Turn Facebook Followers Into Real Estate Clients

In 2015, Facebook passed 1.49 billion monthly active users, 874 million mobile users, and 728 million daily users. Combine those staggering numbers with recent National Association of REALTORS® stats that show that more than half of all homebuyers learn about houses on social media sites, and you’ll quickly understand why establishing a Facebook network to interact with clients is necessary for success.

A savvy agent understands that interaction isn’t enough. Sure, comments and likes are great, and seeing your Facebook-friend list increase is always a nice boost, but if you aren’t turning these people into clients—those who reach out to you about buying or selling a home—you’re not using the site correctly. You may be building up a nice list of people who come to your page to read about helpful home tips, view a weekly joke or even see the photos of new houses on the market, but getting those people to take the next step is key. Here are four ways to turn those Facebook followers into clients.

1. Utilize Facebook Analytics

Facebook offers a series of free tools for real estate pros to measure the effectiveness of their Facebook marketing efforts. In addition to a business page, Facebook also offers insights, analytics, and targeted advertising as a way to improve your branding presence and increase your conversion rate. Analytics can tell you which of your posts are engaging followers, allowing you to create similar content for more interaction. Also, use your Facebook insights to determine the type of audience most frequently interacting with your posts, and then tailor your content and marketing accordingly.

2. Target a Custom Audience

Another way to interact with potential clients through Facebook is by creating customized ads and targeting them to reach a custom audience, specifically users who have visited your website. This Facebook tool allows you to reengage with these users to make your ads more impactful. Creating this custom audience involves adding a Facebook-generated code to your webpages, but it’s not as difficult as it sounds. View this help page for more details and step-by-step directions.

3. Create New Carousel Ads

Until recently, Facebook only allowed you to promote a single listing in a paid advertisement. However, now they’ve created a carousel option with multiple images and links. With this new ad option, you can create 3 – 5 images for a single ad unit, along with headlines and links or calls to action for each. If you have multiple listings in the same community, this is an ideal way to feature each of those properties. Then, take it one step further by targeting the ad to users who live in that area and may be looking to move.

When selecting images for this ad, it’s critical to find high-quality photos that will capture your audience. With this type of ad, when a user clicks on a particular listing, it will take them straight to your website where they can read more about the property. Even if the listing isn’t a fit for them, they’ll already be on your website where they can browse for other available options.

4. Engage through Featured Videos

According to the National Association of REALTORS®, homes listed with video get four times more inquiries than homes listed without video. Furthermore, Facebook studies show that Facebook accounts for 60 percent of all video content sharing worldwide. Looking at these numbers, it’s clear that users are engaging with video content on this social platform. By taking advantage of the featured video tool, you’ll be able to create another lead generating source. This tool allows you to pin an uploaded video to the top of the video tab on your profile. Each time a user checks the video page of your profile, your featured selection will be the first thing they see.

When determining which video to feature (or even what to create), consider what you want to push to your audience. Do you have a number of listings in the same community? If so, you could make a video that highlights the key aspects of that community, such as local coffee shops, parks, shopping areas, etc. On the other hand, if you have a new listing you’d like to promote, video allows you to give prospects a virtual tour of the property, while also showing clients you’re doing all you can to sell their home.

Developing relationships with your Facebook followers can take time, but it will be worth the effort once the conversion begins. If you’re looking for a way to get the most out of your social media efforts or need help getting started, the Homes.com Social team can help. A comprehensive social media suite, Homes.com Social is designed specifically for real estate professionals who are looking to better connect with their audience.