Facebook Insights are loaded with tech terms, numbers, graphs and dates. Fear not! It can seem overwhelming if you don’t know what to look at, so allow me to simplify the process and point out which items should really matter to you.

THE INSIGHTS DASHBOARD

Your Facebook Page Insights is the tab/area to visit to learn more about your metrics and page data. This section is activated when at least 30 people like you page.

• To find your Page Insights, click Insights at the top of your Page.
• Once on the Insight page, view the metrics about your Page performance by clicking the sections at the header.
• To export your insights data, click Export in the top-right corner. You may want to do this to share with a marketing expert or to archive for your own files.

What Do You See In The Insights Dashboard?

• Likes – How many people like your page in a week.
• Post Reach – Reach is the number of unique people who received impressions of a Page post. Reach might be less than impressions, since one person can see multiple impressions.
• Engagement – How many people like, comment, share and click links of your posts on a weekly basis.

So out of all of that, what really matters?

1. Fans

Your Fans tab are the people who liked your page. You can find this by clicking People tab.

Facebook curates data on Gender, Age, Country, City and Language. Although Facebook privacy rules state Page admins cannot view detailed personal data, Insights has made statistical data for you to get a profile of your general audience.

In this screenshot, notice that my Page attracts both men and women almost equally, and most of them are between 25-34 and 35-44 years in age.

WHAT DOES IT TELL ME?

This tells me to prepare content that speaks directly to the majority of the demographic who follows my page. In this example, the audience group suggests young-middle age adults; educated and professional, both male and female, who follows my page to learn more about Facebook marketing.
So when developing content my style and tone should address that type of audience.

2. Engagement

People Engaged refers to the people who have liked, commented on, or shared your posts or engaged with your Page in the past 28 days.

So in this figure, women who are between 35-44 years old seem to engage more frequently on my Page posts.

WHAT DOES IT TELL ME?

If you look you see I have an equal number of men and women liking my page, but it is the women who are sharing the buzz… maybe I can improve engagement by posting content that is more appealing to men? Or, when I promote something on my Page using Facebook Ads, perhaps I only focus on women to share content.

3. Timing 

Under the Post tab, you will see a section called When Your Fans Are Online. This is one of my favorite things to look at because it tells me what time of the day fans are online in a week.

HOW DOES THIS HELP?

This insight helps you to schedule posts and ads during the optimal times your audience is on Facebook.

4. Types of Posts

Also under the Posts tab, you can find a table list of every post to your page over the last few weeks, the types of post and their engagement metrics.

WHAT DOES IT TELL ME?

Looking at the type post is important, since it will give you an idea what type of content your fans like. This could be photos, a link, videos or status update. Generally, photos receive the highest engagement on Facebook and fans enjoy graphics.

5. Where People Click

On the Likes tab scroll down until you see the ‘Where Your Page Likes Happened’ graph. Remember that Your Page can be liked even without loading your Page. For example, the Like button can be found on paid ads, Page suggestions, as well as like box widgets on other websites.

On this chart you’ll also see the like sources:

• On your Page – Someone hits the like button on your Page.
• Ads and Sponsored Stories- Someone hits the like button of a Facebook Ad.
• Page Suggestions – News Feed shows suggestions of pages or posts to like.
• Mobile – Someone clicked “like�? from a mobile device.
• Others – Like box widgets or links found on other places like 3rd-party apps or websites outside Facebook.

WHAT DOES IT TELL ME?

This helps you to discover where do most people click the like button. From here optimize your ads.

To recap, here are a few things to consider when looking at your insights and metrics:

• Know your fans. Who are your attracting?
• Pay attention to engagement. Who can help you spread the buzz?
• Timing is key. Determine the best time of day to post content.
• Types of posts matter. Understand the posts your fans are engaging with and why.
• Where do likes come from? Where can else you optimize your page presence to be liked?

Focus on these numbers and don’t get distracted by the vast amount of date in your Facebook Insight dashboard. If you need more help deciphering what really matters, I’m always here to help.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.
• A 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!

One way you can do this is to optimize your page using Facebook Apps. On a Facebook Business Page Apps are located on the left hand side under the cover photo and represented by small icon tabs. You can also reach Apps by clicking “more” under your Cover Photo menu bar.

