. You'll convey both your prowess as an agent and create a greater sense of urgency. Highly targeted Facebook allows you to build multiple custom audiences. To do so, upload contact information for people you know, such as your sphere and any leads you've generated. Facebook will match the data to its user base and allow you to target this specific group of people (if they have a Facebook account). There are three advantages to making a custom audience for all your ads: It will keep you top of mind. The next time someone in your sphere is looking for a real estate agent or has a referral, your ads will remind them that you're an active agent. You'll build brand awareness for leads and cool prospects. Repetition is key if you want them to remember you over competitors. It improves the opportunity for organic reach. People who know you are most likely to hit the share button, giving you free placement in their feed. Only 3.5% of real estate agents target their sphere. But they are the best performing agents. Leverage lookalike audience feature Similar to the custom audience, Facebook's lookalike audience is infrequently used (only by 7.5% of campaigns). To access this feature, you must first create a custom audience as we described above. Facebook will mine that data for common characteristics so it can find a group of similar users who are most likely to be interested in your ad and services. This type of audience is more refined than blanket-targeting people based on interests and demographics. You can also layer location parameters on top of the audience to ensure your ad stays local. To view the original article, visit the Homesnap blog.

Elevating Your Real Estate Business with Facebook Ads
Social media is a necessity when it comes to real estate agents' marketing and advertising. There are endless opportunities for agents to promote their business, from posting videos of homes that are for sale or to even sharing important tips for helping buyers complete their purchase. With opportunities like these, there is one tool that every agent should use to make the best out of their social media advertising – Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads are a great way to get more exposure for your business. Facebook consultant and Houston Association of Realtors® CE educator, Tristen Sutton, joined us for a Secrets of Top Selling Agents webinars. He demonstrated the ins-and-outs of using Facebook Ads for your real estate business. What Is a Facebook Ad? A Facebook Ad is exactly what it sounds like – it is an ad that is placed on the Facebook platform. However, there is so much more to Facebook advertising. Facebook Ads can be broadcast across Instagram and LinkedIn as well. If you have a limited marketing budget, you want to go where the most users are. There are over 1.7 billion people who login to Facebook each day. Sutton's tip: those 1.7 billion are your audience and you should use Facebook Ads to market to them. Facebook Ads can help you to expand your audience to a group that is outside of your usual circle on social media. That large pool of active Facebook users can ensure you are getting leads and making conversions to make your business as successful as possible. Most people go online to get the things they want, so make the best of Facebook Ads and target those people on Facebook. You Have to Pay for Success In the past, when you created a post on Facebook, you would generate leads. However, that is not the case anymore. Normal Facebook business posts are being suppressed, which means that your content is not getting the exposure it used to. Now, Facebook prefers Facebook Ads when it comes to getting exposure on the platform. Using Facebook Ads to increase your brand awareness or drive visitors to an open house (or virtual open house) will get you the results you are looking for, explains Sutton. Say you have 1,000 followers on your profile; when you post a generic post, the 1,000 followers that you have are the only people who will see your content unless they share the post, tag someone on the post, or someone searches for that specific post. With a paid Facebook Ad, you expand your reach and increase the chance for more traffic to visit your website or profile, which in turn increases your opportunities to make a sale. When you pay to play, you target specific audiences that you are interested in, such as "luxury real estate" or "foreclosures." Yes, they are two different audiences, but you can target them specifically to the type of business you conduct. Not only can you increase your reach, but you can also increase your engagement. What Types of Ads Should You Be Running? You have to play it smart when it comes to Facebook Ads. You can run as many ads as you like, but you have to know which types of ads to create. Sutton outlines four different types of ads that you should be running. Reach. These ads will function as your brand expander. You can use these ads to brand yourself as an expert in your area. Video. These ads will increase your lead generation and branding efforts. Website Visits. You can use these to drive people back to your website so they can see what listings you have. Open House Events. These ads are good for sharing an event, such as when you would like more people to show up to an in-person or virtual home tour event. How to Create a Facebook Ad Sutton also shares some tips for creating a Facebook Ad. Below, you can find step-by-step instructions for creating an ad. Go to your Facebook Business Page and select Facebook Ads Manager. Click "create an ad." After you have clicked "create an ad," you will be prompted to select a special ad category. As a real estate agent, you must click the special ad category for housing. If you do not click this, your ad will be rejected by Facebook and their algorithm will deny your Facebook Ad. Next, select which type of ad you want; Sutton suggests choosing engagement, or, if the ad is for an open house event, click event response. Now you will select your audience. Your audience is who you wish to target with your ad. You can select a specific area that you work in within a 15-50 mile radius. After your audience is selected, you will select a detailed target audience. Here, you can select your specific area that you work in such as luxury real estate or even specific interests that you believe your targeted audience will interact with. After you have done this, choose your image, add a little more copy to your ad, and you're good to go! Keep in mind that Facebook does require about 24 hours to approve a Facebook Ad. If your ad doesn't get approved right away, that's okay. Facebook will audit your ad to make sure everything is right, and will get your ad up and running. Sutton suggests that if you are running an ad for a specific event or offering, give yourself 10 days of time to run your ad so you can get the most out of your ad spend. Running a Facebook Ad can be fun and exciting, but can also be a little challenging. Make sure to stop by the Secrets of Top Selling Agents Facebook Group to watch the recording of Tristen Sutton's webinar here. Or, to check out the Facebook Live recap, click here. To view the original article, visit the Homes.com blog.

