Most real estate brokers understand the enormous potential of Facebook marketing.
In reality, I've personally spoken with over 120 individual agents and small teams, and that opinion was virtually universally echoed.
Despite seeing the enormous potential, relatively few of them were able to profit from Facebook marketing.
Why is this the case? What kinds of errors are agents making, and how may they be avoided in order to turn modest advances into tremendous success?
Why Does Hyperlocal Marketing Give You An Advantage?
Before we get into the tactics, let's define hyperlocal and why it should be your new favorite word. Beyond local is a literal translation of hyperlocal. It's a marketing strategy that is diametrically opposed to striving to please the general population.
Over half of all Americans of all ages use Facebook on a daily basis, with 70% of those aged 30-44 doing so.
According to these data, the majority of your leads are spending more and more time online.
But do you know who else is on the internet? Real estate giants like Zillow, Redfin, and Trulia. It's practically difficult to do an online property search without coming across them.
So, despite these listing behemoths getting an increasingly larger slice of the real estate pie, how come certain real estate brokers are generating massive returns through Facebook marketing?
That's because those real estate listing behemoths compete on a large scale. They concentrate on the larger picture and aim to cover as much ground as possible. They create tools that are useful to the general public.
However, due to the nature of their business model, they are unable to provide fully individualized services and knowledge at the hyperlocal level. This particular blind spot presents a big potential for real estate professionals.
But hyperlocal is more than just the inverse of the macro. It's about delving into the specific communities where you do business and discovering methods to provide actual value - all while exhibiting knowledge and sharing your personality.
You advertise these attributes through a website and marketing campaign that forges strong bonds with your ideal leads.
What's more, the best part? Most of your competitors, including Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin, are HORRIBLE at it.
Step 1: Customize And Hyperlocalize Your Ads And Targeting
Consider your target audience while creating ads that target your hyperlocal location. Who exactly is your intended audience? What is your area of expertise? Do you specialize in first-time buyers, downsizing, or waterfront properties? Once you've identified your niche, take the time to consider and outline the desires and needs of your hyperlocal market.
Next, position your marketing to promote you, your website, and/or the precise technologies you're using as the unmistakable answer to their real estate demands. Ideally, in a way that makes you both relatable and distinct.
How do you go about doing that? Consider two examples: a standard ad and a hyperlocal ad.
At first sight, it may appear that there is nothing wrong with this advertisement. After all, you've undoubtedly seen a lot of things like that before. But that, in and of itself, is the issue. This advertisement appears to be generic.
First and foremost, it does not target any single area. It's just intended for the general public in the expectation that some receivers will be interested in learning how much their home is worth. In other words, it competes on a par with Zillow and other real estate platforms.
But you're not going to be able to compete with those men. Not because they have a better product or service than you, but because they have WAY more marketing dollars than you.
And, while this type of ad may get some results, it has the ability to produce far more with a few changes.
Let's have a look at this hyperlocal advertisement:
This advertisement is significantly more concentrated than the last one. First and foremost, it is aimed at a very specific sort of client (those looking to reside in a golf community) in a very specific region (Colorado Springs).
Though its audience is much smaller, it accomplishes its purpose significantly better than the prior advertisement. For Colorado Springs people who want to live in a golf community, it is far more tempting and relevant.
That's what I call hyperlocal!
Audiences On Facebook
Please keep in mind that Facebook now requires "Housing Opportunities or Related Service" adverts to be published through a "Special Ad Category," limiting your ability to include demographic targeting choices.
You can choose to target a certain location by dropping a pin on a map. This pin circles a 15-mile radius and allows you to target Facebook people who live within that radius.
You can still run the ads advised in this post to an email/remarketing list to get around this. Stay tuned for a particular technique we discovered to get around this by making ebook advertising.
If you haven't already, join us for our email here to ensure you don't miss out!
People Wish To Do Business With Others
When creating ad copy, keep readability and personality in mind. Use no legalese, corporate jargon, or "sales" language.
You want to come across as a genuine individual, not a faceless company.
Include unique terms or regional lingo utilized in the places you're targeting in your material to make your adverts more hyperlocal.
Here's a terrific example of a new listing Facebook carousel ad:
Example Of A Facebook Carousel
It has hyperlocal qualities by emphasizing the neighborhood it is aimed at, it employs normal English rather than corporate jargon, and it even has some personality by using emojis and a welcoming tone.
Step 2: Mastering The Landing Page
A landing page is a single web page to which your leads are sent after clicking on your advertisement. A landing page's goal is to serve as a content gate. You exchange something of value for valuable information. The leads' full name, email address, and/or phone number are often the most valuable pieces of information.