Apps can be customized and rearranged according to the needs of your page. Read more on how do to that here…

Important things to know about Apps:

By default, tabs appear below your cover photo.

Three of these icon images can be swapped out with a custom image to match your brand. However, some icons like YouTube or the photo app will always be in the first position and cannot be changed.

They way you create custom apps is via the Facebook Apps marketplace or through a third party app designer or tool. Take a look at real estate businesses such as Zillow’s listing apps for examples.

You can have up to 12 apps for your Page, but ideally you only want to have 3-4.

Why you should use Apps?

Apps are designed to tailor-fit to the needs of any business. Specifically for real estate apps can be used to:

• Build your list
• Build equity in your brand
• Run promotions and increase engagement
• Feature your real estate listings
• Link other social media efforts such as Twitter or Instagram to your page

However, not all Facebook Apps are created equal.

Some apps are well developed, while others aren’t. Do your research and find someone who can create the app you need for your marketing goals. I’ve discovered that 22Social is a really helpful third party vendor that works with business to develop Facebook Apps on many levels. Some of their apps can even generate leads 24/7!

It only takes a few seconds for the 22Social App to connect to your page and once installed you can build a custom looking mini webpage to gather leads as an app hosted within Facebook!

22Social has a very easy-to-use editor to help you build up your fanbase, funnel in leads and deliver information to your fans. The app also comes in mobile version.

How does the lead generation with 22Social work?

Leads on Facebook start with a “Like,” from a fan or potential customer. Next you collect their FB verified name, email, date of birth, city, state and Facebook ID. This information is emailed to you, stored in the SRM and can be passed to your autoresponder in your chosen email client.

 5 Ideas For Great Custom Apps

Still not sure if apps are right for you? Here are five ideas to get you started:

App 1: About Us App

An About Us App is a customizable web page within your Facebook page where you can introduce yourself and the members of your team to the public.

You can add media content such as videos and images; along with a summary of your expertise and the services you offer.

Including pictures of you or with your team is a great way to start a personal bond with your audience.

Make sure to include the following on your About Us App:

• Contact form
• Phone number
• Email address
• Address and Map of Your Local Office
• List your services

You could also rename the About Us app to “Welcome” or “Our Story.”

App 2: Featured Listings Template

You can install a custom-made app that showcases current featured real estate listings similar to the Zillow Listing App.

App 3: Reviews

Reviews are important for people who want to do some background research even before contacting you. It gives them an assurance just by reading positive experiences from other clients who have worked with you.

Real testimonials help confirm your credibility as an agent. You can add a reviews app using Zillow absolutely for free!

When you install this app, make sure to ask your clients to use this for giving feedback after you make a sale.

App 4: Free Offer App

People love to get free information! This is a very natural and effective way to attract the clients you want. Fans love freebies.

All you would need to do is create a worksheet or downloadable checklist to entice fans. Some examples include:

• The Best 10 Restaurants in Chicago to Take Your Kids On The Weekend
• The Top 5 Exemplary Schools in Austin
• The 10 Best Swimming Spots in Los Angeles

Offering freebies can grow your business since you are offering something  of value in exchange for a name and email addresses.

From there you can generate quality leads that can be used in your email marketing campaigns down the road.

App 5: Home Video Tours

This will take a little bit more work on your end, but can really pay off. Here is how to get started:

• Create an app on 22Social
• Choose the video template option
• Pull in your video link from YouTube
• Promote the Smart Link on your Facebook page or in Facebook Ads

Videos help a lot in people’s home buying decision. It allows them to get a 360 view of the house you are showcasing. Fans have a chance to get excited even before setting an appointment with you.

Here’s how to do a video tour page:

• Pull the video into your Facebook Video App
• Next, host the video on YouTube or other video hosting service provider
• Use OnVedeo to create a video listing in seconds for only $9.95 per video.

Great apps you can install for free!

Getting started with Facebook Apps is easy. Here are some great tools you can use to get you up and running in no time:

1. 22Social
2. Realtor.com Social Connections App
3. Shortstack – Note: They will only let you try one app for free before requiring payment.

For example, if there are changes in location due to the weather, simply it let attendees know about it by posting an announcement on the Facebook Events page area. Or, if you need to update a time or venue, you can also do this right in the Facebook Events portal.

