About a month ago I discussed Facebook’s new promoted posts, and what they were all about. I had mentioned in my article that the next week I would share best practices with promoted posts. At the same time I wrote that article, we released our new Real Estate 3.0 Marketing Suite, specifically our neighborhood capture pages. Largely due to the massive success of this release and the flood of demos and new account set ups we experienced, I have been “off the blogging radar”, for the past few weeks. For that, I apologize.
As someone that always keeps his promises though, I wanted to double back with everyone and discuss with you what best practices you should consider when using promoted posts on your Facebook fan page. The following four tips should be considered when deciding when and how to promote your posts:
1) Promote Posts That Have Vibrant Photos & Videos
People tend to respond to bright, simple and attention-grabbing images. Perhaps the greatest thing about Real Estate is that you have TONS of these images at your disposal. Namely, the homes you sell and the landmarks in the neighborhoods in which you work.
If someone is considering buying or selling a home, they are going to want to look at the listings you sell and the neighborhoods in which you work. Promoted posts give you a vehicle to brilliantly do this to both your fans and your fans friends.
But what about those folks that aren’t actively looking for a home, or considering selling their home? Even these people will be beneficial to market to in this fashion, as it keeps you visible to them, and at the forefront of their mind, so when they finally do need your services, you will be the first one they think of.
2) Consider Promoting Offers
Now before you start freaking out and writing me about how you would NEVER cut your commission, to anyone that finds you on facebook, just take a deep breath and hear me out. Nobody expects you to slash your commission to win business on facebook. I would suggest though that you get creative with offers and find a way to not only drive people to your fan page, increasing fan engagement, but also helping the community in which you work.
For instance, what if you pick a restaurant located in your farm area? Speak with the management and discuss with them posting some sort of special offer that homeowners in your farm area can get for the restaurant, by visiting your fan page. I can guarantee you two things: 1) The restaurant is already offering some sort of special, somewhere (e.g. magazine, newspaper, online, etc.), so it will cost them nothing to work with you on this, and 2) Even though the economy is getting better, EVERY restaurant needs promotion and this type of “free” promotion is a win for them, and a great value added thing you can offer your clients and prospects. So everyone walks away a winner.
Restaurants of course were just the first thing that came to mind. You can easily pick any business that is local to your farm area though and run a successful offer campaign. In fact, to further drive fan page engagement, I recommend frequently switching up the offers and keeping things interesting for your fans and friends of your fans.
3) Promote Exclusive Events Or News
Promoting exclusive events or news is a great way to capture the attention of your fans, and friends of your fans, because it creates a feeling of exclusivity and importance. Your prospect will think they have to go right to your fan page to check out this information, as it is something that they most likely can’t get anywhere else (or at least without a bunch of research and/or effort on their part).
When considering this option, I suggest that your news or event is something more than your next open house. If you have a great listing that you want everyone to see, this may be appropriate, but in general, I would suggest picking another topic. For instance, market statistics are a fantastic thing to share with people. Statistics equate to knowledge, in the minds of your clients and prospects. Statistics that have descriptions and breakdowns with them, and are easy to understand, are even more important in the eyes of your clients and prospects. One fantastic service you can use to easily disperse monthly (or even weekly), real-time sales statistics is Altos Research, Inc. In fact, they are the company we selected to integrate with your Leading Agent Real Estate CRM/Business Practice Management System.
Another great option to share with your fans and friends of your fans would be something that is constantly changing, ensuring prospects and clients will want to frequently re-visit it. For instance, our Leading Agent Neighborhood Capture Pages. The charts, trends and graphics on the pages change, in real-time as neighborhood information changes. Additionally, homeowners can search any other neighborhood they might be interested in, thereby changing the way they start their home search process, making you invaluable.
4) Ask Questions
As a Realtor®, you spend so much time promoting your services and “telling” people what you can do for them. When is the last time you “asked” them anything? Asking questions can be a great way to drive people to your fan page and increase fan interaction.
This could be the most difficult type of promoted post you can do. What type of question you ask is difficult to gauge, without a little bit of trial and error. Test out various questions and track the results. For instance, if your fan page is devoted to a specific geographic region, or farm area, ask your fans and friends of your fans to vote for their favorite restaurant in the neighborhood (or any other category of business for that matter). Tally the answers that come in, and then with minimal effort, you can create a certificate that reads something to the effect of, “Voted #1 Restaurant in Palo Alto, on Nancy Smith’s Crescent Park Facebook Community Page”.
If you make the certificate look nice and legitimate, the business owner is likely to display it. The result is that you are not only building good will in the community, BUT also getting further advertising, as any patron that reads the certificate will be reading about your facebook fan page. Another win-win for everyone.
Are these the only ways you can promote posts on your facebook fan page? Of course not. There are many, many ways to launch a successful promoted posts campaign. The four ways detailed in this article are perhaps the easiest to get going, with minimal effort on your part, and therefore less time out of your busy schedule.
Promoted posts are inexpensive and should be factored into your marketing budget and become part of your regular marketing activities. I would highly suggest deploying at least one promoted post campaign per month.
Do you have any ideas on a promoted posts campaign that I didn’t suggest? What are they? Comment below, as I’d love to hear about what creative ideas you come up with.
Would you like help with a promoted posts campaign? Would you like help with Social Media Management For Your Real Estate Practice? Contact Us Today, and we would be happy to help you in any way we can.
If you like my posts and want to learn more about Real Estate Marketing, our Leading Agent Marketing System, and how we might be able to help you get to the next level, subscribe to our blog, below:
Delivered by FeedBurner
