During the Super Bowl last weekend, we saw a number of top-scoring advertisements. While these companies were pulling out all the stops to make sure they could convert their traffic and capture as much attention as possible, most of us don’t have a million dollar advertising budget to work with. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t use advertising to connect with new leads. Facebook Advertising can be a valuable asset to your company to help drive traffic and connect with new clients, while still keeping within your budget.
Choose Your Objective
Creating a Facebook ad to suit your business needs is essential to your strategy. As a real estate professional, you have the ability to showcase any aspect of your business through your ads. The first step is deciding what you want your campaign to do. Do you want it to drive traffic to your new Homes.com website? Do you want to promote an upcoming open house? Do you want to boost a new listing you just posted on your page? Figuring out your objective will help you select the right campaign so
Create Your Ad
Once you’ve decided on your objective, it’s time to create your ad and decide on your audience. Facebook has a number of ways for you to target certain groups based on their interests, age, education, gender, behaviors and more. You even have the ability to focus on people who are likely to move in the near future. Once you’ve specified your group, you can begin to build your ad to achieve the results you want so you can connect with serious prospects.
After you’ve selected your audience, it’s time to pick your budget and the length of time your ad will run. If you’re a first timer, it’s probably best to start small monetarily, measure your results and work from there. You should also start by running ads for shorter periods of time. By doing so, Facebook will make your ad more prominent, because it’s working to connect with the largest amount of people in your pre-selected targets in the shortest period of time.
Flex/Exclusion Targeting
Facebook recently opened their detailed targeting option to the general public. Through “Flex and-or Exclusion” targeting, you have the ability to include groups that match more than one interest, demographic or behavior. If you want to make your group even more specific, you can also choose to exclude certain groups. Through this process, you can target the most specific audience. Here’s an example to give you a more detailed idea of how this could work for your business.
Let’s say you mainly work with Millennials in the Boston area. If you have a new property on the market and want to create an ad campaign that targets couples who are currently living in an apartment and are expecting a new baby, you can set up these specifications. However, if you want to avoid working with full-time students because they’re less likely to invest in a home right now, you can exclude those who are still earning an educational degree. This way you can set up criteria to be sure your Facebook ad is only being viewed by your ideal audience.
Review Your Results
After your ad finishes running, it’s crucial to look at your metrics to learn what performed well and identify key opportunities. One of the great features of Facebook ads is that it allows you to review your results so you can know which group you want to target in your next campaign. Another useful feature is that any new engagement to the business page will be reflected in your insights tab, which allows you to see how your audience has changed as a result of your ad campaign.
A Facebook ad campaign is a great tool to add to your client presentations. Instead of just employing “innovative marketing techniques,” let your clients know you’re skilled in Facebook ads and can bring solid buyers and sellers to your properties.
While Facebook is a great way to connect with potential clients, it can be challenging for a busy real estate agent to maintain a social strategy. If you need help managing your social presence, Homes.com Social is the key. A comprehensive social media suite, Homes.com Social is designed specifically for real estate professionals who are looking to connect and engage with their audience, giving you the ability to grow your followers and your business.
For more information, visit Homes.com.
