- You'll miss out on a number of benefits by relying solely on a Facebook personal profile.
- Use Facebook Live to establish yourself as a local authority, and connect your posts to lead capture forms.
Are you just starting out in real estate and looking for the best ways to let prospective clients know that you’re in the business?
Thanks to Facebook and other social media platforms, not only is it easier than ever to connect with your sphere of influence (SOI), but it is also just as easy to get your brand in front of other buyers and sellers in your local real estate market.
Real Estate Facebook Page benefits
Before we get started, let’s discuss why, as a new real estate agent, you shouldn’t rely solely on your Facebook personal profile to market your brand and get you new business.
If you do only use a personal profile, you are missing out on a number of benefits of a Facebook page. Let’s take a quick look at a few of these.
Facebook pages are indexed by search engines (personal profiles are not) and show up in search results. Prospective buyers and sellers can see your Facebook page even if they are not logged in to Facebook.
Facebook pages offer analytic data so you can track the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
And, of course, with a real estate Facebook page, you can take advantage of Facebook ads to generate warm buyer and seller leads — something you can not do with a personal profile.
1. Complete the ‘About’ section
The “About” section is one of the best places to start when building your Facebook page.
Always include all of your contact information and a link to your website.
Beef it up with additional information on your unique selling proposition, services offered to buyers and sellers and always include hyperlocal keywords in this content.
Since this section is indexed by search engines, including these keywords is an effective way to connect with local prospects searching for your services.
2. Maintain a professional appearance
As you build your Facebook page, you’re building your real estate brand.
To do this as effectively as possible, you need to ensure that your page looks professional. For your profile picture, use a professional photograph.
For your cover image, you can get a little more creative, but be sure to keep it tasteful and relevant to real estate. A picture of happy clients at closing is often a good choice, but always remember to get their permission to use it first.
3. Invite more than just Facebook friends
Yes, you should invite your Facebook friends to “Like” your Facebook page.
However, you shouldn’t stop there. You should also send emails to prospects and other people in your SOI informing them about your page.
In future emails and marketing materials, mention your Facebook page and provide a link to it.
Finally, don’t forget to reach out to your previous clients and ask them to provide you with a review on your page.
4. Create a content calendar
With real estate duties and other responsibilities on your mind, maintaining a Facebook page isn’t always going to be easy.
However, by creating a content calendar and sticking to it, you won’t need to worry about your page becoming stagnant.
Plan Facebook posts around local city and community events, offline marketing initiatives, holidays and seasons, local real estate market reports, and upcoming listings. Then, fill in the gaps on the fly with other posts.
5. Vary your post content
While posting consistency is key, you also need vary your content to generate and maintain interest and engagement on your Facebook page.
Instead of simply posting links to listings, also post items like links to valuable blog articles, share pictures of satisfied clients, post links to local community news, and share videos of yourself out and about working as a real estate agent.
And don’t forget, sharing your own blog posts and website content that drives traffic to lead-capture landing pages on your website is key to maximizing your social media marketing ROI.
6. Broadcast via Facebook Live
When the right opportunity to market your business presents itself, like an open-house event, make use of Facebook Live.
This feature is great for capturing the attention of people who follow your page.
Also, consider hosting educational Facebook Live events regularly.
Offering market updates, advice on buying or selling a home, and other relevant real estate information is a great way to generate interest in your page, establish yourself as the local real estate authority and connect with buyers and sellers.
7. Invest in Facebook Advertising
Every Facebook strategy should include Facebook advertising.
Using ads on Facebook targeting the right audience with the right ad content is an inexpensive way to generate warm buyer and seller leads.
Some examples of targeting options for Facebook ads include residents of the ZIP codes you farm, new parents, renters, people living in and driving through the area around your open houses, and sellers looking for the market value of their home.
Using the seven Facebook tips above will help you get off on the right foot when you are building your Facebook page and just starting out in real estate. Follow these tips and you’ll soon find yourself increasing your online real estate leads and getting more referrals from your SOI.
Pat Hiban is the author of NYT best selling book “6 steps to 7 figures – A Real Estate Professional’s Guide to Building Wealth and Creating Your Destiny”, the founder of Rebus University and the host of Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars an Agent to Agent Real Estate Radio Podcast with Hiban Digital in Baltimore, Maryland. Follow him on Instagram or Twitter.
