Facebook Advertising is alive and well! In fact, this very month, we’ve generated over 1,000 real estate leads with less than $2,500 in real estate Facebook ad spend. Yes, we’re talking about getting leads for $2.50 on average!
But, with that being said, why are so many agents struggling with Facebook Ads? Is it because of the IOS update? Is it that Facebook hates you? Well…let’s look at it.
(P.S. Be sure you stay to the end to see the ONE mistake that’s going to cost you the most if you don’t avoid it!)
1. Not Giving a Call to Action
First off, one huge mistake is not having a clear call to action. Your ad copy MUST instruct your viewers (in this case, Facebook browsers) on what the next step is AND what exactly you’re offering. A confused mind will always say “no”!
So, make an offer of a list of homes under a certain price range, a list of homes that are off market, access to an exclusive new build community that’s offering no closing costs, etc. Make an offer that will add value to your viewers’ lives.
Yes, you’re making an offer that they may or may not be able to source on their own…but understand that the more appealing the offer, the more chance you’ll have of getting leads. So, make an offer clear and concise so the people that stumble upon your ad know what they’re getting.
2. Not Split Testing
Another big mistake I see too often is that we real estate agents are not split testing. And, I’ll be honest…I think I have fed into this culture by just giving you the ad copies in many of my videos without stressing the NEED to split test. But, the truth is, what works in most markets does NOT work in ALL markets.
So if you’re spending $10/day in ads…split it up into $5 for one ad or ad set and use the other $5 for another ad or ad set. Do not run all of your real estate Facebook ad spend on one campaign until you find what works for your audience. When you’ve found that, THEN you scale it up.
3. Using Bad Multimedia
One big mistake all agents are making right now (myself included, at times) is using crappy multimedia (e.g., images, videos, and any visuals). That’s right, we’ll get everything right…right up to the point when we have to decide on the photo or video to use.
We, as Realtors, forget to consider when we’re running ads that our competition is NOT other Realtors—our competition is EVERYBODY. That includes organic or paid posts alike!
Listen, you’re competing for attention with these Facebook Ads. This means you’re not being compared to other real estate agents only…you’re competing with every post on Facebook. So, use the highest quality photos and reshoot your videos if you’re out of focus or made another mistake. Be mindful of what you’re using as visuals to ensure they’re of the highest possible quality.
Only high-quality visuals can truly compete with EVERYONE out there. Make sure you’re working on the scale you must compete in to get the leads you need.
4. Giving Up Too Quickly
Just like in life, too many of us real estate agents give up on Facebook Ads too quickly. We panic when Facebook sends us the first email notification saying they’ve charged our credit card.
Here’s the thing—it for sure takes more than $100 to see if a campaign even has a shot at working. Since we in our business launch campaigns every day all across the country…we pretty much know our internal KPIs on campaigns and can pull the plug much faster. This is because we have practiced and now know how many leads (and for how much) we expect to get with the ad copy we are using.
However, if you are launching a Facebook Ad for real estate leads for the first time, don’t panic when you’re $25 into the campaign and no leads have been generated. Give the ad and algorithm some time to find an audience for you.
5. Not Tracking
With that being said, you do need to track your numbers. Track the number of clicks, the real estate leads generated, the number of real leads vs fake leads, and, most importantly, the number of clients you actually close using Facebook Ads.
I’m not here championing Facebook, claiming that if you launch Facebook Ads it’ll eventually just work out—that’s essentially the opposite of what I’m saying. I’m here to tell that you although Facebook Ads work for us—mostly because we have all of our systems dialed in—they may not work for you if you don’t.
So, you have to track your numbers and make a business decision about where your advertising budget is going. With that being said, give yourself 3 full months of Facebook Ads, running at least $300 of ad spend per month ($900 total). Then, track your conversions and see if it’s worth it for your business to keep going.
6. Not Testing Your Ads
One HUGE mistake that is overlooked is not testing the Facebook Ads. Believe it or not, over 75% of the Facebook ad campaigns we audit for our new clients have something materially wrong with them. It could be that the landing page they are directing people to is not working, that their contact information is wrong, that their email/text autoresponders are not linked up correctly, etc.
Can you imagine spending hundreds to thousands of dollars in ad spend only to find out all of the traffic was going to a landing page with the wrong phone number? Why yes, you might be getting some opt-ins (i.e., leads), but you’re missing out on those people who are more accustomed to just picking up the phone. Test your Facebook Ads and avoid needlessly wasting money!
7. No Strategy
Here it is—here’s the mistake that will cost you BIG time if you make it!
This mistake sounds so obvious that you’re probably going to laugh…in fact go ahead and comment “obvious” to let me know you made it here. But the biggest mistake that costs agents thousands of dollars is having NO STRATEGY.
That’s right, we as agents get all excited, watch one Facebook Ads video, take out the credit card, and then let it rip. We have no strategy for the campaign or for what we’ll do once the lead comes in. We almost convince ourselves that the ad is going to take care of itself. Well…we both know, that’s not the truth!
So the best thing I can tell you is to get clarity on how much you want to spend, what type of lead you want to generate, and how you’re going to follow up with the lead as soon as it comes in.
At the end of the day, Facebook Ads still work for real estate agents. We are proving that the right strategy works with our agents every day. However, there are some glaring, avoidable pitfalls that you must avoid to get the most out of each real estate Facebook ad. Take the seven points listed above, learn from our mistakes (and those of the hundreds of other agents we’ve worked with), and don’t miss out by making them too!