And *ahem* Facebook ads were the only source of traffic for the company, at that time!

That helped me to secure a 1-month retainer bonus for 3 months straight! Woohoo!

So this client of mine set up his new, 2-person show, company in real estate back in December 2021.

In real estate, one of the main objectives, if not the only main marketing objective; is to get as many quality leads as possible.

This is true if you’re the developer promoting the property yourself, or if you’re the agent trying to find potential buyers.

A quality lead is everything.

So how did we set up the campaign, and make sure we’re only getting the very best type of leads?

Here’s how we did it.

1. Be creative with the targeting options on FB Ads.

The first thing you need to know if you’re in the housing or real estate industry, and if you’ve never run any Facebook ads before; is that your ads will be under Facebook’s Special Ad Category.

This is an initiative taken by Facebook to avoid any unlawful discriminatory ads.

Your targeting options will be very limited.

But that shouldn’t break your spirit.

You could still target some specific interests such as First Time Buyers, Property, and Real Estate.

But I would encourage you to go one step further, depending on the type of demographic you’re targeting (high or low-income segment), and target the name of the brands they shop at, or their interests.

For example, the low-income segment probably won’t be very interested in Equestrians.

2. Stop showing the building picture as the ads.

We’ve all seen it. Real estate companies’ ads on Facebook are just full of low-dimmed shiny buildings of the new property.

But you could also try new creatives — such as a family getting the key to their first house, with a text saying “This could be you”.

Or a quick tour video of the property.

Or if you want to target people who want to look for apartments or areas that are dog-friendly or pet-friendly, you could put a picture of those people with pets as the image of the ads.

We honestly have tested SO many ads for this. And you need to do the same too.

But I’ll let you in on a secret — the holy grail ad that actually performed so well for us that it’s mad crazy.

Ready?

A picture of a map, with an area being highlighted.

Yes, I’m not kidding. This could work if you want to target a specific area, or maybe you want to show people that they could buy property in that area.

Whatever it is, be creative with your ads and test as many different ads as possible. Then only you’ll know what will work for your business.

3. Filter the leads.

This is how we get leads that are actually serious buyers.

Once they opt in, we take them to a form that has a lot more information they need to fill in. We have changed the form at least 4 times now to see which one works best.

Remember that the longer and more tedious your form is, the lower the conversion rate.

If you want to really filter the buyers — what type of property they are looking for, how many bedrooms etc., you might need a longer form. Yes, the conversion rate might be lower, but it’s much easier to close the sale when you know exactly what your customer wants.

However, if you know you have a very good sales team, then you might want to just collect the essential details, maybe with only 6 different fields, and be okay with having a very short form.

4. What’s your offer?

This is marketing 101.

What can you offer your customers that your competitors can’t, or won’t?

For my client, they will help the customers to find and secure grants that can help them financially. Or for high-commission properties, they will throw in a couple of vouchers for home improvements, etc.

The conclusion is, you need to stand out. So find a way!

5. Follow up with email.

Sometimes the leads that we get, don’t all submit the second form when they first came in.

But with our emails, we managed to get more than 70% completed form submissions against our total leads.

You don’t need to bombard your leads with emails every day. But an update once a week, or a testimonial from a recent client could be the trick 🙂

6. Expand with referrals.

Some people actually make a living just by referring other people they know to real estate agents.

Once you close a client and they are happy with you, you could ask them if they know anyone else that would need your services.

And as a reward, if that referral buys a property, your client can get a percentage of your commission, or a fixed amount — up to you.

If you’re in real estate, I’m pretty sure this is not new but this is how you can expand even further from the FB leads you’re getting and converting.

Also Read: 7 Best Digital Marketing Strategies For Real Estate In 2023