May 16th 2016

Here’s How to Put a Digital “Sign in the Yard”

 

Keep reading to learn how to download Facebook Ad templates!

Over the last few years, Facebook has changed dramatically.

Not too long ago, Facebook was primarily a tool to connect with people.

Now, the newsfeed is a source of media and information for people, and smart agents are using to get in front of potential clients, grow their spheres of influence, and grow their businesses.

In this video, me and Garry break down one of our most effective Facebook Ad campaigns, “The Agent Branded Campaign.”

The Agent Branded Campaign is a digital farming strategy that’s been incredibly effective for the agents in our brokerage.

Here’s an example:

Screen Shot 2016-05-15 at 4.09.49 PM

We run ads like the one above to target groups. First we narrow down to the specific zip codes our agents work in. Then we narrow the group of people to potential buyers by age, income, and so on. You can even target homeowners who are likely to move!

Facebook Ad targeting by zip code:
Screen Shot 2016-05-15 at 4.10.39 PM

Finding people “likely to move”:
Screen Shot 2016-05-15 at 4.11.07 PM

Want to learn, step-by-step, how to create and run one of these campaigns? Down the checklist below:

Click here to download the Agent Branded Campaign Checklist!

5 Comments

  1. Great Article - thank you so much for sharing. Facebook advertising has become so easy, but it seems like agents need support in making that first step.

    We recognize in our research that most people need to generate about 100 leads, incubate them for a year, to generate a 1-5% conversion rate. How many Facebook impressions to you need to generate to drive sales? I ask the question because many agents seem to purchase too little online advertising to make it effective. If a town only has 60,000 homes, do you still think it can work?

    • I would say the biggest benefit from doing agent branded ads is that it's very common for our agents to go on an appointment or have someone from their sphere say, "I saw your ad on Facebook!"

      This is a huge step in building confidence/trust with the person working with the agent... and really sets the agent apart from a marketing perspective with those prospects. Part of our promise to home sellers is that we will do a lot of digital marketing... and this is a good way to showcase our skills while building reputation/confidence/identity.

  2. Great question Victor! We're using FB Ads (amongst many other forms of digital marketing) for 2 purposes... one is to market property for our sellers, and the other is for lead generation. In the case of the first purpose, we see it as our fiduciary responsibility to market our sellers homes beyond making it available in the market (i.e. listing it in the MLS). That means finding where home buyers are online and offline, and marketing to them in those locations. For this purpose, FB has been great and every dollar has been well spent. In the old days (like 25 or 30 years ago), we would have run the same ad content in a newspaper or local magazine. In this case FB impressions are sufficient. But Impressions are not always sufficient, such as when we do lead gen.

    For the other purpose, that is to generate leads, we find we have to spend a considerable amount of money to generate online leads that are likely to convert in the near future. In this case, we optimize for Web Conversions instead of Impressions... I've seen costs range anywhere from $3 - $85 to generate leads (or website conversions). We often market to farm areas with 5,000 - 10,000 homes, so it is working in smaller sub markets. Like all forms of PPC, it requires a diligence in split testing and updating ad creative to get to and maintain lower costs.

    We are in Austin, so it's hard for me to say whether we are unique or whether other markets would performs differently. In my observation, it's been hard to get a good gauge how others are doing because most are ignoring the PPC fundamentals to achieve and maintain lower lead gen costs. Thanks for the question Victor!

  3. What do I do to run an ad on anew listing and get started doing this

    • Pat, here's a link to how to post on running just listed campaigns on FB:

      http://blog.thepaperlessagent.com/2016/05/bring-your-just-listed-campaign-into-the-digital-age/

      Hope that helps!

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Kyle Strohschein

Kyle Strohschein is a copywriter and digital marketer with more than 15 years of experience marketing in the real estate space. He specializes in helping fast-growth companies scale their marketing efforts to increase leads, sales, and ROI. He is currently Director of Marketing at The Paperless Agent.

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