How to Start a Facebook Group
Already mastered the art of Facebook advertising and content creation? Ramp up your Facebook strategy by creating and managing your own Facebook Group. How to Start a Group Starting a Facebook Group is easy. Start by clicking the "Groups" button in your menu on Facebook. This will open up new options. Look for and select the one that says "Create New Group." From there you can input your group name, decide whether you want to make your group public or private, and invite people to join. Once you're happy with the initial details, click the create group button to publish your group. After your group is created, you can edit the details of your group from the Manage Group menu. Some items you can consider setting up include whether or not you want new members to automatically be allowed in or if they should be approved. You can also schedule posts, set up group rules, and update your group settings through the menu. Be sure to visit the Settings section of your Facebook Group to customize your Group's URL, manage membership, set up posting rules, and access additional features. Facebook Group Ideas Having and running a Facebook Group can be a very rewarding business move, but you have to have a goal and audience in mind. Here are some groups your Facebook Group can target to help attract buyers and sellers or to help grow your real estate business. Niches Having a real estate niche is a good way to start building relationships that can lead to referrals and new business. Consider starting a Facebook Group for pet parents, seniors, veterans, or whichever niche you specialize in. That way, when the time comes that someone in your group is interested in finding a home, you'll already have a connection with them. Agents Many real estate agents work alone, but that doesn't mean you can't find people to support you. There are already popular Facebook Groups, like Secrets of Top Selling Agents and Labcoat Agents that you can join to discuss the latest industry news and ask questions. However, you can also get a lot of value from creating a group for local real estate agents, mortgage lenders, and builders to connect and collaborate. Education Buying or selling a home can be confusing. Help clarify the process and meet people who self-identify as being interested in buying or selling by creating a group for prospective buyers, sellers, or investors. To view the original article, visit the Homes.com blog.

New iOS 14 Update: What Does It Mean for Your Real Estate Facebook and Instagram Ads?
The new iOS update touches upon a very sensitive topic: the usage of our personal data for commercial purposes. Whether you're a seasoned advertiser, or just a simple internet user, there is no doubt you've heard about our data being used for advertising purposes. Being tracked was something we've gotten used to a long time ago. And only now we're starting to see the ripple effects of that issue. The conversation around the ethical part of internet tracking is just starting, and the new iOS update is just a small fraction that showcases the seriousness of that problem. With the rise of the browsers that respect your privacy, and with the operational systems becoming more and more conscious about respecting personal data, the question arises — what is the future of advertising especially for small businesses? As a real estate agent, there is a chance Facebook and Instagram ads are one of the tools you use for listings promotion. They are tools that we've all used pretty frequently. So, without paying attention to the ethical issues of tracking, let's talk business. How does it affect you, and what can you do in this case to minimize any negative impacts? Let's dive in. What Does the New iOS Update Mean? Facebook and Instagram advertising is a cheap and lucrative form of advertising. Essentially, Facebook tracks consumers' preferences and offers this information to the advertisers who use this data to reach potential customers. The iOS 14 update changes offer an option to opt out of the tracking, essentially cutting the flow of information and allowing users to become invisible to tracking. Many in the real estate industry and elsewhere fear that getting the data will become harder and because of that the prices for ads might go up. Here are some main changes that iOS 14 brings to the table: Facebook Pixel - Tracking actions such as "Add to cart," for example, or purchase action mayl be under-reported. Ads Optimization - Without necessary/limited data, Pixel won't be able to properly analyze and report data, therefore creating custom audiences may not be that reliable. Retargeting - As we already mentioned, the new iOS update makes the users who opt out of tracking invisible, therefore retargeting those users may become impossible. All in all, these type of ads are more at risk when the iOS update will be finally up: Traffic Ads, specifically those optimized around landing page views using Pixel. Conversion Ads if optimised around custom conversions or standard events. Other than that, catalogue sales (if customers go to a website) and app installs/app related conversions when targeting iOS devices may also be affected. All in all, does it mean that iOS users won't see any ads? No, certainly not that. It means the ads may not be relevant, since there is no data to create a personalized ad experience. Remember, custom events will be also limited. For people who don't opt out of tracking custom events, tracking will be limited to eight events. For the users who opted out of tracking, these limitations might be even stricter. The attribution window will also be changed. Prior to the update, the attribution window for actions taken on ads was 28 days, showing seven-day clicks. After the update, it will be a seven day window, one day click. So What Should Be Done? Well, first and foremost, it's important to know how many of your clients are iOS users. This can be done by checking Google Analytics. Second, you will need to verify your website, especially if you're creating an ad with a conversion goal in mind. Check out this Facebook resource to learn how to verify your real estate website. You can also exclude iOS users if you're running conversion ad campaigns. You can also create campaigns with a different goal in mind—for example, lead generation. Let's say you have an ebook of your own or webinar. You can create a lead generation ad using this content, promote your ebook or webinar, provide useful information to your potential audience and get emails at the same time. This can help you to create new audiences for Facebook and therefore create new ads with different goals. You will also need to choose eight events in the Events Manager. This action needs to be done by the Facebook Pixel owner. Few Final Words With the new changes, it might seem as your real estate ads are not working, but in reality the date won't be showing as quickly and accurately. So be prepared for the potentially underreported data that might happen with the new iOS update. To view the original article, visit the Realtyna blog.

