A Comprehensive 13 Step Guide To Facebook Real Estate Marketing
Image courtesy of The Kellogg Doolittle Residence, USA
To conquer real estate digital marketing and get a leg up on competitors, marketers must utilize the world’s most popular social media platform: Facebook. With nearly three billion monthly active users, Facebook is an ideal place for real estate businesses to reach their target audience, promote their projects, and grow their brand.
Real estate Facebook marketing requires a well-thought-out strategy to be effective. If companies don’t create intelligent ad campaigns, no amount of money in the digital marketing budget will generate leads.
In this article, we’ll break down how to market real estate on Facebook, and provide examples of top tier Facebook marketing ideas for real estate.
How To Develop A Real Estate Facebook Marketing Strategy
Cyclades Villa development & image courtesy of LAAV Architects
Every company is different, with unique objectives, strategies, and desired results. But, there are specific things all marketers and real estate agents must think about before diving headfirst into the world of Facebook and real estate marketing.
We’ve highlighted thirteen key steps to creating an effective marketing campaign:
Step 1: Identify A Target Audience
Even the best real estate advertising is ineffective if it’s not reaching the correct audience. This is especially true when it comes to combing through three billion active Facebook users. To find your target audience, consider the type of property you’re promoting. For example:
Developers working on a retirement village want to reach users of a certain age.
Marketers for a luxury resort will target an audience based on income level.
Affordable urban apartment planners will market to young professionals and college students.
Beyond these examples are countless other differentiators. Here are some key filters to consider when marketing real estate posts for Facebook:
Geographic location
Marital status
Job title
Interests and hobbies
Current living status (renter or homeowner)
Step 2: Create A Budget
A successful real estate Facebook marketing campaign requires more than just creativity and compelling content; it demands a well-structured budget to fuel its success.
To create a comprehensive budget, outline your marketing goals, timeline, and how much you’re willing to invest. This gives you checkpoints to see if your strategy is worth the investment or if you need to go back to the drawing board.
Once you set your budget, you can enter it into your account settings so your Facebook advertising campaign costs exactly what you expect.
Step 3: Keep Your Brand Voice Consistent
Brand voice is an element of Facebook marketing that should remain consistent to attract a target niche and to retain potential buyers.
For example, see how Villa Punto de Vista in Costa Rica centers their brand voice around adventure: In their real estate Facebook posts, you’ll see images of breathtaking scenery and exotic wildlife, combined with phrases like “jungles of Costa Rica,” “jittering monkeys,” and “minutes from the beach.”
This consistent tone of adventure and exploration hones in on a specific demographic and maintains a connection with them through themed real estate Facebook post ideas.
To maximize this strategy, be sure to use the same voice all across all top social social media platforms for real estate.
Step 4: Create A Facebook Business Page
This digital hub allows you to build your brand identity, community, and engage directly with your audience. It's a place where you can showcase your expertise through insightful blog posts, engaging visuals, and informative content.
What's more, your business Facebook page offers an invaluable tool: Facebook Insights. This feature provides a close look at your audience's demographics and behavior, empowering you to tailor your strategies to reach specific target groups.
Step 5: Leverage Facebook Insights
Facebook Insights is a treasure trove of data that can provide invaluable insights into your real estate marketing performance. Using these analytical tools wisely can transform raw data into actionable intelligence.
Understand Key Metrics: Familiarize yourself with metrics like reach, engagement, demographics, and more.
Interpret Data Effectively: Translate data into insights by identifying trends, tracking engagement, and measuring campaign success.
Refine Your Strategy: Apply insights to refine ad targeting, content, timing, and more.
Step 6: Understand the Facebook Algorithm
The Facebook algorithm plays a pivotal role in determining which content appears in users' feeds. By understanding and adapting to the algorithm, you can ensure that your real estate marketing efforts reach their full potential.
Here are specific strategies to help you succeed:
Study the Algorithm's Factors: Understanding factors like engagement, relevance, and timeliness can influence your content's visibility. For a new property launch, craft posts that align with current trends and encourage community interaction to boost relevance.
Optimize Content for Engagement: Create content that encourages likes, comments, and shares. If promoting a beachfront property, you might post stunning sunset photos and ask followers to share their favorite beach memories. This interaction can increase your content's visibility.
Analyze Performance Metrics: Utilize Facebook's tools like Insights to track how changes in the algorithm affect your posts. If you notice that videos of property walkthroughs are receiving more engagement than static images, consider creating more ads with key real estate video marketing ideas in mind.
Staying updated with the Facebook algorithm will enable you to fine-tune your strategies and stay ahead in the competitive real estate market.
