This post is based on a conversation with Jess Lenouvel, CEO and Founder of The Listings Lab and Emma Pace, Realtor and Team Lead at Monstera Real Estate. Emma is one of our star alumni in The Listings Lab, and a current member of our 7-Figure Agent Collective. She has now scaled her business to seven figures through digital marketing. Get ready to have your mind blown because Emma is a powerhouse when it comes to generating online leads!
Want to know how to leverage Facebook as a real estate agent?
Then keep reading!
Facebook ads allow you to stop relying on unpredictable referrals and word-of-mouth marketing – and allows you to start creating a profitable system for generating real estate leads on Facebook.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- The Basic Flow For Generating Real Estate Leads on Facebook
- The Pros & Cons Of Facebook Ads for Real Estate Lead Generation
- How Can Real Estate Agents Create A Successful Facebook Ad
- How To Create Your Real Estate Lead Magnet
- The BEST Lead Magnet Idea For Real Estate Agents
- How To Convert Your Facebook Leads Into Paying Clients
- How to Leverage Retargeting & Omnipresence
Let’s get into it!
The Basic Flow For Generating Real Estate Leads on Facebook
Let’s talk about how the process of getting leads off Facebook actually works.
The first step is to pay Facebook for them to find an audience of people to show your ad to.
You’re essentially trading one currency (money) for an even more powerful currency.
And that’s attention.
Once you’ve exchanged money with Facebook to get some eyeballs on your ad, there’s a second conversion that takes place.
This time, you are offering something of value to your audience in exchange for their contact information.
This is what we call your real estate lead magnet, and this post will show you exactly how to create an uber-successful one!
You, as the entrepreneur, have two things to create:
- The Facebook Ad itself
- And the lead magnet that will entice potential clients to hand over their details so you can get them into your database
Now that you understand the basic flow for generating leads on Facebook, let’s get into everything you need to know about this powerful advertising strategy!
The Pros & Cons Of Facebook Ads for Real Estate Lead Generation
If you’re trying to figure out whether Facebook ads are the might marketing strategy for you, consider these pros and cons.
Pros
- Scaleable: Waiting for repeat business and referrals is more of a defensive strategy, while Facebook ads allow you to play offense. They give you the ability to be more proactive and constantly generate leads, simply by turning on the tap.
- You’re able to get leads on autopilot: With Facebook ads, you can set up campaigns to automatically generate leads without any additional effort on your part. You can wake up to new leads each day.
- You get to work with the clients you desire: By using targeted messaging and copywriting, Facebook ads allow you to reach and attract the exact type of client you want to work with.
- Everyone uses the internet: With so many people online, Facebook ads give you access to a large pool of potential clients.
Cons
- Costs money: There’s no way around it – you’ve got to pay to run Facebook ads. This advertising strategy requires an upfront financial investment. Facebook charges you money to get your ad in front of your target audience.
- Takes time to get used to: Facebook ads require a new skill set, which can take some time to develop. It’s important to be patient and consistent while you’re learning the ropes!
- Requires monitoring: Facebook ads are not a set-it-and-forget-it marketing strategy. You’ll need to monitor your campaigns regularly to make sure they’re performing well and make adjustments as needed.
Despite these few cons, Facebook ads are one of the best ways for agents to start leveraging digital marketing and taking control of their lead flows.
Because waiting for real estate referrals won’t get you to seven figures.
How Can Real Estate Agents Create A Successful Facebook Ad?
There are 4 main factors that go into creating a successful ad – “the who”, “the attention grabber”, “the what” and “the how”.
The Right Targeting – “The Who”
The first component is the right targeting. This means that you need to determine who should see your ads. What is their demographic? Where are they located? What problem are they trying to solve?
You need to be specific with your targeting because if you try to serve everyone, you’ll serve no one.
The Attention Grabber – Your Creative Elements
The second element is the attention grabber. This is where you need to be creative with the elements associated with your ad.
These could be the images, videos, or copy that you use. Your goal is to create a pattern interruption that makes people stop their scroll. You want to catch their attention and make them curious about what you have to offer.
The Right Messaging – “The What”
The third component is messaging. This refers to the copywriting and language you use in your ads.
Is your offer clearly articulated? Can someone understand what you’re offering in exchange for their contact information quickly? You want to engage them and pique their curiosity with your messaging.
A Clear Call-To-Action – “The How”
If you’re spending money on Facebook ads, you need to make sure that you’re including a clear call to action (CTA). How do you want your audience to take action? This is often overlooked but is also the easiest thing to change.
However, you need to be strategic with your CTA. Asking someone to call you or book a showing is usually too big of a leap for someone who’s just scrolling through their feed looking at their friends’ photos. Instead, you should focus on taking the conversation offline and providing them with something valuable to download.
