Summary: Every month on the Conversation Media blog, we like to take a look at current ads we’re seeing in a particular vertical. We pull these into a post, so that you can see what others are doing (rightly or wrongly), and hopefully take some inspiration for your own Facebook ads. This month we’re looking at the Real Estate vertical.
Real Estate Advertising on Facebook
Facebook is a fantastic channel for real estate advertising. From its granular targeting options (location, demographics, interests, life-stage etc) to the fact that it is an inherently visual platform, it lends itself particularly well to lead-generation for realtors. With that said… it’s easier said than done.
To help out with that, here’s a selection of interesting local real estate ads we’ve come across on Facebook recently, to help inspire you take your listings and turn them into compelling ads. Some of them are ideas of what to copy, others are ideas of things to be wary of.
Example #1 – Alex Phillis Luxury Real Estate – Video + Emoji + Messenger Lead Capture
In this example, Alex Phillis are employing a few methods that realtors could consider:
- They employed emojis to break up walls of text
- Employed obvious benefits with the “This could be your next cash cow” line
- The video is an enticing, short piece that features aerials of the area, as well as a piece to camera from the agency describing the property
- The call-to-action sends you to a Facebook messenger chatbot, which is a great lead capture channel. What some people may not be aware of is that, as soon as the user replies to the chatbot (so, for example, clicking the “How much is the property?” button, or any other interaction) that then allows the advertiser to see any of your Facebook profile information that you’ve made public, such as email addresses, age, location etc.
Example #2 – LJ Hooker Burleigh/Mudgeeraba/Robina – Be careful of repetition
Now, I’m as much a fan of finding a template that works as the next person, but this one is an example of being careful of repetition.
Now, without seeing the results of these ads, I obviously can’t speak to their effectiveness. With that said, things to bear in mind for them would be:
- Facebook is already a feed overflowing with posts. Whether that’s from your friends or family (or brands), we all compete for the same amount of attention. Attention is not in infinite supply, so we – as Facebook users – can only give so much attention. So the danger with using the exact same format in each of these ads is that the user will very quickly develop “banner blindness” to these. With nothing differentiating them, a user will very quickly stop paying attention to any of them, wasting this ad spend.
- Slightly mixed messaging may confuse some of their target audience. The first line is around a home currently listed in their area, but it’s being used as a hook to pull in a seller to list with the agent. The trouble is, not only might the first line not speak to a prospective seller, but it’s also solely about the agent… not about the target customer. Again, I can’t speak to the effectiveness of the ad, but making the ad about the customer could yield higher response rates.
Example #3 – Stuart Legg Re/Max 4213 – Keep filling up your upper funnel
Stuart Legg is, in my opinion, one of the smartest realtors using social media on the Gold Coast. In the below, he’s utilising classic upper funnel marketing, with a video providing a quarterly report for buyers and sellers:
A couple of things to note here:
- With the use of video, Stuart’s employing classic “upper funnel” marketing. The video provides valuable information and insights to prospective buyers and sellers (his target market). Not only does this associate his “brand” with value, but it also allows Stuart to create “custom audiences” of users who have viewed his ad (and also qualify them on engagement… eg. people who have viewed 50% of the video may be more qualified than those who only watched 10%). He can then remarket to these viewers at a later stage with more “direct response” messaging.
- Stuart uses video heavily… I’d encourage you to check out his videos to see more about how simple these can be, but how effective they can be too.
- Stuart is also using a “Send Message” CTA, sending people through to messenger to continue conversations.
Example #4 – NGU Real Estate Gold Coast – Carousels
Real estate advertising seems to be full of video ads (and rightly so, as video performs well) but it seems like most real estate agencies have completely forgotten about other ad formats. One that’s still highly worth trialing is the carousel format, like NGU have done below:
- Property details are included upfront in the ad copy, also incorporating emojis
- Although you can’t tell from the image above, the carousel includes a total of 11 images, each a compelling image selling unique features of the property. They also include a floor plan as the final image in the carousel.
Free tips for Real Estate Agents Using Facebook Ads
- A few thoughts as to how realtors might be able to use Facebook & Facebook Ads to promote their listings:
- Consider using Facebook Lives for a walk-through of the property. Facebook lives lend authenticity and immediacy to the listing.
- Consider setting up events for your open homes. When people have a lot of different showings to attend, an event ad makes it easy for people to sign up for yours right away.
- Similar to the point about carousels above, consider testing out the Collection format for your ads, which allows people to see 4 photos at a glance, highlighting more of the property.