To create the best landing page possible, make sure you:
- Don't beat about the bush; say what you mean. Let's get to the point. Your headline should convey exactly what you're giving and should be identical to the ad that brought the visitor to the page.
- Personalize your copy by using ordinary language and writing text that seems like it comes from a real person.
- Introduce yourself in a non-obtrusive manner - It is totally acceptable to briefly introduce yourself and describe what your visitors can expect. Lay up the visitor's problem and how you plan to solve it (after they provide their information).
What Would That Entail?
Let's take a look at how the Colorado Spring golf houses example approached their landing page.
First and foremost, this landing page defines clearly what it does. It provides you with access to a database of ranch homes in golf communities.
Second, the copy is written in a friendly, ordinary tone. It names the real estate agent, acknowledges the problem (visitors want to know which golf properties are available), and offers a solution.
To obtain the solution, visitors simply need to submit their name, email address, and phone number.
Step 3: A Results Page That Provides Massive Value In A Simple Way
Of course, a well-written, hyperlocal ad directed at the proper group isn't enough. You must also deliver the things.
You can provide a variety of incentives on your landing page. High-value ebooks, guidelines, consultations, and live or pre-recorded seminars are common examples.
However, if you want to develop a high-value campaign in minutes, one of the simplest (and most effective) methods to construct an offer is to just use a curated IDX search results page and mix it with some clever language.
Let's go over our previous Facebook ads again.
As you can see, the value communicated in the ad language is a list of available properties.
Your potential homebuyers will then be sent to a stored IDX search that we created in less than a minute. To put it another way:
- To identify a certain type of home in your hyperlocal area, use your IDX search and filter features.
- Then, copy the URL of that saved search and use Facebook advertisements to bring visitors to it.
Simple for you while still providing enormous value to the end-user.
Step 4: Follow-up
Each lead you receive will be at a different stage of the purchasing or selling process. Some are at the outset of their buyer's journey and have just begun their property hunt. Others are eager to begin working with a real estate agent but are unsure who to employ.
However, those leads who clicked on your Facebook ad and provided their contact information on your landing page are unlikely to be at the start of their journey.
That doesn't imply they're all ready to buy or commit to a real estate agent. However, it implies that they require nurturing and a mild prod to make the decision to hire you.
That is why your follow-up is critical.
During those over 120 hour-long interviews with real estate agents and teams, another point on which all of the best producers agreed was that the sooner you contact your leads, the more likely it is that the dialogue will begin.
How Should You Proceed With These Leads?
A fantastic technique to follow up is to create an email list of all the leads from your landing page and give them valuable emails on a regular basis. This will help you to exhibit your expertise while also increasing your reputation.
While many real estate agents understand the need and benefit of following up on leads, they do not make the mistake of merely reaching out and "touching" those leads on a regular basis with scripted, generic season's greetings and "market analysis."
You know those ones: a random list of properties, some season greetings, or the standard "your property has increased in value" market study. These rarely provide genuine value to clients and are utterly devoid of individuality. To put it another way, spam.
Here are the most critical components of a good hyperlocal follow-up email, in my opinion:
- Deliver some value – If you know your audience well, you'll be able to deliver valuable content that caters to their special interests. For instance, if your niche is golf community downsizers, you may publish articles and recommendations like "How to Pick the Right Golf Community."If you're looking for property sellers, you may send out offers like a free home valuation or an invitation to a cup of coffee to discuss your lead's real estate needs.
- Showcase hyperlocal expertise — Include emails in your sequence that provide information about specific neighborhoods in your area (from a real estate standpoint), information on specific financing programs or tax breaks that may be available in your state, or even links to short blog write-ups about local attractions.
Because this one-two punch is so potent, we decided to provide a "Blog Assist Tool" with every Spark Site. It collects real estate articles from local sources, publishes them straight to your site, and incorporates our Area Guides system (widely regarded as the best of its kind in the business) to automatically fill your website with content that potential homebuyers perceive to be actually valuable. For additional information, please visit our tour page.
In addition to everything described above, you should make sure that the emails have some personality to make them sound less 'business' and more 'pleasant'. Remember that people prefer to do business with individuals rather than corporate machines.
Here's an example of an effective follow-up email. Take note of how it addresses all of the above issues (particularly the addition of personality in the form of a cute kitty).
Quality And Focus Will Always Triumph Over Mass-Produced Mediocrity
Never underestimate the potential of a hyperlocal, niche-oriented campaign. Especially when combined with Facebook's fantastic marketing tools. When utilized in tandem, they may prove to be your most effective marketing initiatives.