5 Lead Magnets for Your Facebook
Helpful, informative content is the bedrock of any real estate agent's digital marketing strategy. In a nutshell, "content" is anything you publish in the hopes of helping current and future clients make informed decisions about real estate. Good content showcases your expertise and previews the value you offer. Content is vital to building a relationship, especially with leads who have not met you in person. Once a lead is on your radar, it might be months before that person takes the next step. Content keeps you in touch. Blog posts, e-books, and videos are the most common types of real estate content. While you normally publish most content directly on your website, you can always use social media to amplify it further. Content doesn't just entice visitors to your website, however. It also helps convert leads into customers. As leads do more research, they look for deeper, more specific content. By aligning your content marketing with their needs at different times, you position yourself as a trusted advisor. Real estate content is indispensable to three critical conversions: The conversion between new website visitor and social media follower The conversion between social media follower and email list subscriber The conversion between email list subscriber and active buyer or seller Sure, someone can go directly from social media follower to customer. It's even possible for a prospect to visit your website, fall in love with one of your listings, and schedule an appointment right away. In many cases, though, people follow this predictable path from prospect to lead to customer. You must have the right content available to move them forward. Engaging with social media followers is crucial because they may be actively comparing real estate firms. The jump from social media follower to email subscriber is big: Email is much more direct and intimate. Consider this: In recent years, social media platforms have created algorithm-driven "bubbles" that show users only content they are most likely to respond to. In almost all cases, this results in diminished reach for brands. On the other hand, email subscribers see your messages every time. Well-designed real estate lead magnets create the bridge you need. Lead Magnets Set the Stage for a Lasting and Lucrative Relationship A lead magnet is a piece of real estate content specially designed to move the relationship forward. It does this by meeting your social media followers precisely where they are and giving them highly valuable information and insights they can't find anywhere else. What distinguishes a great lead magnet is this: It is something they can use right away. Master this formula, and you'll turn your social media feed into a lead engine. Followers get lead magnets for free, but they must join your email subscriber list to receive one. This uplevels your relationship. Let's look at the most effective real estate lead magnets on Facebook: Buyer's or Seller's Guide Buyers respond especially well to step-by-step guides that let them know what to expect and where to look when exploring a new community. Buyers and sellers alike benefit from advice to help them prepare for their transaction and smooth the path to success. A free home evaluation is highly attractive to sellers. Local Market Report Your local expertise is your biggest differentiator. Market reports are popular for would-be buyers, who often seek them out a few weeks before they start actively looking at homes. You can motivate buyers to take action sooner by putting market performance in context. How-To A how-to guide is a natural next step once you have enough data from your website to know what answers your prospects are searching for. First-time buyers frequently ask about the financing process, for example, while sellers often express curiosity about timing a sale, increasing curb appeal, or staging a home. Local Favorites What is it about your area that makes it truly special? What are the top attractions, restaurants, and things you simply can't see anywhere else? It may seem like this content is overly broad, but it can help buyers kindle a clear vision of the kind of lifestyle they want. That motivation is what gets them to dive in. Exclusive Property Lists When buyers find themselves adrift in a sea of listings, they might find it difficult to navigate. That's true even if, individually, the properties are very impressive. Curate your own exclusive property lists to meet the needs of certain kinds of buyers, and you make it easier for them to discover the home of their dreams. Social media lead magnets work best as part of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. Marketing automation makes the whole process faster and easier for you. Get a FREE 30-day trial of DeltaNET 6 and try it for yourself. To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.