Step 7: Utilize Different Types of Ads
Facebook’s flexibility allows marketers to access several types of media in one convenient platform. Every ad has the potential to include images, video, audio, blog posts, links, carousel ads, and more.
A great example of mixed-media advertising was created by The Luminous Villa in Greece.
The ad showcases the property’s natural ambiance with a beautiful drone shot to capture the viewer’s attention. The video is complemented with text that describes the villa's features and amenities without giving too much away.
This well-delivered mix of dynamic visuals with detailed copywriting helps pique the interest of potential customers.
Step 8: Grab The Viewer’s Attention
Advertisements can grab viewer’s attention through captivating video, images, or text.
While Luminous Villa hooks its audience with a drone shot, 333 Fremont Apartments draws in potential customers with an irresistible offer:
“Two Weeks Free”
The intriguing text captures the target’s attention, stopping their Facebook scrolling in its tracks. Once the viewer is fixed on the ad, they’re likely to read the additional ad copy about the apartment’s unique features, amenities, and architecture.
Step 9: Elicit An Emotional Response
When you connect with potential clients on an emotional level, you aren’t just offering to buy or sell a property –– you're offering a lifestyle experience.
Take Sotheby’s International Realty, for example. They specialize in selling some of the world's most exclusive properties and their marketing goes beyond showcasing stunning homes. They aim to tell the prospects how they'll feel stepping inside.
Whether it's the excitement of a first home, the elegance of a penthouse, or the tranquility of a countryside villa, your Facebook marketing should resonate with the emotions you’d like to convey at your open houses.
Step 10: Engage With Viewers
Real estate companies can use Facebook to engage with online users and build brand loyalty. By engaging with customers on Facebook, your brand can:
Answer Customer Questions: Provide prompt and helpful information.
Receive Valuable Feedback: Learn what your audience loves and what needs improvement.
Hone Your Brand Voice: Consistently interact to reinforce your identity.
Learn More About Your Audience: Understand their needs and preferences.
Grow an Active Community: Encourage conversation and collaboration among happy customers.
Remember, engagement isn’t just about likes and comments; it's about connecting on a personal level and showing that your brand cares.
Step 11: Learn From Your Results And Re-Target Successful Ads
One of the most vital steps in a successful Facebook campaign is trial and error. Marketers must optimize their advertisements by finding out what is working and what isn’t.
When companies discover which ads are the most successful, they then re-target those to specific audiences. By studying which individuals are showing the most interest, they can serve their most successful ads at the right times.
For example, The Wales in New York City used a dynamic retargeting strategy: testing four different images to discover which one performed the best. When they found a winner, they retargeted that image to those who had previously shown interest in the property.
Another New York City property, 130 William, ran two ads to learn which one resonated most with viewers: One featuring sunset, and presenting sunrise. Their research into consumer preference for time of day gave them a novel insight for better reaching their audience.
Step 12: Always Include A Call To Action
Every Facebook ad should conclude with a clear call to action (CTA), guiding your audience towards the next step in their journey with your brand.
Examples of popular calls to action include:
“Get Quote”: Perfect for initiating serious inquiries.
“Contact Us”: Invites dialogue and personal connection.
“Buy Now”: Assertive and direct, suitable for limited-time offers.
“Schedule A Tour”: Offers an immersive experience of the property.
Or, try more creative options for unique situations, such as:
“Add To Your Bucket List”
“Welcome New Home Buyers”
“Find My Dream Home”
One tried and true option that requires minimal commitment is simply “Learn More.”
Step 13: Beat Common Challenges with these Solutions
Every marketing platform presents unique challenges, and Facebook is no different. In real estate marketing, some common obstacles might hinder success, but knowing how to tackle them can keep you on track.
Targeting the Right Audience
Common Challenge: Missing your target market can lead to wasted ad spend.
Solution: Utilize Facebook’s detailed targeting options to zero in on specific demographics such as age, income level, or homeownership status. For a retirement village, target users over a certain age to maximize impact.
Ad Fatigue
Common Challenge: If viewers see the same ad repeatedly, they may lose interest.
Solution: Implement a frequent ad rotation strategy. For example, if promoting a luxury resort, create different visuals showcasing various amenities to keep the ads fresh and engaging.
Cliff Retreat concept & image courtesy of Alex Hogrefe
We Can Help You with Real Estate Social Media Marketing
Real estate Facebook marketing is a difficult yet rewarding form of digital advertising. While our thirteen step guide can help you develop a marketing strategy, the hard work is far from over.
Proven Partners can help your business with every aspect of Facebook marketing, from strategy and content development, to community management, to analysis & reporting. Check out our social media marketing page, and contact us today to conquer your real estate Facebook marketing goals.
