Revolutionize Your Real Estate Buyer Lead Generation Strategy With These 6 Facebook Ad Tips

I was helping one of my private coaching clients with their Facebook Ad strategy and I realized something…

They were struggling with Facebook Ads… not just struggling, they were having some mental roadblocks.

They were coming at them from the perspective of advertising their listings, advertising themselves, promoting free CMA’s… from the idea of “branding and exposure” and were completely frustrated at their lack of captured, quality leads. Frustrated that they weren’t converting leads into appointments.

In other words, they were tired of spending time and money and only reaping “reach” on Facebook.

They’d been led to believe that “reach and engagement” were viable & valid methods of tracking the results of advertising and marketing.

It’s no wonder… for decades we’ve been taught that in order to grow our businesses, we must “expose” it to as many people as possible.

We’ve been taught that getting ourselves in front of people 6-8 times is our priority.

We’ve been taught that driving as much traffic to our website as possible is beneficial.

In other words, he who has the most money dumped into advertising and marketing… wins.

This struggle isn’t unique. Most real estate agents struggle with this. Most businesses struggle with this.

The problem is, on the surface, it makes sense, but… underneath the surface, when you dig deep, you find that we go about it wrong.

In other words… yes, there is an element of truth behind repetition… behind the idea of outspending the competition… behind the idea of exposure.

The problem is, we outspend the competition without thinking through how & where we are spending. Outspending the competition only works if you have more money than the competition. There is always someone with more money.

We think all exposure is good exposure. The problem is, most exposure is a detriment. Most exposure isn’t beneficial. This is why we get caught up in billboards, golf guides, print advertising, sponsoring anything and everything. Again, there is always someone with more money.

We think that the more traffic, the better. So we write blog posts about local events and activities… believing what we’ve been told… that providing this kind of information will “inspire” people to “come back” to your website when they want more. In case you haven’t noticed, most people don’t “bookmark” things anymore… they simply ask their friends on Facebook, or do a fast search on Google via their smartphone – while they are “in the moment.”

Because we think these things… we project these concepts into Facebook Ads and when they don’t work, we shake our heads and think “Facebook Ads don’t work.” Rather than changing our mindset about marketing & advertising, rather than we determine that the medium doesn’t work.

I’m here to tell you it’s mindset, not medium.

When you change your mindset, you’ll drastically change your results… all without outspending the competition.

You’ll spend less time. You’ll spend less money. You’ll outsmart the competition.

So… what’s the mindset you need to have?

I’m going to focus on Facebook Ads for this one.

For every single Facebook Ad you want to run… go through these 6 steps. Spend some solid time up front and you’ll reap the rewards on the other side… with qualified buyers, itching to use you to buy their next home.

First up, what is your goal for your Facebook ad?

I asked this question in my Facebook for Real Estate Agents group a while back and someone answered, “It’s leads of course! That’s the only reason to run a Facebook Ad!”

Well… no. It’s not.

Do you ask someone to marry you the first time you lay eyes on them?

No. First you work up the guts to approach them.

And once you’ve approached them, do you just stand there in front of them? Hopefully not. Typically your goal is to see if there is a mutual connection of some sort. A mutual attraction/interest at the very least.

So I ask again, what is your goal for your Facebook ad?

Don’t try to go immediately for the appointment. Approach them first and gauge their interest. Find out what they want before you force on them what you ‘think’ they want.

You can approach them with a variety of offers… from a page like to an email subscriber to an inquiry. Which one do they take action on? Which one shows you their interest level?

When it comes to Facebook, you’ve got a couple of ways to categorize this… from “Page Likes” to “Clicks To Website.”

The best way to start a relationship is to get them to connect with you via your page… by liking it. It’s a “micro-commitment” on their part. You can easily take that small step, a step farther, with deeper ads. But initially, you are just approaching them and gauging their interest level.

Second, who are you targeting?

So many agents don’t do any targeting. And when they do, it’s extremely basic.

We always seem to preface all we do with “trying not to miss out on a transaction.”

Here’s the thing… you must must must figure out who you are targeting in this single ad. MUST.

You can do multiple ads and target different people in each ad – but never trying to target multiple people in a single ad. You’ll end up targeting everyone and result in connecting with no one.

So think about your targeting…

STOP RIGHT THERE!

Don’t think about it in terms of buyers or sellers.

Don’t think about it terms of county or city.

GO DEEPER.

Do you know who you want to work with? No, ‘anyone local’ is not a good answer.

Do you know where they live? No, ‘anywhere’ is not a good answer.

Do you know how old they are? No, ’18-99’ is not a good answer.

Do you know what industry they are in? No, ‘any industry’ is not a good answer.

Do you know their interests? No, ‘anything’ is not a good answer.

Do you know what their family composition looks like? No, ‘anyone’ is not a good answer.

You can not connect deeply with “anyone, anywhere or anything.” Your ads will not resonate with the masses. They need to resonate with one single person.

That means you’ve got to rule everyone else out. For now. Think singular.

Third, what are you offering them?

What’s in it for them?

Are you giving them something THEY think has value? Not something YOU think has value. Them. It’s all about them.

Are you doing the typical “Free CMA” or “Advertising a listing” or are you actually giving them something they want, need, desire?

Let’s be realistic… most home owners can get a home value from Zillow or their county assessor.

YES, I know those values aren’t accurate or realistic. However, the homeowner doesn’t know this and trying to fight those values before you have a relationship with them is ridiculous!

Why should they believe you? You’re just a real estate agent out for a “quick buck!”

You have got to build a relationship with them first… before they’ll trust you.

So what are you giving them that they think has value?

Think differently than everyone else in the real estate industry.

We’ve been kidding ourselves that “Free CMA” actually means something to the consumer. It doesn’t. In fact, it means “have to put up with annoying sales calls” to the consumer.

Fourth, what is your call to action?

What are you going to say that will capture their attention?

Why should they respond to your ad? Are you creating “angst” in them? Are you saying something that compels them to respond? Are you solving a problem?

The only way you’ll get this one spot on is by digging deep and knowing your audience (step two) and then figuring out what you can give them (step three).

What do you have that they could possibly want and how can you say it so that they are so compelled by it that they almost automatically take action and click through your ad to get it?

This is much simpler than you may think, once you are firmly rooted in step two and step three.

Ask a question, then tell them how to find the answer. It’s that simple.

Fifth, what are you measuring?

What do you want your ROI (return on investment) to be?

A certain number of targeted page likes? A certain number of email sign-ins? A certain number of phone calls or emails?

What are you measuring?

Make sure you are measuring something that’s valuable… not a vanity metric.

What’s a vanity metric? Reach. Reach is a vanity metric. Engagement. Engagement is a vanity metric.

It doesn’t stinking matter how many people see your ad, or even how many comment on it.

What matters is the number of people who take the action you want them to take on the ad.

Sixth, how will it put money in your pocket?

This is the biggie.

How will running your ad put money in your pocket?

Do you have a follow up system in place?

Do you understand the process from the point of someone responding to your ad to the point of closing on a property?

Remember, you don’t ask someone to marry you the first second you see them. There is always a process you go through. You “date” first.

Understanding the process from the first initial touch of a lead to the closing table is vitally important here… and even more important, is having a process in place for each point of the process.

Now all you’ve got to do is put in more work up front… which means less work later. Don’t skimp! Don’t compromise just to get an ad running on Facebook.