4 Ways to Make the Most of Your Real Estate Facebook Page
Experts estimate an astonishing 87.1% of marketers in the U.S. used Facebook marketing features in 2020. Facebook has 2.4 billion monthly active users, including some 255 million in the United States and Canada. As Facebook loses its cachet among the college students it was originally created for, it's still growing among the under-36 cohort most likely to be active homebuyers. No matter who your target demographic is, Facebook has them. And the most vital resource for reaching those potential leads is your Facebook business page. Even if you already have one, there are exciting ways to make it more effective. Real Estate Agents, It's Time to Renovate Your Facebook Business Page If you've been in the real estate industry more than a month, odds are you have a Facebook business page for your practice. But Facebook is constantly providing new tools to apply to your lead generation efforts. Just like an old home, your page may need a fresh coat of paint. Luckily, your business page is under your control. It's up to you to make the most of it. By keeping your Facebook page modern, you're adding extra authority and interest to your posts. That helps you stand out from the crowd and get recognized as an authentic local real estate expert. Here are four ways to do it: 1. Update Your Facebook Cover Image With a Call-to-Action You already know your cover image is the most important visual element on your Facebook page, right? It serves as the masthead, taking up more space than anything else. A good cover is 820x360 pixels, so it shows up brilliantly on both smartphones and desktops. Text is kept to the middle, where it can't be cut off. The image shows a compelling real estate photo, your face, or both. And, of course, it includes your brand name or logo! But did you know you can add interactivity to your cover? One of the more recent quirks of business pages is the "call-to-action" button. Just like a CTA on your blog posts, this tells visitors what to do next — a step they often won't take unless it's made explicit. The CTA appears in a prominent position on your cover, and it can be styled in many different ways. Some relevant options for real estate include: Contact Us Learn More Watch Video Request Time Here's how to set one up. 2. Add Property Search to Your Facebook Page Although you can't display MLS listings directly on your Facebook page without using third-party software, there's another way to give your properties more reach. Submit your listings to Facebook Marketplace in the Real Estate category, and you'll have many more options for promoting them, such as using Facebook Ads or sharing them with your active Groups. You can also communicate with prospective buyers right on Facebook. 3. Encourage Former Clients to Visit Your Review Section When your business page is filled out with your website URL and address, Facebook reviews can boost your local SEO — getting you more traffic from searches relevant to your business within 20 miles of you. That means even if you already showcase reviews on your website, Facebook still has something to offer. To get more reviews, follow up with satisfied clients within a week of closing day. Also, reach out to clients who've already submitted positive reviews on Google My Business or Yelp. Eighty-one percent of 12,000 respondents said their friends' recommendations influenced their buying behavior, so this can create a snowball effect. 4. Set Up Facebook Messenger to Communicate with Contacts Facebook has big plans to expand Facebook Messenger and make it the customer service solution of choice for as many businesses as possible. In this case, however, they're simply responding to how people are using the software already. This ubiquitous app makes it easier than ever to start a conversation at any time. Real estate is all about relationships, so it's a natural fit. To get all the benefits of Facebook Messenger, you need to be set up. On your page's General Settings, be sure "People can contact my page privately" is enabled. Verify your Messenger username, also under General Settings. The username is automatically generated based on your page name and can be changed. Next, consider updating your page's call to action to the "Send Message" button. As you get more comfortable with Messenger, you can use its automation features to provide seamless service for common customer needs. Write a greeting for Facebook Messenger to introduce yourself and use Instant Reply to send an automatic response to each user's first message to you. DeltaNET customers can take Facebook to the next level with automatic social media updates, including new listings, closings, and open house announcements. See it for yourself—RE Technology readers can try DeltaNET 6 FREE for 30 days. To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.

The Social Realtor: How to Grow Your Facebook Audience
As a Realtor, growing your social media presence can be a powerful tool for growing your client base. Growing your reach and engagement through Facebook is a great way to get started. Facebook is the largest social platform, with 2.45 billion users and 1.6 million people using their account on a daily basis. Today, we'll lay out how to reach Facebook users organically without the use of paid advertising. This will also help increase your engagement through likes, shares and comments.

How Real Estate Agents Can Use Facebook's CTA Button
Did you know that there is a handy CTA button located under your Facebook cover image on your Facebook Business page? This CTA button has plenty of uses, but as a real estate agent, which options will bring you more business? The 3 Buttons Recommended for Real Estate Agents Book with You This button can help set up appointments via Facebook Appointments OR send the real estate lead to a landing page of your choice. The button text will read "Book Now." Contact You This will give you five possible options. You can send real estate leads to your website for contact info, open up Facebook Messenger, phone call, email, or sign up for a mailing list. The text on the button will read "Contact Us," "Send Message," "Call Now," "Sign Up," or "Send Email." Learn More About Your Business This can send the real estate lead to a Facebook video or to a page on your website. The button text will read "Watch Video" or "Learn More." Once finished, the button will look like this: Which CTA Button Should YOU Choose? Real estate prospects on Facebook are likely going to be in the research stage of their home buying or selling journey. This is why we would recommend using the "Send Email" or "Learn More" CTA buttons. You will be able to capture the leads early in the funnel, and nurture them using Facebook and a good email campaign. For the highest quality real estate leads, you have the option to use "Call Now" -- but that will result in a significantly lower quantity of leads. By the time a lead that is ready to transact finds you on Facebook, they are likely already signed up with another agent. Instructions on How to Set Up the CTA Button Under your Facebook Cover Image, click on the button that says "+ Add Button." You'll be given five different choices: Book with you Contact you Learn more about your business Shop with you Download your app or play your game Select a choice Set the destination Click Save To view the original article, visit the Zurple blog.

