facebook

Leverage Facebook Messenger for Lead Generation and Conversion

Facebook Messenger, the most popular app in the world, was downloaded 59.7 million times in the first 6 months of 2016 alone. Do you have the real estate selling tips you need to take advantage of its newest ad features?

Destination: FB Messenger
In previous versions, Messenger users had to seek out your business. Now you can select Messenger as a destination for website click objectives, simplifying the conversation initiating process (which allows clients to receive your messages) with a “Send Message” call-to-action to link to the app. This not only brings prospects further down the sales funnel and directly to your door, but allows for faster assessment of where they are in the sales cycle without being intrusive.

Heating up sales
The update offers businesses greater opportunity to warm up sales leads, drawing cooler leads away from “cold” general interest content and getting them in on the action. Those unlikely to have progressed can be warmed up via direct conversation, generating sales potential that would not have previously existed.

Guiding prospects into a conversation about product offerings also helps sift out uninterested leads. Messenger’s in-app messaging services feature an open-rate over 60% – far higher than the paltry 10% open rate of conventional web advertising. Personalized attention (“I’d be happy to chat with you regarding XXX…” versus generic form letters) further increase chances of success.

Nothing lost in transit
The Messenger app doesn’t deliver instant access to just dialogues, it also delivers to content like blog posts at the top of the funnel. Programming for messages allows for easy access to advertising campaigns and other content, just like those “learn more” buttons for landing pages used to do. The difference is, here the goal is a personal discussion – not just an increase in website traffic.

Looking for real estate selling tips that delivers results? Properties Online offers speedy delivery. Contact us today.

Achieving Mammoth Returns from the Largest Social Media Network

Gaining trust and word-of-mouth marketing from the family and friends of existing clientele could be just a post away – with the right real estate selling tips for Facebook marketing success. How can you achieve the positive attention that will earn you a spot with the “in-crowd?”

The steps to attaining Facebook marketing success are simpler than you think:

1. Be professional.
Specifically, don’t use your personal page. It lacks professionalism – and more importantly, you’ll miss out on business features like contests and insight-checking capabilities.

2. Strut your stuff.
Show off your listings’ neighborhood, posting local events (venues being built, festivals, employment opportunities, and more…), expressing their benefit to the community and sharing your passion and knowledge for the area where you sell homes.

3. Show and tell.
Use images and videos when you update, which are among the most popular and engaging forms of Facebook content. The more likes, shares, and comments your posts get, the more exposure you can achieve.

4. Celebrate milestones.
Post subtle, visually appealing welcome messages (that do not mention names) such as a key or welcome mat snapshot to celebrate a new homeowner’s “possession day.” Your clients will know who they are and that you genuinely care enough to follow up.

5. Get competitive.
Contests and sweepstakes are a great way to get to know your clients’ likes and dislikes a little better and deepen relationships. Third party apps like Wishpond (required to run them on FB) simplify the process.

6. Use the golden rule.
You can use Facebook to post your listings too, just remember to keep it 80/20: 80% content and lifestyle topics, 20% agent and product topics (like listings). This will ensure a social, engaging page.

Don’t let social media scare you. Get the real estate selling tips and tricks you need to boost your marketing efforts. Establish a deeper connection. Contact Properties Online today.

How to Advertise Your Listings and Services on Facebook

Facebook (FB) ads can give you access to many different audiences, with more than 1.4 billion users and 900 million visits daily. With the average user having 130 friends, and the possibility of super-targeting users by demographic, location, language, age, gender, relationship status, education, interest, workplace connections, and more, it is a great real estate promotion tool. But what’s the best way to advertise on it?

How can you best use Facebook for real estate promotion?