Even if you’ve created an amazing ad with the right targeting and clear messaging, if you don’t include a CTA, you risk missing out on potential clients. You need to make it clear what you want people to do and guide them toward taking that action!
So, before you start running Facebook ads for your real estate business, (or hiring someone else to!), ask yourself…
Have I put the right message…
In front of the right person…
With an interesting offer attached…
And a clear call to action?
If you’ve already dabbled in Facebook ads, and haven’t gotten great results yet, you don’t have to throw everything away and start over.
There might just be one or two elements that need tweaking!
Creating Your Real Estate Lead Magnet
The second part of this equation is your real estate lead magnet.
As a real estate agent, creating a lead magnet is a powerful way to attract potential clients and grow your business. But to make sure your lead magnet is successful, you need to consider the offer and whether it provides immediate value, is timeless, and has reasons to keep your potential clients coming back.
Success Factor #1: Immediate Value
The offer of your lead magnet should provide immediate value to your potential clients. They need to quickly be able to see how your real estate lead magnet will solve their unique problems. If you’re able to give your audience a quick win, you’ll build like, know, and trust with potential clients!
Success Factor #2: Timelessness
Your lead magnet should provide timeless information that’s relevant to your audience regardless of current market conditions. The last thing you want is a freebie that you’re having to update every three months.
Success Factor #3: Reasons To Keep Coming Back
Your lead magnet should provide a freebie so valuable that potential clients keep coming back to use it again and again. A great example is a free book funnel where potential clients only have to pay for shipping to receive a valuable book. This freebie hits all 3 success factors – immediate value, timeless information, PLUS they’ll be coming back to your content again and again!
The BEST Lead Magnet Idea For Real Estate Agents
A big part of what we teach in The Listings Lab is building out your own unique methodology or signature system that’s tailored to your specific market and demographic.
We then help you turn your unique method into a beautifully branded PDF guide that can serve as your real estate lead magnet. One that’s timeless, professionally designed, and highly psychologically driven.
Your guide doesn’t just showcase your expertise, but it also hits pain points, provides solutions, and makes your potential clients feel deeply understood.
It helps them buy into your process – before they’ve even met you.
My #1 Hack For Real Estate Agents Using Facebook Ads
Finally, the last hack is to watch other people’s ads.
Look at what catches your attention and why. Analyze the copywriting and use it as inspiration for your own ads. Pay attention to hooks, attention-grabbing tactics, and emotional triggers.
While ads for real estate services might be different from ads for e-commerce or beauty businesses, you can still adapt these techniques to make your own ads more persuasive.
Most real estate agents don’t know how to run ads properly, so if you study how to make effective Facebook ads, you’ll have an immense upper hand in your market.
You’d be surprised at how few agents are running truly effective campaigns…
And how many agents are just posting their business card as an ad, and calling it a day!
Learning buyer psychology will give you an unfair advantage!
Converting Your Facebook Leads Into Paying Clients
When it comes to following up with leads in your CRM, it’s important to use the right methods, in the right order.
- Email
First up is email, which is the highest leverage and easiest way to reach a large number of people. While open rates can be high, it’s harder to tell if people are actually consuming the information.
- Text (SMS)
Next is texting, which has a high consumption rate and is easy to send, but response rates may be lower.
- Calling & Zoom
Calling is lower leverage, but it’s a more personal touch and can lead to actual conversations. And when it comes to Zoom, it’s great to have that face-to-face connection. But you can only do so many Zoom calls a day.
Ultimately, the goal is to warm up leads through a combination of email, text, and calls so that when you finally do pick up the phone, they already have some brand awareness so you’re not wasting your time cold calling.
Retargeting & Omnipresence
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leveraging Facebook ads as a real estate agent.
Once you’ve built your Facebook ads funnel, you’ll find that the process gets more and more passive.
You can run retargeting ads so that people who have opted into your lead magnet are constantly getting nurtured and educated using your methods.
They’re seeing you everywhere! In their newsfeed, on Instagram stories, and in their inbox.
Because you’re omnipresent, you’re able to warm up your leads much faster and convert them from strangers into clients.
Using this strategy, you barely have to chase or follow up. Instead, you’ll wake up to calls booked on your calendar – whether you’re at the office or vacationing in the Maldives.
The system is always running in the background, bringing you leads on autopilot.
Want to set up the marketing systems and foundations that will help you scale to seven figures?
That’s exactly what we teach you in The Listings Lab.
We’ll help you get your marketing and messaging solidified so you can use organic and paid strategies to magnetize clients to your brand. No more chasing, no more hustling.
