Why Running Ads on Social Media is Important for Real Estate Agents
Multiple studies have shown us why and how running ads on social media is worth it for real estate agents. 77% of realtors actively use social media for real estate in some way, shape or form, according to the National Association of Realtors. Social media can be used to share property photos, client testimonials, agent milestones, and more. Social media ads can be a tool to get the attention of more clients. In 2021, we’re all scrolling on our social media feeds anyways. Just look around while at the DMV, doctor’s office, grocery store, or anywhere, really. Why not leverage that scroll and start building your brand as an agent?
We’re diving into one tactic within real estate social media marketing, ads. Let’s start with a brief explanation of what they are and why you should consider them.
Why Social Media Ads?
Facebook ads are the old and reliable. Question is, are they too old? It depends on your location and ideal client. Survey your clients on their habits and determine which platform will work best for you. Facebook ads can be found within your newsfeed, the right column, instant articles, the marketplace, and in-stream or suggested videos. We’ll discuss how to decide where to publish later in this article. Facebook allows you to set a timeline, budget, target audience, and call-to-action along with your ad creative.
Credits the Homespotter Blog
The real estate industry greatly benefits from the highly visual component that Instagram provides. High quality real estate drone video can really shine on this platform. Instagram ads can be found in your newsfeed or on the explore page. Instagram ads are set up through the Facebook Business Manager (hint: Facebook owns Instagram) and allow you to control the same settings as Facebook.
Credits Entreprenuer.com
A new contender on the block is Pinterest. This platform is best for increasing web traffic, brand building, and showcasing social proof in real estate social media marketing, not necessarily garnering leads…right now. Pinterest has been making waves in the advertising industry, most relevantly with its launch of Pinterest Premiere. This feature allows advertisers to purchase video space on the home page. Users are now 2.6x more likely to make a purchase after viewing brand video content on the platform. Oh, the real estate drone video possibilities! We’ve got our eye on this platform. Right now it’s great for getting the attention of potential clients at the top of your funnel.
Credits @jacquieboily4 on Pinterest
Next up, how to get started.
How to Start Running Social Media Ads
Before running ads be sure to determine your goals. This will help you determine what platform, what budget, and what audience to go after. Are you looking to get more web traffic? More leads? Increase brand awareness? They all sound great, yes, but you’ll need to pick one and then expand once you have more data to back up your decision. In the next section, we’ll talk about how to optimize these ads and make informed decisions when expanding your ad strategy.
Another thing, keep in mind you’ll want to organically be posting on your profile in tandem to running ads. We talk about why this is important in our predictions on the future of real estate marketing.
Facebook
After you’ve got your goals, budget, and target audience in mind, you can sign up for Facebook Business Manager. This is where you’ll upload your ad creative and tell Facebook where, when, and for how much you want to run the ads. It can be intimidating at first, but even the most skilled marketers turn to YouTube to watch a few introductory videos. Once you’ve got it published, check back in after a few days to see how they’re performing. It may take some testing different copy, photos, and call-to-actions to see what works for your audience.
Instagram
Instagram ads function the same way Facebook ones do in Facebook Business Manager. When setting up your ad, you’ll make sure “Instagram” is the only placement checked. All four of the placements Facebook advertising offers (Facebook, Instagram, Audience Network, and Messenger) will be automatically checked. If your audience doesn’t interact on those placements, what’s the point of spending money to have them show up there?
Pinterest
For Pinterest, you’ll need a business profile. If you already have a Pinterest account, you can convert your existing one into a business one. If not, you can create one. Next step, install the Pinterest tag on your website. This allows you to track the actions visitors take on your website after finding it via a Pinterest pin. Do they sign up for a consultation? Read your blog?
Next, similar to Facebook and Instagram, you’ll choose your campaign objective (or goal), budget, and audience targeting. Pinterest also allows you to choose keywords to target with your ads. Examples might include “Hamptons real estate,” “Summer homes in the Hamptons,” etc. Put yourself in your clients’ shoes and think of what they might search. Then, upload your creative and you’re on your way.
All Platforms
If you’re thinking any of this is too much, you can consider hiring a Social Media Marketer to take care of it. Be sure you have a discovery call with the marketer to hash out all the details to really personalize the experience for your ad viewers. No one knows your clients like you do. Once that information is shared, they should be able to use their expertise to optimize your budget, and therefore, results. If you choose to take on the ads yourself, the next section discusses how to optimize yourself.
Optimize your Social Media Ads
Optimization is key in real estate social media marketing! This requires reviewing your ads’ performance after they’ve been running for a bit. It’s at your discretion how long this looks like. In the beginning, we recommend giving it a week or two before making any real conclusions or edits.
All platforms
Analyze your headline, description, creative, call-to-action, and placement, and the impact they may have had on the ad performance. Make adjustments and improvements where you think the ads need help. Is it 100% clear what the ad wants the user to do? If so, and the ad still isn’t performing well, you may need to make adjustments to your audience targeting. Try different audience interests and keywords (only available on Pinterest) to see what works. Having patience is also key. The results are waiting for you!
What Now?
We can help you get started with some amazing footage for your ad creative using real estate drone video. Contact us to set up a consultation to brainstorm how we can elevate your listing. Get ready to increase your buyer inquiries by over 400%!
Long Island, NY
631-223-8574
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