Let’s be honest, creating a Facebook Event is very easy. But, it’s promoting the event that can be tricky!

Tip: Prior to creating an official Facebook Event consider generating buzz and creating a sense of excitement and anticipation with some prospective guests. You can do this with the following steps:

1. Create graphics and promotional materials before creating the Event on Facebook. Share this as a “sneak peek” with fans.
2. Post an interest check on your Page, such as a teaser question to spark up conversation for the event. From there you can gauge how people may receive your event announcement.
3. Create a group chat on Facebook and include the interested fans (those who commented on your interest check). Ask for suggestions or requests on ways to make the proposed event a success. Keep prospective guests in the loop with some of the background details of the upcoming event. This will help in maintaining the excitement and energy.
4. You can now create a Facebook Event with the people in your group chat as your “core group”. Having more people excited to promote your event can produce better response in attendance.

OTHER TIPS TO OPTIMIZE YOUR FACEBOOK EVENT:

1. Update your Cover Photo with the short link to the event itself. A new cover photo is a great way to promote your Event. Add a teaser text plus the short link to the event in the description of the photo once its uploaded.
2. Ask your most active fans and peers to promote the event among their friends. Identify fans who regularly engage in your page. Send them private messages to help you promote your event. You can also ask permission from other related pages if they can promote your event link too.
3. Make a friend list of people who might be interested to go to your event.
   In your personal profile, identify friends in your list who are interested, or at least will be willing to help you out promote your link. In your event, click Invite Friends> Search by Name> Select List. If you cannot see your list name, then click on “See More”. You can also send them an invitation over private message for a more personal touch.
4. Write catchy posts to invite your page fans to the event. Insert the event to your content mix and post updates regarding your event to tease the audience. Don’t forget to include the Facebook Event short link so people can RSVP.
5. Create teaser images about the event. For an open house, you can have a picture of the property with a sample captions such as, “Planning to move to ____ soon? Check out this dream home!”. Again, always include the short link to the event.
6. Give “exclusive” backstage passes to the event. This is better experienced in grand openings or ceremonies of real estate projects. Guests love to have a VIP treatment, so you can offer them tickets or backstage passes to your event. These VIP’s get special freebies like drinks, parking assistance, raffle tickets, souvenirs, or a better table at the reception.
7. Upload short videos as teasers. People want to know what to expect in an upcoming event. This will help them decide if the event is worth their time or not. For open houses, make a 20-30 second video teaser of the home. Think along the lines of the MTV show Cribs. No need for narration! Just shoot some  property footage on your iPhone or camera. Add some lively music background in the video for a professional touch. Then, upload it to the Facebook Event and you’re set! (And remember that all important event RSVP link on the video description!)

When it comes to posting there are two schools of thought: Strategically post on your Facebook page 3-5 times a day, or post randomly whenever you have the time to login to Facebook.

Although, did you know there is a way to systematize and optimize your Facebook posts without spending a whole day on Facebook? This way you can spend more time on building your business and closing deals.

Before you start to schedule posts, it is important to be aware of optimal publishing times to ensure your fans are seeing content. Here is a quick guide to help you discover when is the best time to post on Facebook.

HOW DO YOU PUT YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE ON AUTO-PILOT?

There are two ways to automate posts on Facebook:

1. You can use Facebook’s pre-scheduling feature or
2. You can use 3rd party apps.

The Facebook Scheduling Tool

Facebook’s pre-scheduling tool allows you to set posts to publish at a later date and time. The tool corresponds to your default timezone, so it looks as if you posted manually. You can post as often as you need for a given period of time, for example a week in advance to a month!

While you can pre-schedule most post types, not everything can be scheduled. You can only schedule status posts, videos and photos. You won’t be able to batch schedule photo albums, Facebook events, questions, offers and milestones.

Here is how to use Facebook scheduler:

1. Choose the type of post you want to create (ex: Status,Photo/Video) at the top of your Page’s Timeline
2. Type in your content or post update. Don’t forget your links or call to action!
3. Click the Schedule icon at bottom left
4. Choose the date and time you want the post to appear
5. Click “Schedule”

If you need to go back and edit your queued posts: On the Admin toolbar, click the “Activity” tab and then select “Scheduled Posts” on the left sidebar. Here you’ll see a list of all your upcoming posts and can edit the date, time and content of any post.

