Archives October 2014

HOW TO USE FACEBOOK ADS TO GET MORE CLIENTS

Facebook advertising is one of the most easy-to-use digital ad platforms available to businesses today. With a little review and practice, even you, a real estate pro, can drive steady leads to your Page, App or website.

But, before diving into a Facebook ad campaign I highly recommend you take some time to think of the specific goals you want the campaign to achieve.

You’ll want to decide whether you want people to “like” your brand (to grow your fan base), install an App (to use your product or service) or go directly to a website (to take another action such as filling out a lead form, or purchasing). In order to help you identify the best type of Facebook ad campaign to set up, you should:

1. IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE

Who are the ideal people you’d like to reach? Those who would most likely click your ad and especially those who would most likely act on your call to action are the ones you want to target. What are their interests and demographics?

2. SECURE COMPELLING GRAPHICS

What will be your ad content? Do you have the right text and images to attract your target audience? Images need to be visually appealing while the text needs to attract an action.

3. CREATE AN AWESOME LANDING PAGE

If you are sending leads to your custom Facebook Tab or website landing page, what should it say for people to give you their contact information?

4. DETERMINE YOUR BUDGET

Aside from determining a budget, you have to be able to come up with a certain benchmark number that will make you say that you’ve had a return on investment (ROI) for your time with the ads you’ve set up.

FACEBOOK ADS OVERVIEW

A Facebook Ad is an online paid advertisement that can be seen in one of three places:

  • Right Hand Column on Desktop Computers
  • Desktop Newsfeed
  • Mobile Newsfeed

A published Facebook Ad usually consists of 4 parts:

  • Headline
  • Description
  • Media: Image, or Video,
  • Link to landing page: Page, Post, Website or Events

Why Should You Use Facebook Ads for Your Real Estate Business?

  • To sell more houses
  • To get more listings
  • To create a loyal fan base

If you are a real estate professional that keenly wants to target real people such as your friends and people who live, work or interested in your city, then Facebook Ads are for you! Let’s get started.

HOW TO FIND AND USE THE FACEBOOK ADS MANAGER

1. YOU WILL NEED TO USE YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE TO ACCESS FACEBOOK ADS. FROM THE LEFT SIDEBAR OF YOUR FACEBOOK HOME PAGE, CLICK ADS MANAGER. ON THE ADS MANAGER PAGE, CLICK THE BIG GREEN ‘CREATE AD’ BUTTON.

Facebook Ads
2. CHOOSE YOUR FACEBOOK OBJECTIVE. WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO DO?

facebook ads
3. TARGET THE RIGHT AUDIENCE. YOU CANNOT TARGET WELL ON FAFCEBOOK IF YOU HAVEN’T IDENTIFIED YET WHO YOUR TARGET MARKET IS. MAKE SURE TO HAVE A DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF BUYER AND AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS: GENDER, AGE, COUNTRY/ CITY, LANGUAGE, AND DEVICES. THIS WAY, YOU CAN OPTIMIZE YOUR BUDGET SPEND TO THE AUDIENCE THAT MATTERS MOST TO YOU.

facebook ads
4. YOU MUST KNOW AD TYPES THAT WILL HELP GET THE CLIENTS YOU WANT. BELOW IS A LIST OF ALL THE DIFFERENT KIDS OF ADS YOU COULD RUN VIA FACEBOOK:

PAGE POST ENGAGEMENT AD

A sponsored post thats used if you want people to see your announcement, promo or story more prominently on the News Feed. You can increase likes, engagement or clicks to your link with this kind of ad. You can upload a photo or video to make your post more interesting.

PAGE LIKES

This kinds of ad is commonly used to increase awareness of your brand page by encouraging fans to “like” and follow your Page. This a good choice if your page is new or you want to boost the number of your fan base.

CLICKS TO WEBSITE

This is an ideal choice if you want to drive your fans off Facebook to your website for lead capturing.