Don’t
- Use your personal page.
  It is unprofessional, and violates FB’s user agreement against using the platform for personal or commercial gain.
- Post listings directly on your business page’s wall.
  Your page will be viewed as spam. If you can’t help yourself, you can get away with a few each week (that means 2-3!) with a single, eye-catching photo. But there are more professional ways to handle it. (See below.)
Do…
- Use applications.
  Such as Listing Unlimited’s App or Realtor.com’s Social Connections for real estate promotion. They won’t crowd your fan’s timelines with multiple listings.
- Get your clients involved.
  While you cannot post a listing on your FB page, your sellers can. It’s a great way to get word out, since single listings won’t be misconstrued as spam. Better yet, your client’s friends will view it as a call for help – and spread the word! More word-of-mouth, less work! Bonus!
- Try pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
  With this platform, you pay for your ads – which link to your website or FB page – when they are clicked. (Don’t worry. You can put a max amount on expenditures. Your ad is pulled when you reach it.) Super-targeting is used to ensure display to relevant populations and real results. (P.S. Research shows ads linked to FB pages work better than outside links.)

Have a handle on real estate promotion? Properties Online can help. Contact us today!

Could Facebook Ads Be a Hidden Secret to Success?

According to a recent Inman reader poll, real estate promotion driven by Facebook is being utilized by 27.35% of agents. If the remaining agents were aware of the benefits of Facebook, that number could be much higher.

Why cash in on Facebook bennies?
Nearly every real estate transaction begins with online research. Real estate professionals, home buyers, sellers and investors all rely very heavily on the internet for real estate transactions. Today’s opportunities in social networking make getting involved more important than ever. With so many existing and new users signing on daily, potential opportunities for new clients and business contacts make Facebook an essential component in effective real estate promotion.

Misnomers may have you missing out…
So it’s important to understand what Facebook is and what it isn’t.

Facebook is NOT…

Facebook is not time consuming.

Facebook is not just for kids. Its fastest growing demographic are those 35 and older.

Your Facebook business fan page is not a place to post personal and private information. Use privacy setting wisely.

With Facebook, it is not necessary to have thousands of friends to accomplish real estate promotion goals.

Facebook is…

Facebook is fun and free, and an effective campaign can be waged in less than 5 minutes a day.

Facebook is one of the most widely used social networks in the world, reported to have over 300 million active users.

Facebook is a great place for networking. Everyone knows someone, who may know someone, with real estate interests. Establish authority, respect and credibility and they will come to you!

Facebook is a great place to get the most of hyper-targeted ads, grabbing potential clients with interesting, relevant, useful content.

Could Facebook ads be a hidden secret to real estate promotion success? If you don’t try, you’ll never find out. Promote your business! Get the help you need with SmartLeadCapture today.

How to Get Shared, Liked and Go Viral

Ever wonder why some videos, photos or blog posts go viral and others don’t? It’s not like only the funniest, craziest or best things get shared over and over. Some really amazing things are happening online, but no one is seeing them outside small, private circles. You can’t control the end game 100%, but there are some things I can tell you about how to get shared, liked and go viral online.

People share things that trigger an emotion. That emotion can be light-hearted or heartbreaking, hilarious or serious, but it has to be felt and felt deeply on some level. Whether a post, video or photo elicited a chuckle or a tear, it’s that emotional connection that prompts social sharing.

There are things that tug at our collective heartstrings. Have you ever worked with a military veteran, and helped the vet and his/her family into their first home? Ask to use them as a case study. Film them moving in or signing their contract, ask them some questions about the significance of the home purchase on their lives and their family, get the video edited and post it on social media. Write a blog about them, take some photos, follow up in a year. These are ideas that spring to mind quickly, but the general idea is to follow things that tug at your own heart, and when possible, make those stories available to others. Share good fortune when you can.

What else can you do? Write. On your blog or website, take the time to create insightful, researched, long-form content (2,000 – 10,000) words. Not as many people do it, which means less competition, and research by the NY Times and BuzzSumo agree that long-form content is shared more often.

Remember that images, videos and infographics are all shared more readily than text alone. Images on Twitter get twice as many shares as text alone, and the same goes for Facebook. Lists and quizzes are also popular, the latter because they appeal to many people’s inherent self-involvement.

There are some great tools available online that you can use to create your own infographics, quizzes and more, without spending any money or needing graphic design skills. Have a look at Creative Bloq’s 10 Free Tools for Creating Infographics and Top 10 Social Media’s Ten Free Infographic Maker Tools for Social Media to get started.

Lastly, try not to focus your attention on going viral or the numbers of shares your posts will receive. Thinking too much about results can make your social media efforts stilted and forced. If something feels important to you, share it! You might find you’re not the only one.

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