11 Ways to Increase Facebook Likes as a Real Estate Agent
Consider this: 68 percent of all adults in the U.S. are on Facebook. Of those, 74 percent use Facebook daily. That is some 140 million people logging into the same site everyday--liking pages, commenting on stuff, etc. As a real estate agent, you might be asking, "How can I get more of the action on my page?" Any great networker will tell you it takes effort and strategy to build a robust Rolodex. Increasing your Facebook likes is no different. But as a real estate agent, you have an advantage. You have highly valuable information about the housing market and you have great visual content that is easily shared on social networks. Increasing your Facebook likes involves utilizing this information in clever ways. To get you started, we've listed below 11 ways to increase Facebook likes as a real estate agent.

7 Ways Real Estate Agents Can Use Facebook Groups
Have you ever thought about how real estate agents can use Facebook groups? You might already be part of a Facebook group for your high school graduating class or your favorite hobby, but think about adding a few groups for real estate agents to your roster! There's a whole bunch of Facebook groups dedicated to helping real estate agents succeed, get up to date with recent technology (and even reducing stress and generating some well-needed community). Scroll down to see seven ways real estate agents can use Facebook groups.

8 Great Facebook and Instagram Hacks
Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram are experiencing record volumes of visitors. A major benefit for real estate agents: the cost of advertising has fallen as these social media channels register record traffic. Nearly 70 percent of Americans use Facebook and 74 percent of them visit Facebook every day. To take advantage of the massive traffic on Facebook and Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) to raise your local visibility now and when real estate begins to rebound, here are eight great hacks.

How to Set Up Facebook Instant Replies to Convert Real Estate Leads
Did you know that it is a really simple process to convert a Facebook follower into a real estate lead? Being able to generate business from a Facebook page is an equation that agents are always trying to crack. If you read further, we provide you with some information that not many agents know about. Automating Facebook Messenger to Feed You Leads

So You Want to Generate Leads...
Over the past few weeks, we've written about the various marketing strategies and tools you can use to promote your real estate business. We've discussed turning millennial consumers into repeat customers. We've shared under the radar tactics for driving foot traffic to your open houses. We've even chronicled the best practices for boosting your online presence and reputation. But, we get it... ...nothing is as important as those leads.

[Best of 2019] Facebook Business Pages: 4 Hidden Features to Boost Visibility
We're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published in January and is #6 in our countdown. See #7 here. Want to maximize your presence on social media as a brokerage or individual agent? A Facebook Business Page is a great starting point--so long as you're venturing past the default settings. Whether you recently set up shop or your business has lived on Facebook for a while, fine-tuning your page with the following tools is a must. Learn how to customize your layout, communicate with customers, compete for business, and analyze trends:

Facebook Makes Changes to Buying Ads for Housing, Credit and Employment
Facebook is currently the largest social media website in the world, boasting 2.32 billion monthly users. It's safe to say that practically every social media user is on Facebook. Its popularity makes it an excellent place to advertise your real estate brand and business. What many real estate pros don't know is that merely creating a Facebook business page and placing an occasional Facebook ad is rarely enough. We understand the social media landscape is in constant evolution, and companies like Facebook make changes to their policies and procedures regularly. Understanding how these changes impact your marketing strategy—and more importantly, how to adapt to these changes to achieve success—is crucial. To help you understand what was changed and how they impact your business, we've created this concise guide with everything you need to know.

5 Simple Steps to Share Your RPR Market Activity Report on Facebook
RPR's Market Activity report is an ideal option for agents who want to create enduring and results-oriented relationships through social media. The report presents a snapshot of changes in a local real estate market based on listing and MLS information, and includes active, pending, sold, expired, distressed, new for lease, and recently leased properties, as well as recent price changes and upcoming open houses for a period of up to six months. Here's a quick tutorial on how to post your RPR Market Activity Report to Facebook.

Facebook Ad Campaigns: 5 Common Mistakes You Don't Want to Make
Facebook ads can be a powerful part of a real estate agent's marketing repertoire. Digital ads are attractive for their ability to spur immediate response to your listings or services. Unfortunately, the learning curve for using them is much steeper than it first appears. Some approaches to Facebook ad management seem like intuitive sabotage and can negatively impact your results at the end of the day. When this happens, your ad budget can become pure overhead: You'll either get no website visits or visits only from people who never follow up.

10 More Ways to Increase Real Estate Leads Using Facebook
People often feel like their company needs a Facebook page, rather than wanting to have a Facebook page, because many people do not know how to properly use Facebook to help their company. Not knowing the right way to use Facebook to help increase leads can cause people to dread having an account altogether. By following these ten steps to increasing real estate leads by using Facebook, you will be more excited than ever to set up a company account and get started.

Must-Follow Pages and Facebook Groups for Your Real Estate Business
Social media is a great place to build your business and showcase the many projects you're working on as a real estate agent. You also have the opportunity to learn new things for your business, discover new real estate trends, or even read breaking news about the real estate industry via social media--if you know which pages to follow and what groups to join.

