There is no escaping social media in today’s world. Learn how to use the most popular form, Facebook, to your real estate investing advantage.
Why Facebook?
Facebook is not just a platform for celebrities to perform gaffes or teenagers to share, well, everything, it is a powerful tool that can be harnessed by savvy investors to increase profits and grow their business. Facebook’s power is derived primarily from its absolute dominance in the social media market and therefore its ability to reach an unimaginably vast audience. Facebook reaches local, state, national, and international audiences in a way no other media can.
How?
In a word: advertising. Facebook is relatively new in the grand timeline of commerce, but it makes the most of that age-old marketing technique called ‘advertising’. As with any form of advertising, there are a few guidelines which can boost your success. Know your audience, create quality advertising which appeals to that audience, and build pathways to convert the audience into business. These guidelines should be familiar to you, but now we will discuss how they translate into the world of Facebook.
Understanding the Financial Structure
Facebook sells ads for an average of $0.35 per click so the goal is not to get the most people to click, but the most relevant people to do so. Clicks must turn into business in order to be profitable. Now, let’s discuss how you can direct your ad to the appropriate audience and entice them to become customers.
Finding Your Audience
It is important not to cast too wide of a net when choosing your audience. Select the exact city and state where your real estate holdings are located for the location.
Select the age range according to average age of buyers of your particular property type. A home meant for college students to share should aim for 18-25 year olds, family homes generally pull in the 30-45 year olds. You do not have to pick a max age, so if the home is of an ilk which doesn’t lend itself to any one set, go ahead and cast a wide age net.
Match the interests to those of your audience. Young buyers will be looking for the local college teams, bars, and other hangout spots. Families will be looking for the local schools and parks. Older buyers might be keener to click if they see interests in the local golf courses and fine-dining. The more pages you have “liked” in common with your audience, the more prevalent your page placement will be when suggested “likes” pop up for them.
Choose “anyone” for connections, and select “click on my ad or sponsored story” as your objective. By choosing this objective you ensure that you only owe Facebook when someone actually clicks on your ad, and having narrowed your audience, these clicks are more likely to turn into business. Finally try to get your price per click in the $0.25-0.40 range.
Building the Ad
Title: Choose a title for your ad that is personable and to the point. Real estate is a local and face-to-face business, so your potential clients will be looking for just that in an ad. Some examples might be, “Looking for a home in ______?” or “Find Your Dream Home Now!”
Picture: Just as with the title, you should be aiming for a more personal feel with the pictures you use on your ad page. Amateur pictures tend to be more effective than professional ones when it comes to local real estate. People feel like they are experiencing the actual home with amateur photos rather than being sold a glamorized product with professionally edited photos. Any editing you do should only be to enhance the clarity and to draw attention to the photo itself, such as outlining the frame.
Text: As with other forms of advertising, text should be succinct. Try to say as much as you can with as little words as you can. Use keywords that relate to elements of the property that will be important to a buyers such as the number of bedrooms, the name of the neighborhood, or the price point. An example would be “2br 1 bth bungalow in South Park, move-in-ready!”
Troubleshooting
It is possible that your ad will be rejected by Facebook initially, but it’s an easy fix. Raise your price per click a few cents until it is approved. Facebook will award more views for ads which are closer to and beyond their suggested price point. It’s a balancing act between the cost of the ad and the potential business, so decide what you are comfortable with and try to compromise with Facebook.
