Why Every real estate agent should be running facebook ads

 

“If you’re a practitioner, if you really had to sell to survive, you would realize that the most under-priced ad product right now is Facebook advertising. If you had to sell to feed your children, you would put your money there.” Gary Vaynerchuk owner of Vayner Media & entrepreneur.

 

Maybe you’ve tried Facebook ads before and they didn’t work for you or you are confused by them. Maybe you are overwhelmed by where to start or have heard about all the restrictions Facebook has put in place for Housing and aren’t sure where to start. There are so many reasons why you should be running ads on Facebook and in this article (or video above) you will learn the reason why you should be running ads. Whether you are a new or experienced agent (even if you have a big sphere of influence), there are many ways you can use Facebook ads that convert into sales. Not only can you reach a new audience, you can advertise directly to your database to keep you top of mind (Don’t you hate it when you see on social media your cousin just bought a house and didn’t use you? It’s likely because you weren’t top of mind! Facebook ads help you keep top of mind).

In my last article, I talked about how important it is to stay connected with your audience and ways to help keep you top of mind. This is the next step in growing your SOI and making sure you are the first real estate agent people think of.

 

Why Facebook?

Here are some statistics that will help you know why Facebook is where you should be spending your ad dollars. 

STAT #1:

Facebook has 2.41 billion monthly active users and is the third-most visited website 

That is a huge reach just by being there and 9 times out of 10, your target audience is there. If you want to gain the biggest reach you can, Facebook is a smart bet.

 

STAT #2:

74% of users log in daily and spend an average of 38 minutes per day 

Not only is there a potential big audience to reach, the users are logging in and staying for long periods of time. They are more likely to engage with a well crafted ad or video here because the nature of the platform is to scroll and view vs something like a Display ad (banner ad on a website) where their focus is on an article or a particular website, not on your ad. Display ads disrupt while, if you provide value and good content, Facebook ads can enhance their experience.

So you might be thinking, great! I’ll just get this audience organically and not put any money behind it. You might want to rethink that after the next stat.

 

STAT #3:

The average organic reach for a post is only 5.5% 

While organic can work really well, it takes a lot more effort to reach your audience and a lot more time to build that audience. Unfortunately you have to pay to play. Facebook is business after all and they will prioritize paid ads over organic reach.

STAT #4:

87% of U.S. marketers will use Facebook marketing in 2020

Fear not, you are not alone. Other marketers see value in Facebook adverting too. This shows you the platform works and should be used by most businesses. In my past life working at an agency who helped with marketing and strategy for hospital systems, we saw a tremendous value even for hospitals to be marketing on Facebook. We saw some good results in not only building brand awareness, but also increasing patient visits. If it can work to help bring in patients to have a knee replacement, it can work to bring in people to buy a home (and MUCH more fun!)

STAT #5:

An average user clicks on 11 ads per month

You may think no one clicks on ads, but that’s not the case. 11 ads per month is pretty strong for an average. That means there are users that click more than that and are likely to be served more ads vs people who rarely click on them if Facebook is getting paid by the click vs the impression (see advantage number 2 for more info on this below)

(Statistics Source)

 

 

What are the Facebook Ad Advantages? 

Now that you have the stats, now let’s talk about the advantages to using Facebook to advertise.

 

Advantage #1:

Better reach than organic posts 

As I mentioned above, organic posts only are seen by 5.5% of your friends. That means unless you are paying for your content to show more frequently, most of your audience isn’t seeing it. 

Advantage #2:

You can pay for only the number of clicks your ad receives and set a maximum budget

Facebook charges either by number of impressions (how many times your ad gets shown) or by the number of clicks your ad receives. You can choose your adventure, which means you can set it up to charge by click and only pay for people who are taking the next step and clicking to your landing page. You know the people who are clicking are more engaged than those who just see your ad and pass it by. This way, you don’t have to pay for people who see the ad, you only pay for those who click.

This is different than a boosted post which you may have heard of or even tried before. A boosted post amplifies your reach of an organic post, but it isn’t guaranteed to convert. I haven’t found any great success with boosted posts. I know many people I’ve talked to haven’t seen any results as well as the research I have done has said the same thing. There are ways it can add some value, but overall using ads is a better bet. (NOTE: I am working on a full post about the difference in a boosted post and an ad, so make sure to subscribe to my email list to get notified when that comes out)

 

Advantage #3:

Facebook has a LOT of information on us, which means targeting can be more pointed

OK, this one is a little creepy, but as a marketer it is exciting.  The average person doesn’t love this, but this is why Facebook is free. If we had to pay for it, then we could forgo more ads and data usage.

Think about all the likes, photos, comments you have left over the years. They have all that data and can tailor what you see to your specific needs. Not only do they have what you do on Facebook, thousands of websites have the Facebook pixel and they can use that data as well, among other sources. A Pixel is placed on a website to help track conversions from any Facebook ads. It helps advertisers be able to see more analytics and ensure their ads are working. (More to come about pixels as well… subscribe now so you don’t miss that)

Because of all this, the targeting is extremely accurate. Have you ever had that moment where you see an ad for something that you were just talking about or searched online? It’s because they have all this information and know your likes and behaviors. It knows what is likely to appeal to you and what you are going to have an interest in. Sometimes they seem to know me more than my own family!

While this may seem creepy, as a Realtor® and someone marketing your business, it’s good to have this level of granularity so you can really target your ideal audience. 

 

Advantage #4:

It’s a visual platform & real estate is visual 

This platform is perfect for real estate because of this. It’s been proven that 95% of people make purchasing decisions based on emotions (their subconscious mind). What better way to convey emotions or feelings than through a visual representation?

 

Advantage #5:

Not only can you advertise on Facebook, but Instagram & third party apps as well. It’s All in one platform.

You can advertise on many different platforms with Facebook. Instagram is owned by Facebook, so you can advertise on there specifically as well. The third party platform is called “Audience Network”. It “allows advertisers to extend Facebook and Instagram campaigns across the internet – onto thousands of high-quality apps.” – Facebook 

While the Audience Network can be an advantage, it might not be something you want to run. In my experience, I haven’t seen great results with it, but I’m always testing as the platform is constantly changing. 

 

Those are the reasons you should advertising on Facebook. What do you think about this? I’d love to hear your thoughts, leave a comment below! If you want more goodness like this, please subscribe to the newsletter below so you can be alearted when a new post goes out.