The Facebook for $1/Day Strategy
Facebook can be frustrating if you're trying to use it to grow your real estate practice and career. Whether it's sharing content, running ads, or getting leads, the Facebook formula isn't always so simple. That's why we reached out to a very special guest instructor, Dennis Yu, from Blitzmetrics. Dennis has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, National Public Radio, TechCrunch, Fox News, CBS Evening News and is the co-author of Facebook Nation – a textbook taught in over 700 colleges and universities! Dennis shared with us his "Facebook for a $1 a Day" strategy. Dennis's Facebook tips and strategies will likely become some of the most powerful advertising methods in your repertoire.

4 Tips to Create an Effective Facebook Ad Strategy
Creating the best ad strategy for your business is a delicate balancing act between maximizing success and staying within the advertising budget you can afford. That's what agents Garry Creath and Chris Scott did to maximize their usage of Facebook Ads to benefit their business. Garry, a cofounder of Paperless Agent and Chris, a marketing expert for Paperless Agent, hosted our last 'Secrets' webinar and shared how they were able to create a successful business utilizing an effective ad strategy with Facebook Ads. Working with Facebook can be difficult at times. There are so many pieces to work with Facebook, but Garry and Chris mentioned four different requirements for Facebook campaigns that can simplify the process. Check them out below.

Facebook Live for Your Business: As Easy as Point-Click-Shoot
Are you wondering how you can engage more with your followers on social media and build your business at the same time? There are many ways to do this. Probably one of the best is to use video – more specifically, Facebook Live. Using Facebook Live to build your business will not only help you engage with your friends on Facebook, but will also provide you with opportunities to showcase the different aspects of your business. Whether you are trying to provide tips for your clients or show a listing, Facebook Live might be the next best thing for your business.

How to Promote Your Business and Brand with Facebooks Ads
At the end of 2018, the National Association of REALTORS reported over 1.3 million members. That's a heck of a lot of competition jockeying for the attention of home sellers and buyers across America. As a time-strapped REALTOR on a tight budget, how do you uncover ways to stand out from the competition in your local area, attract more leads, land more listings, and grow your real estate business? Consider Facebook advertising.

5 Easy Ways to Promote Your Business During Your Downtime
Let me ask you a question – what do you like to do in your "free time"? If you are like most people these days, scrolling through Facebook while sitting on the couch probably makes your list. But what if you could enjoy your Facebook time and still promote your business? Sounds like a win-win situation, right? To help you keep your business rolling while still relaxing, we've assembled five ways you can do BOTH (that'll actually benefit your business).

[Best of 2018] 93 Leads from a Facebook Post: One Agent's Strategy Revealed
There are just 10 publishing days left in 2018, and we're continuing an annual tradition of counting down our top 10 articles of the year. The following article was originally published back in October and is #10 in our countdown. Stay tuned tomorrow for #9! Vanessa Calhoun knows the secret to budget-friendly real estate leads. From a single boosted post on Facebook, the Atlanta-based agent won almost 100 leads--and now has three buyers IN CONTRACT. Calhoun boosted the post below from her Facebook business page for $100 for three days to people within a 25 mile radius around her listing. "The reach was 9,240. I had 433 link clicks and generated 93 leads," Calhoun says. "I spent $100.00 total." Though Calhoun describes her boosted post as "nothing fancy," she managed to spend a budget-friendly $1.08 per lead. What are her secrets to success? Find out below! 1. Quality Listing Photos Bad listing photos are a great way to junk up nice marketing materials--and an even better way to spend more than you should on your marketing campaigns. Photos are what attract people to your Facebook ads or boosted posts, so make sure they're top notch. Calhoun makes sure she uses professional photos for each of her listings. 2. Smart Pricing Notice that Calhoun lists the price of the home in her post. She says that it's a good price for her area, and highlighting that draws people in. It's a smart strategy--overpriced houses tend to linger on the market. Think of price as a tool for attracting buyers and multiple offers. Using price to create high interest in a listing can generate multiple offers, which gives sellers leverage to negotiate for a higher price. (Need to convince a seller to reduce the listing price? Try this advice.) 3. Smart Lead Capture Tactics What does every ad or boosted post need? A landing page! Calhoun uses a tool called Listings-to-Leads, which lets agents generate landing pages and a wealth of other marketing collateral. For this boosted post, Calhoun sent click-thrus to a single property website from Listings-to-Leads. In order to increase conversions, she set the site's lead capture form to pop up immediately (see the screenshot below). To view the site, visitors must either connect with their Facebook or email address. Either way, you get their contact information. While, yes, forced lead capture will drive some click-thrus away, the ones who DO give up their contact information are more likely to be interested buyers--and warmer leads. 4. Connect Your CRM Once you win a lead, don't let it slip through the cracks! Calhoun makes sure all her leads automatically go from her Listings-to-Leads site into her Market Leader CRM. There, they are automatically assigned to appropriate drip campaigns so that she can continue to nurture them. Ready to get started on your own high-converting marketing campaigns? Try Listings-to-Leads FREE for 14 days.  