Third Party Scheduling Apps

If you want something more robust than the internal Facebook tool, apps such as Hootsuite, Post Planner and BufferApp are designed to help page admins with scheduling and managing social media posts.

Other benefits of 3rd party apps:

• You can schedule updates on other social media sites such as Twitter or LinkedIn, in addition to Facebook
• You can schedule bulk posts by just utilizing a .csv file. Here’s an inside look on how you can do that using the Hootsuite app.

Managing your Facebook page is not time-consuming if you just put it on auto-pilot!

If you have any questions about scheduling your posts on Facebook, I’d love to help you. Just leave a comment below.

Want to learn how to use Facebook to get a consistent source of leads online?  Sign up for my FREE video series FB Real Estate Pro and get instant access to three free videos!

Here are a few simple tips and tricks to help get even more out of your Facebook community.

Create targeted/compelling content

Facebook’s algorithm considers content quality when deciding what to show in news feeds. Over time, Facebook continually edits this algorithm to ensure that Pages show only content that truly matter to fans, while weeding out spam or link-baits. It’s up to you to make your content engaging and relevant to fans.

But what will make your content valuable to fans?

1. Content comes in many forms, including status posts, shared links, videos and photos or graphics. Recently, there has been a trend toward sharing content beyond text such as engaging visuals including poster quotes and fun, interesting photos.  Include graphics in your content mix.
2. Make sure you include an interesting description on your shared content, website links and videos. Use words that will make people want to click.
3. To break up content, it is also good to share a few causal posts about your personal experience with real estate. This could also be news that is relevant to pop culture or includes a bit of humor. Only do this once in a while, but make sure to add it to your content mix.
4. People love to read about real-life stories. Post stories and photos about your personal experience as a realtor, the places you’ve visited and the interesting activities or events you may attend. Be human!
5. Write posts that encourage engagement from your audience. Amazing photos are nothing without a clear call to action

Other great tips:

• Plan out your posts in advance, to avoid writers block or missing a day.
• Make a calendar of posts to help you organize the different types of posts. This is also something you could share and have other people help with your social media posting.
• Map out the optimal times your fans are on Facebook. Utilize Facebook Insights for this. Posting around 3-4 posts a day ideal to avoid flooding your fans’ News Feeds.
• You can use Facebook’s pre-scheduling function to set up future posts in one sitting.
• Follow other brand pages relevant to your business (and are also followed by your fans).

GET MORE PEOPLE TO CONTACT YOU

Use Facebook to make your phone ring! Here are 5 examples of offers to post that could entice people to talk with you:

1. Free financial analysis for FSBOs.
2. Host a Facebook Events Q&A forum about your listings/ expertise.
3. Free 30-minute call on financing and mortgage consultation
4. Offer discounts and minor fees waived from your listings
5. Host a referrals contests: Give away something for every referred lead that will set an appointment with you.

These are all great lead-generating activities. Just make sure you have set up a system to capture contact information and move these leads through your sales funnel. Keeping your list updated with current info is important!

UTILIZE FACEBOOK EVENTS FOR OPEN HOUSES

Facebook Events are a powerful tool to increase awareness about your events. Tip: Set up your Facebook events at least 3 weeks before the event itself. This will allow time for people to ask questions, prepare and check schedules.

Here are a few More tips:

1. Lay the ground rules on the Event description. Unless the house has been vacated, most professional open houses will require guests to sign a logbook and show a driver’s license. Spell out any special instructions like this on the Event listing.
2. Enlist the neighbors. It’s a great idea to make friends with the neighbors, or at least introduce yourself. It goes without saying that the neighbors are better sales people than you! They can give the best testimony why they chose to live in the area, and create a warmer welcome for potential buyers. Let neighbors know about events.
3. Run Facebook Ads for the event to increase attendance and awareness.Events are better promoted if they are highlighted on the Facebook News Feed. With a small budget, you can set a short campaign to optimize your promotional efforts for the event. (See: Geo-targeting for Facebook Ads below)
4. Document the event. Take photos and notes. This way you can use it as content for other marketing efforts. Consider having the event professionally recorded, but be sure to let your guests know before hand that there will be cameras rolling during the event.

USE GEO-TARGETED FACEBOOK ADS

Geo-targeting is often underutilized in Facebook, because many people think it’s hard to do. However, it’s actually pretty easy!

