10 Tips for Effective Real Estate Facebook Ads

In this article:

• Reach your target audience
• Plan your ad campaigns ahead of time
• Feature high-quality images in your posts
• Show floor-plan images
• Create informative descriptions
• Use video to increase engagement
• Showcase multiple listings with carousel ads
• Share testimonials from clients
• Integrate Facebook ads with traditional advertising methods
• Track ad performance

More and more real estate agents are using online marketing to reach potential clients — and for good reason. According to the Zillow Group Consumer Housing Trends Report 2019, 84% of buyers and 59% of sellers rely on online real estate resources. And with 69% of sellers valuing an agent who promotes listings on social networking sites, it's easy to see why social media advertising is becoming more and more popular. Purchasing real estate Facebook ads can be an effective digital marketing strategy and a great way to connect with a large demographic of consumers to:

• Generate real estate buyer leads
• Increase sign-ups for open houses or events
• Generate seller leads

1. Reach your target audience

Effective real estate advertising will increase your overall brand awareness by reaching people who are interested in buying or selling a home. You can use Facebook ad targeting for real estate lead generation by specifying keywords relevant to your business. That way, you’ll be sure to reach a prime audience. Consider targeting users based on their:

Location: You can specify a ZIP code, city or state to reach buyers and sellers within your real estate farming area.

Interests: Facebook knows what people are interested in, so consider choosing an interest like home improvement or real estate investing.

Behaviors: Another option is to reach homeowners based on their recent purchases, or to target buyers who are likely to move.

Demographics: Home buyers, sellers and renters can be targeted.

Connections: This option allows you to reach people who like your Facebook page, or even to exclude people from your ads if you’re looking to obtain new leads.

2. Plan your ad campaigns ahead of time

Don’t wait for peak season to start planning your real estate Facebook marketing posts — have them ready ahead of time. Did you know that U.S. homes listed for sale in early May sell for $1,600 more than the average listing throughout the year? Or that homes listed on Saturday are viewed the most on Zillow within the first week of listing?

Planning ahead for these prime marketing times will help you better target your audience and generate leads. It will also help you accurately budget for real estate social media marketing each month.

3. Feature high-quality images in your posts

First impressions are everything when it comes to your real estate Facebook posts. People may only take a second or two before deciding whether to click a link to a home, and 49% of buyers find it extremely or very important to view professional pictures of a home before determining if it’s right for them.

It’s crucial to make sure your real estate photography not only represents your brand, but also appeals to your audience. Consider hiring a professional or investing in a camera that takes high-quality photos. If you decide to hire a pro, you can browse Zillow’s directory of real estate photographers to easily find someone with the experience you need.

4. Show floor-plan images

We found that 60% of buyers find it important to view a floor plan of a home before determining if it’s right for them. Mixing in a floor plan with high-quality images will help your Facebook real estate listings stand out from the competition and give buyers a realistic view of the home.

5. Create informative descriptions

Professional and informative descriptions also can set your real estate Facebook posts apart from the rest. Keep your descriptions short and enticing — the goal is to get your audience to click the ad’s link, where they can go for more information. Since 58% of buyers find it extremely or very important to have access to comprehensive data and the history of a home before determining if it's right for them, make sure the link has complete details of the listing.

Some details to include in your Facebook real estate ads:

• Price
• Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
• Neighborhood
• One or two interesting features that compel your audience to click

As a Zillow Premier Agent, you'll have access to personalized property landing pages, where you can lay out all the property details while also introducing your brand.

6. Use video to increase engagement

Did you know that Facebook posts featuring videos have the most engagement, with 8 billion views each day? And that 72% of sellers value an agent who has a video or other media taken of a home? You can use real estate video ads on Facebook to give your audience a:

• Behind-the-scenes look at your business
• Personal walkthrough of a home
• First look at an open house
• Neighborhood tour

Your Facebook videos can be streamed live or pre-recorded. 

If you want to take your listings a step further, you can also create an interactive Zillow 3D Home® tour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4LUg0qfiYI&t=2s

7. Showcase multiple listings with carousel ads

Carousel ads are a great way to display Facebook real estate ads that are heavy on visuals. You'll be able to display images in a catalog-type format so viewers can scroll through them. Carousel ads are an effective way to:

• Show multiple high-quality photos of a listing.
• Show three separate listings with one photo per listing.

8. Share testimonials from clients

Testimonials are an effective real estate Facebook marketing tactic because they establish trust. When potential clients see that you've gone above and beyond for past clients, they may be inclined to use you as their agent. Testimonial ads can be a single photo, a carousel or in video format. Try sharing a video testimonial from a past client or a photo of your client as they close on a new home. You can direct traffic to client reviews on your website or to your Zillow Premier Agent profile.

9. Integrate Facebook ads with traditional advertising methods

Running Facebook ads at the same time (and to the same audience) that you deploy traditional marketing methods — like postcards, flyers and newsletters — creates multiple touch points within your farming area to help convert leads. You could potentially show up in their social media feed, their mailbox and their email inbox to ensure you're top of mind if they decide to sell or buy a home.

10. Track ad performance

Facebook offers ad metrics, which you can monitor to improve your real estate Facebook ad performance. The metrics you can measure are:

Engagement: The number of times a potential lead took an action on your ad by either clicking, sharing, commenting or reacting.

Reach: The number of people who have seen your ad on Facebook through paid and organic views.

Impressions: The number of times your posts were seen. If the same person sees your ad multiple times, it counts as multiple impressions.

Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of people who clicked on your ad after viewing it.

Cost per action (CPA): The cost based on a specific person's action — commonly used to measure an ad's ROI.

Ad frequency: The number of times your ad is viewed by your target audience.

Measuring your Facebook ad performance will help you gather insights to create better, more effective campaigns in the future.

 

For more articles, tips and data, visit our Zillow Premier Agent Resource Center.