Last-minute Ad Blitz for Open House Nets 200+ Leads
Are open houses useful? That depends on what you mean by 'useful.' If you mean attracting the eventual buyer of a home, that's debatable. But if you mean, Are open houses useful for filling my sales funnel? then yes, absolutely. That's what Steve Ford, a Keller Williams agent, discovered when he was assigned to hold an open house for another agent's property at the last minute. With just 24 hours before the event, Ford had to think fast in order to generate interest—and ensure that anyone showed up at all. He turned to the Open House Toolkit from Listings-to-Leads, which lets agents quickly market their open house with Facebook ads, landing pages, single property websites, and more. Ford ran the ad below for the 24-hour period leading up to the open house to impressive results. So what can a Facebook ad do in just a day? Here are Ford's results: Over 230 leads captured from his Listings-to-Leads open house landing page (here's an example), which were then funneled into his CRM and assigned to a drip campaign. Six new pre-approved clients who responded by email and gave Ford their phone number Six more families who came to the open house after seeing the ad Ford ran the ad in four different locations: his Facebook business page, a Facebook community page for his area, Facebook Marketplace, and as a shared post on his personal Facebook profile. Here's a breakdown of how each performed: Facebook community page: drove 70 percent of leads from ad Facebook business profile: drove 20 percent of leads from ad Facebook Marketplace and Ford's personal profile: drove 10 percent of leads from ad Ford paid paid $50 to run the ad on the community page, $25 on his business profile, and nothing on Marketplace or his personal profile. That's $75 for more than 230 leads--or a very impressive (and budget-friendly) 33 cents per lead. Tip: Notice in the ad above how Ford doesn't mention the listing price? Instead, he holds back this information in order to encourage lead conversion. On his landing page, leads can get the price, property photos, and more in return for their contact information. Test this technique out for yourself to see if it earns you more conversions. So next time an open house is looming, don't panic. Just turn to Facebook for an efficient, affordable, and very effective way to capture new leads and drive traffic to your event. Brokers, arm your agents with the tools they need to win more commissions. Learn more about Listings-to-Leads today.    

A Realtor's Playbook for Creating Facebook Lead Ads
Today, more than 80 percent of Internet users are active on Facebook. As the world's most popular sharing medium, the social media giant reaches all ages, genders, lifestyles and geographic regions, making it more inclusive than any purchased client list, according to The Real Estate Agent's Guide to Social by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate LLC. Moreover, the audiences an agent can reach by way of Facebook are considered willing participants—in this case, buyers, sellers, and fence sitters who eagerly await informative posts about their community—presenting a perfect opportunity for REALTORS who aim to build their businesses (lead generation) through relationship building.

Farming and Facebook: Getting It Right
The world moves fast, and yesterday's geographic farming just won't cut it in today's real estate market. The competition is too steep -- and too technologically advanced -- to limit yourself to door-knocking and leaving flyers in a neighborhood. The current connected world demands an online approach to complement and work alongside your offline strategies.

Maximizing Facebook: Boost Your Posts or Post More Ads?
Facebook has emerged as one of the real estate's favorite advertising and communications channels. That's because Facebook still has social media's most impressive numbers, one that no brand can ignore. For real estate, it's also an agent's most exceptional hyperlocal channel, often the most cost-effective way to frequently connect with your sphere of influence to stay top of mind.

Facebook Advertising for Real Estate on a Budget
As a real estate agent or broker, Facebook is still the number one place to get in front of your current and past clients as well as new and potential clients. And, having a Facebook Business Page is still one of the best ways to market yourself and generate new business. Nobody knows this more than social media expert Katie Lance. She has 10 power tips for managing and monetizing your social media while controlling costs. We share five of them here, but you should really read all of them! There are a number of ways you can maximize Facebook on a budget. Here are a few of the most important tips and strategies you can implement today.

How to Add a 'Reviews' Tab to Your Facebook Business Page
You already know that Facebook reviews are imperative if you want to grow your business. But did you know that you can add a 'Reviews' tab to your Facebook business page to show off reviews from your clients? Here's how:

Facebook Best Practices 2018
Keeping pace with social media can feel exciting and overwhelming at the same time. Why does it seem like some posts get a lot of responses from people, and others not so much? Trying to figure out the levers that generate these higher levels of engagement from your followers doesn't need to feel like learning a foreign language--especially if you know the ins and outs of how Facebook ranks posts.

2 Facebook Lookalike Audiences that Can Boost Your Real Estate Sales
One of Facebook's advertising features that Realtors are significantly underutilizing is 'Lookalike Audiences.' Properly harnessing lookalike audiences will not only help you spread your brand further, but also give you access to fantastic potential clients you probably would not be able to attract any other way. But first, let's examine the following: What Is A Lookalike Audience?

Common Facebook Ad Mistakes to Avoid
Facebook is an ever-evolving platform, and with every change you have to reexamine the way you advertise. Even with their recent algorithm changes, Facebook advertising still creates significant benefits for your real estate business by placing your ads in front of consumers. In order to make the most of your advertising opportunities, you should avoid making these common mistakes before you start spending ad dollars.