So what is Geo-targeting? It’s a special feature of ads that allow you to target audiences by location when running Facebook Ads. This is especially helpful since your business is in a particular city and you want your ads to attract the people within a certain distance of that location.

Facebook finds people to target through users’ IP address whenever they are online and the addresses users indicate in their profile information.

When creating ads, you can set Geo-targeting based on the following information:

• Everywhere (Global)
• Country
• State/Province
• City
• ZIP Code

You can also include a wider scope to your ads, like a certain mile radius of your target location. Leverage this to your advantage.

These guidelines will help your Facebook Page attract fans and drive traffic to your site.

BRANDING GUIDELINE #1 – BUILD YOUR ASSET TOOLKIT

Set your Facebook Page easily using an Asset Toolkit! It is a set of files to help you update and populate your Facebook Page.

Create a separate file folder in your hard drive or cloud storage for all files related to branding – as you shall be using them consistently.

Your asset toolkit should contain more or less the following:

• Messaging for the About Section

Make sure the following properly filled out:

– Business Name
– Address
– Business Hours
– Phone
– Company Mission Statement
– Services
– Email Address

Additional Action items:

– Create 3 Taglines for your company
– Create a short description that is a brief summary of your business. The character limit is 155.
– Create a long description that includes keywords for your business along with the services you offer such as real estate listings, brokerage services, real estate investing, etc.

• Timeline Cover Images
• Profile Image
• Facebook App Images

BRANDING GUIDELINE #2 – SELECT THE BEST PROFILE IMAGE

Your profile image is the first thing your fans will remember, aside from the company name in all areas of Facebook – including chat boxes, embedded Facebook badges sidebars, and news feed. This is how your company is being branded.

How to select the best profile photo?

Due its small dimensions: 160 x 160 pixels, you should select an image that best utilizes the space available. Commonly, it could be either your company logo or your own professionally-taken photo.

Page profile pictures are square and display at 160 x 160 pixels on your Page.
The image file you upload must be at least 180 x 180 pixels.

Make sure your profile photo stands out in the news feed by adding a colored square around your photo or including your business name along with a headshot image.

BRANDING GUIDELINE #3 – OPTIMIZE YOUR COVER PHOTO AS A SALES TOOL!

The cover photo is a large, rectangular image found at the top of your page. Due to its prominence, it is important to give your audience a cover photo with a lasting impression.

What does it take to have a great cover photo?

• Use a Call to Action
• Showcase Rooms from Your Listings
• Share Your Charitable Causes

How do you optimize your cover photo?

On the image description, include a Call to Action and link to your website. This will help drive more traffic to your website and/or social sites.

Remember that Facebook favors cover images with less text, so make use of the image description and comment field accordingly.

Include your CTA as part of the cover photo design.

Cover Photo specs:

Cover photos should be:

• clear
• high resolution image file
• 851 pixels wide and 315 pixels tall

Note: If you upload images less than these dimensions, it will be stretched to fit the container.

BRANDING GUIDELINE #4 – GET A CUSTOMIZED TIMELINE URL

A customized URL, also called a vanity URL is another feature you can customize for branding. It should be the same as your Facebook page name.

For example, the name of my Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/JenSmithSocial

To create your own vanity URL:

Admin Panel > Settings > Page Info > Edit Facebook Web Address

BRANDING GUIDELINE #5 – CREATE FACEBOOK APP THUMBNAILS

You can create Facebook App thumbnails to connect all your branding elements together.

Thumbnail image sizes are 111 x 74 pixels.

For all these graphic requirements, you can ask your designer to do it for you or you can do it yourself using FREE tools like PicMonkey or Canva.

If you have any questions, I’d love to help you answer them. Just leave a comment below.

Want to learn how to use Facebook to get a consistent source of leads online?  Sign up for my FREE video series FB Real Estate Pro and get instant access to three free videos!