EVENT RESPONSE ADS

Sponsored Events is another type of ad that will drive ideal people to attend your Open Houses, webinars or consultations.

MORE FACEBOOK ADS TIPS: HOW TO NAME YOUR CAMPAIGN, SET YOUR BUDGET AND PLACE YOUR AD

  1. Facebook will choose a default name for your campaign. Click on Change Campaign to edit.
  2. Choose a name for your Ad Set
  3. Choose a budget – you can choose as low as $1 a day – that’s only $30 a month to get in front of more fans and generate leads!
  4. Bidding – Facebook will offer a default bidding option based on the type of ad you are running.
  5. Review Your Order
  6. Click on the green PLACE ORDER button!

ADDITIONAL TIPS!

First and foremost, quality ad content is still paramount to any marketing campaign.Remember, you want to spark curiosity and avoid hard-selling. People hate seeing spammy, sales-looking ads. Be creative! You can use humor, amusing or inspirational stories, current events or interesting information to get your message across without pushing people to set an appointment with you.

Also, give clear CTA’s. People are busy, so get straight to the point. Let people know what you really want them to do: Click the link, like your post or fill out a lead capture form. Write quality ad content that speaks directly to your audiences.

Finally, be sure to offer something of value.The best way to get the qualified leads you want is to offer them a proposition that is of value to your audience, combining with brand message and value.

There is a lot to take in and learn when it comes to Facebook Ads, but you can do it! If you’re still stuck, check out this post I wrote that includes a 5-step guide to Facebook Ads.

Want to learn more on how to use Facebook to get a consistent source of leads online? Sign up for my FREE video series FB Real Estate Pro!

TOP 10 EXCITING HOLIDAY CONTEST IDEAS FOR YOUR REAL ESTATE PAGE

Oh dear! The holidays are just around the corner.

Which means now is the perfect time to think up a holiday-themed contest for your real estate Facebook Page.

That is why I’m sharing with you 10 different ways your business can engage with customers this holiday season.

These hopefully will help you make a great Facebook contest for your fans!

WHY RUN A CONTEST?

Brands host contests on Facebook for many reasons including a product or service launch, milestone or giveaway. For real estate agents, you may want to consider a contest so you can:

  • Create Awareness about your business
  • Drive traffic to your Page
  • Refer friends to view real estate listings
  • Invite people to attend your open house events or Facebook events
  • Entice clients to call you to set up a meeting

Once you decide on the goal, next move on to the topic and type of contest.

GENERAL TOPIC IDEAS

You can create a contest around any Holiday theme. Take a look at some of these examples to get you started:

  • Holiday items: Best holiday decorations, favorite food, costumes or dress,
  • People: Kids, Caption this! (photo), holiday parties with family or friends
  • Animals: funniest, cutest, adorable, animals with people, etc.
  • Places: Best City To Spend the Holidays
  • Fill in the blank: All I want for Christmas is…? I want to spend the holidays in  [insert your city] because…”, “I want to spend the holidays with [insert name]”

What is important is that you come up with a topic that is meaningful to your audience.

PRIZE IDEAS

Depending on budget capacity, prizes should be irresistible and valuable to your target participants. This will ensure participation from your fans.

  • Freebie Items: Things such as branded novelty items to gadgets like USB sticks, mobile phone covers and Notebooks.
  • Events: Like an “exclusive” Open House Party invitation to one of your most high-end listings.
  • Complementary services: You can offer to waive or discount fees for valuable services like loan assessment, remodel planning, professional photography, 3rd-party house inspections, etc.
  • Discount coupons or gift cards (for attending an open house) for commoditieslike gas, meals at  a nearby restaurant, free massage/ spa treatment or selected     products from a home improvement store.

USE UNIQUE SOCIAL MEDIA HASHTAGS

When you choose to run a contest that requires fans to share content as entries (photos or videos or status posts), make sure that all entries include the unique hashtags you prepared prior to launching the contest. Do some research and check to see that the hashtag (a phrase or keyword such as #100daysofgifts) isn’t already used by a brand, and that it makes sense for your goal.