Anatomy of the Perfect Facebook Real Estate Ad
With Facebook becoming more and more popular as an advertising platform for real estate agents, questions often come up as to which ads perform best by getting the most views and clicks. While it's true there are certain types of ads that outperform others, at its core, the anatomy of the perfect Facebook ad is the same, no matter what type of ad it is. These best practices are critical because they mean the difference between having your ad show up on people's timelines, getting them to click on your ad, and having your ad show up on very few timelines, making it impossible for lots of people to have the opportunity to click on it. So today, I'll share with you some best practices, key elements and considerations you must take when planning the perfect Facebook real estate ad.

Generate Qualified Leads with Facebook Ad Funnels
Now more than ever, real estate agents are using Facebook ads to regain the social reach they lost to algorithm changes and drive traffic to their landing pages. However, with increased competition, simply running random ads isn't enough anymore. To increase their effectiveness, sophisticated agents are creating sales funnels to weed out the weak, useless leads and find the qualified buyers and sellers.

Algorithm, Shmalgorithm: How agents can still dominate on Facebook in 2018​
Were you, like most agents, shocked and scared when you heard that Facebook promises to minimize the reach of business pages and reward organic, one-to-one engagement? If so, you're not alone. But as Eric Sachs, with Breakthrough Broker recently discussed in a webinar we sponsored, you don't have to lie awake at night wondering if your business will tank as the result of one silly algorithm shift. Here are six unique ways you can beat Facebook at its own game and continue to win business via the biggest online network in the world.

Worried about Facebook Timeline Changes? Content Marketing will Save the Day
Facebook is changing their algorithm for their news feed. Don't let that throw your real estate marketing off track. Use content marketing to keep things running smoothly. In light of the big changes going on at Facebook, it's understandable that we have been receiving tons of phone calls from nervous Realtors®, wanting to know how to get their ads in front of homeowners' eyeballs. Facebook is going to make this change. That is a fact. I understand that getting massive amounts of ad traffic from Facebook's original ad policies was a great thing. The new policies, however, are going to all but make this impossible if you are simply "paying for play" with nothing more than a straight up advertisement, as you may have been doing in the past. So what is the trick here? It's simple. In fact, it's something I've been writing about for years now. At this point, though, it has never been more important, so I wanted to take a moment to discuss it again. The trick to continuing to get eyeballs on your Facebook promotions and end up in as many homeowners' news feeds as possible is approaching all your marketing and ads from a content marketing perspective. With that in mind, I want to share three quick tips that will get you started on the right path.

Agents, Grow Your Facebook Reach: Trade your daily coffee habit for boosted posts
You've set up your Facebook business page. You're sharing some great content. Now, how can you maximize your organic reach to make sure you're getting eyeballs on your page? People share 1.3 million pieces of content on Facebook every minute of every day, but there are organic (free or next-to-free) ways to break through the clutter to make sure your audience is seeing your content in their News Feed. As part of our ongoing series on how to improve your Facebook organic reach, let's talk about Boosted posts.

Fewer Eyeballs Are Seeing Your Facebook Posts: How Agents Can Uncover Their True Reach
If you feel like less and less of your friends are seeing and engaging with your Facebook business page's posts, you're not alone. Marketing gurus call this your "reach" and numerous studies show that it really is quickly declining. (You're not imagining it!) In fact, a recent study by Buzzsumo suggests that the average number of engagements with posts created by Facebook business pages has fallen more than 20 percent since January 2017 alone. So, whatcha gonna do about it? How are you going to maximize the number of eyeballs that will see (and engage with) your Facebook content? In order to understand the solution, let's understand the problem and why it's happening.

6 Quick Ways to Dust Off Your Facebook Account and Get Back in the Game
Perhaps it's your New Year's resolution to add social media to your marketing repertoire. Maybe you're looking for new ways to energize your pipeline and grow engagement with your sphere. Whatever the reason, it's time to dust off your your Facebook page and get back in the game! It doesn't have to be overwhelming. It doesn't have to be time consuming. It doesn't mean you have to be a rocket scientist. Just roll up your sleeves and try out these quick tips...

Understanding the Costs of Social Media Advertising
Accruing annual expenses such as MLS dues, local/state association fees, and license renewals is an expected part of being in the real estate business. In addition to those costs, you showcase your listings on search portals like Homes.com to generate more quality leads. Every dollar you spend on your business is to reach more leads, listings, and clients. Social media is a great way to meet new clients, and its advertising power will continue to rise, so why not create a social media ad budget that will ensure the growth your real estate business? However, before simply spending ad dollars on social media, you need to understand the costs associated with advertising on these platforms.

How to Actually Generate Good Quality Leads on Facebook
What started out as a project inside a Harvard dorm room has exploded to a cultural phenomenon, reinventing the way we connect with each other around the globe. Facebook is a social media giant that people use to connect with friends and family, watch videos, get news updates, and maybe even do some networking. Latest stats in 2017 show approximately 1.32 billion people on average log onto Facebook daily. Now, what if you started to look at Facebook as a whole new marketing tool? As an inbound marketing channel that can pull in leads for you – good, quality leads. Would you invest more time in it?