In this blog post, I will present to you 12 Facebook facts & figures that will prove that Facebook is right for your real estate business:

1. Statistics show that Facebook has 1.2+ billion users (as of February 2014)
2. There are 751 Million Mobile Users on Facebook
3. The average Facebook user checks their account five times a day, and typically spends 20 mins a day on Facebook.
4. 50% of people trust a company’s Facebook page more than their website.
5. 70% of Facebook users engage with businesses on Facebook.
6. Facebook users have pressed the “Like” button more than 4.2 billion times.
7. Facebook users post 30 billion pieces of content every month.
8. More than 7.5 Million users have promoted a post
9. 90% of home buyers searched online during their home buying process.
10. Consumers who engage with a company via Facebook spend 30% morecompared to a customer who does not.
11. 43% of Americans say that Facebook has a greater impact on their purchasing behavior than any other social network.
12. Because of its massive user base, you can find your target audience on Facebook. And, 67% of B2C marketers have generated leads via Facebook.

Based on this data, we can conclude that:

• Facebook is the largest social network on the planet.
• People are engaged on Facebook.
• Your leads are on Facebook.

Sources:
Facebook News: September 30, 2013
The Top 20 Valuable Facebook Statistics by Zephoria
2012 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers via Realtors.org Digital Study

Now, what are you waiting for? Get more leads for your real estate business now by using Facebook!

I often get asked these questions so I thought I’d write a blog post about it.

“I am a real estate agent, should I use my personal profile or create a Facebook page to post about my business?”

Without batting an eyelash, I would say you should use a Facebook Page.

Why should you set up a Facebook Page and not use your personal Facebook profile to get post on your page and get leads if you are a real estate agent?

Let me first define and differentiate the two before I go ahead and answer the big “why”.

WHAT IS A PERSONAL PROFILE?

• Personal Timelines, which are sometimes referred to as profiles, are for individual, non-commercial use.
• They represent individual people and must be held under an individual name.
• You can follow Timelines to see public updates of people you’re interested in but aren’t friends with.

WHAT IS A FACEBOOK PAGE?

• Facebook Pages look similar to personal Timelines, but they offer unique tools for connecting people to a topic they care about, like a business, brand, organization or celebrity.
• Pages are managed by people who have personal Timelines.
• Pages are not separate Facebook accounts and do not have separate login information from your Timeline.
• You can like a Page to see updates in News Feed.

As you can see, a Facebook Page can be utilized to get high-quality leads better than your Personal Profile.

Here are 10 more reasons why you should use Facebook page and not your personal profile:

1. BE SEARCHABLE

   Facebook Fan Pages are indexed by search engines which is important in building your online presence.

2. FACEBOOK TABS/ THIRD PARTY APPS

   You can practically create a website out of your Page using Facebook apps. You can add special Apps that could create beautiful landing pages, add a lead capturing-form and other integrations that you need to make your Facebook Page a lead-generating machine.

3. TAG YOUR PAGE

   Your fans, non-friends and other Pages can tag your brand on their posts. Therefore, creating more visibility.

4. RUN PROMOS AND CONTESTS

   You can run promos via the Ads Manager by simply posting an Offer on your Page. It may be discount offers or freebies when they respond to your call to action.

   In the same manner, you can run contests either by creating custom tabs.

5. ASSIGN AN ADMIN

   You can assign an admin to manage your Facebook page. You don’t need to give out your personal password to other people. This is more convenient and less risky for you.

6. COMMENT AS YOUR PAGE

   If you want to increase your online presence on Facebook, you will need to comment, reply, like and share to other Pages using your Facebook page.

   This allows other people to feel your presence by being active, not just being confined to your own page.

7. CHECK-INS

   As long as your location has a complete street address and is pinned on maps (like Bing Maps, Google Maps or Foursquare), people can check-in to your office location and share it on their own timelines.

   You cannot have that if you are using a personal page. This increases interaction between you and your clients.

8. FACEBOOK INSIGHTS

   This is a very powerful tool to learn about your Facebook audience. You can study your fan demographics, know which posts has more engagement and combining these information into improving your page activity. Which will in return get you more leads.

9. RUN ADS

   Paid advertising to promote your business can only be done on Facebook Pages and not in your personal profile.  You can do some super cool things with Facebook Ads such as advertising to your email database or promoting an open house.

10. NO “FRIEND LIMITS”

    Last but not the least, personal profile page is limited to 5,000 friends. Your Facebook Page can have an infinite number of fans.

Start setting up your Facebook page today if you haven’t yet. For more information about setting up your Facebook page, click here…

If you have any questions, I’d love to help you answer them. Just leave a comment below.