Social Media for Real Estate
Ever heard the saying "Any publicity is good publicity"?
Social media is a bit like that. It doesn’t matter if the comments are positive or negative, Facebook sees it as a win. The more people engage (click, comment, share) the further an advertisement goes because it is considered more social and the algorithm says “people are enjoying this, let’s put it in front of more people”.
To explain the social media algorithm in the simplest term: The algorithm calculates similar people who have clicked/engaged with the advert and sends the advert out to more people like them (interests, age, social status, location, etc)
When buyers are searching for a property, they tend to hone in on a suburb or area. A buyer will generally filter the major portals down to 2-4 suburbs they're interested in, the attributes and the price.
This is where social media can help attract buyers. The algorithm will have found they're interested in properties and send them relevant advertisements.
It might be just an image, or a description that flags their attention.
The property might not have been in the area they're looking, it might not have been the exact type of property they're looking for, but it can reach buyers as far as you'd like it to travel.
My theory on real estate social media is to use it to give an extra 1/2 week to attract buyers outside the usual search channels of the major portals. There are buyers out there that have yet to discover your suburb, your house, your area and social media may just help them buy in another location.
How often has someone said they’re looking in certain suburbs and ended up buying in totally different suburbs or they’ve been looking at a certain type of house and ended up buying the complete opposite (brick vs timber) just because they saw something in the property or suburb that they hadn’t seen before?
I generally run up to 4 advertisements per property on social media (Facebook and Instagram)with different agendas, as there is a different goal behind each advertisement.
Below are just a couple of advertisement styles.
Phase 1 - Image plus lead advert
The below adverts are examples of what are considered lead generation adverts, we then have an automation system set up to shoot back the link in text and email.
These adverts promote engagement, both positive and negative, creating further reach. As you can see the quality, engagement, and conversion is of above average quality.
Phase 2 - Video Adverts
A video advert aims to get as many video views as possible which equates closely to engagement and impressions. The more people that watch the video, the more likely you are to find a buyer. The more people that will engage with the video, the more views.
Ways to achieve more views include paying more, having a very catchy first 3 second of a video, or having a catchy “frame” for the video.
Keep in mind each different property and video style may capture a different type of person, so you need to be wise about who you are targeting with both the property and the advertising.
Phase 2 - Reach Adverts
There is the question whether reach and impressions will help you find the more emotional buyer. Consider an advert aimed at reaching as many people as possible, with one or more photos or video of the property.
Concerns with social media advertisements
There is some concern that the buyers wont put in their details in the lead generation adverts.
If a buyer is seriously looking at properties via the normal pathways such as the major portals, they’re happy to share their details or reach out for the full details if they really like a property.
Video advertisements don’t always get as many comments, however, the concept behind these is to get people watching it and falling in love with the property, or in the case of a renovator falling in love with the idea of what the property could be in the future.
Something to think about
At the end of the day, going viral is getting harder and harder, and social media relies on money being spent to spread the post further.
The more of one style of advertising done by different advertisers, the higher the cost. Social media advertisers will bid against other advertisers for attention.
There are many companies you can outsource your social media to, however they'll take up to 60% of the total investment to pay for their employee, and their adverts don't tend to change once they're set up and running.
Most agents don't check in on their adverts to see how they're running or change them if they're running poorly.
Proven Results
Now you might think this is all a gimmick, however we have sold to 6 buyers who found each of their properties through our Social Media adverts. These are only the buyers we can 100% attribute to the social campaign, I'm sure there's many others that we simply haven't found out about.