The hashtag is a great way to easily track contestants. Just click the hyperlinked hashtag and a pop-out window will show all posts on Facebook that have included the #hashtag.

TIP: Usually your business name or top keyword are part of the hashtag.

10 EXCITING CONTEST IDEAS FOR YOUR PAGE

Sweepstakes
Sweepstakes are one of the easiest contests you can do on Facebook. You will need to create a form so fans can enter their email addresses and join the electronic raffle. Allow many winners for smaller prizes and one enticing major prize.

Photo contest
Photo entries should be consistent with your contest theme. You can also add specifications like minimum size, file format, image resolution, restricting photo-editing to text overlays, and number of entries.

Voting contest
You can create a poll question in which people vote for 2-3  choices. At the end of the contest check entries for the one with the highest number of votes and then draw your winners from there. You may also need photos that represent the voting choices to help the people decide.

Essay contest
Create an emotionally-meaningful prompt that excites fans to enter. They can use a Note from Facebook or upload texts into your custom-made form. You will also need to set word count limits.

Coupons
This is best for mobile users. Electronic coupons are best distributed through mobile content like QR codes or SMS text message fans can bring with them and show when claiming their prizes.

Group Coupons
Since it will be a challenge for the contestants to come up with a group entry, offer hard to pass-up prizes such as steep discounts and free gadgets for more entries.

Refer a friend
Entice people to promote your business for you! Offer an amazing prize that will get people buzzing and willing to refer 3-5 more friends for your campaign. Make sure you have an email gate-entry form ready.

Caption this!
Another easy and fun contest for Facebook! Post photos of animals or a fun scenario related to your holiday theme and get fans to compete for writing the caption. These types of contest can generate a lot of buzz!

Music video/Caroling
What could be a better way to celebrate the holidays than with music? Have fans submit their creative homemade videos or audio recordings of a seasonal tune. Then open the entries in a gallery for people to vote for the winner.

Video contest
Come up with a fill in the blank topic like, “What are you most grateful for this holiday season?” and let your fans submit their response in a video.

TIPS AND LOGISTICS FOR RUNNING CONTESTS ON FACEBOOK:

  • Set a time frame for the submission of entries, drawing the winners and deadline for claiming prizes.
  • Make a list of possible prize sponsors which are located in your city and create a deal with them.  This could be restaurants, coffee shops, retail stores or gas stations. That way, winners can actually have the opportunity to see what other amenities your city or real estate territory has to offer when they come to and claim their prize.
  • Target participants well and research to find the most enticing prizes that they will deem valuable.
  • You can hold mini-contests on a weekly basis for smaller prizes, then the non-winning participants can be eligible for the grand draw/ judging day later in the month.
  • Make sure your contest themes is fun!
  • Make contest procedures a bit challenging; but still doable.
  • Make sure rules and guidelines are concise in order to avoid misinterpretation and confusion.

WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO RUN A CONTEST:

  • A good plan on how to run your contest.
  • Contest graphics with clear rules and call to action.
  • An updated cover photo for your Facebook Page.
  • custom tab or media album to show the gallery of entries for your Facebook page.
  • Facebook Ads if you have budget to promote your contest.
  • Your prizes and winners with their photos – of course!

Important Note:

Most Facebook contest are usually run in a way that requires contestants to upload their entries from their personal profiles and get “likes” from family or friends.

However, when you do this it does not result in many leads for your real estate business. So, you may want to suggests contestants reach out beyond their family network.

Since the goal or running contests like these is to get a fresh list of contacts, you want to consider having contestants fill out an entry form to be eligible to join, instead of “likes” to a post or page.

So what do you think? Do you have an idea for how you can host a holiday contest?
Share with me in the comments below!
Then sign up for my FREE video series FB Real Estate Pro and get instant access to 3 helpful videos that will help you grow your list!