Real Estate Investor · Newport News, VA · Member since 2017 · 29 posts · 7 votes
Hello BP,
I have been doing some research trying to find cheaper ways to market and better ways to find motivated sellers. I have come across facebook ads frequently, but many people are saying that they have mixed results with them. Has anyone used Facebook ads for finding motivated sellers and had success with it? Is there any one teaching any course for FB marketing for Real estate investing? All feedback is appreciated. Thanks
Specialist · Plainville, CT · Member since 2015 · 478 posts · 389 votes
9y
@Rashawn Stevens- Do you have a website? If you really want to be a ninja and you commit to Facebook ads as a strategy, try this:
Step 1- Create an epic blog post that addresses the pain points of a motivated seller (if you don't thoroughly know then research is step 1) and don't ask for anything like everybody else does. (Yes you ideally want their contact info... just not yet.) Invest time at this stage and actually create solid content because this will be your foundation for the future.
Step 2- Set up the Facebook retargeting pixel on your website (assuming you have one). I'm sure there's a tutorial on this somewhere.
Step 3- Drive traffic on Facebook to the blog post. The goal here is brand awareness, getting people over to your website and ultimately creating goodwill with someone that has fallen on hard times.
Step 4- You now have an audience at your disposal in Facebook from everyone that read your blog post and have positioned yourself in the mind of the seller that you are not a greedy savage like the 10 other investors that called them and sent them junk mail today.
Step 5- Continue the dance... Do another ad that goes out to this new audience you just created and that think you're awesome. Typically something low risk, so the seller can dip their toe in the water like email opt-in, invite to a webinar or no strings attached phone call, etc.
This process is called Facebook Retargeting. Again, I'm sure there's a 100 YouTube videos on this as retargeting has been hot for a few years now.
Good luck and keep us all posted on how it works out for you!
Real Estate Agent · Downey, CA · Member since 2017 · 3 posts · 4 votes
9y
Rashawn,
What a great question. I also have that in mind. I am a new RE Wholesaler. I am also a digital marketer and was thinking of running some ads on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube targeting motivated sellers. I honestly believe it works great! I have no way to prove it...yet. But Facebook has all the tools to present your offer to the right motivated seller.
In theory, running ads on social media can be very promising. The key is hooking them into clicking your ad. There must be a compelling offer. Maybe a free ebook on what to do when trying to sell a distressed home or a list of top 5 things to do when selling a distressed home. Video testimonials are probably your best bet. The process continues through landing pages, thank you pages and email/phone follow ups.
I dont have a lot of experience with facebook advertisement as of yet but that has been another advertising medium that I have considered using more in the future. Whenever you start a new marketing campaign set a budget and set some realistic goals for how well you want that campaign to perform and measure the results consistently over a set pre determined time frame (i.e. not just one or two weeks). If the campaign is doing well scale up, if not scale out and find something better.
Keep us informed on the results of your Facebook Marketing
Rental Property Investor · Grand Rapids, MI · Member since 2016 · 37 posts · 39 votes
9y
95% of the deals I close are from Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads are a great way of generating leads and becoming your markets go-to home buyer. If you're trying to find a cheaper way to find motivated sellers I wouldn't suggest using Facebook Ads. A solid Facebook Ad Campaign will cost the same as any Direct Mail Campaign. If you need help setting up your ads DM me.
Specialist · Plainville, CT · Member since 2015 · 478 posts · 389 votes
9y
@Rashawn Stevens- Do you have a website? If you really want to be a ninja and you commit to Facebook ads as a strategy, try this:
Step 1- Create an epic blog post that addresses the pain points of a motivated seller (if you don't thoroughly know then research is step 1) and don't ask for anything like everybody else does. (Yes you ideally want their contact info... just not yet.) Invest time at this stage and actually create solid content because this will be your foundation for the future.
Step 2- Set up the Facebook retargeting pixel on your website (assuming you have one). I'm sure there's a tutorial on this somewhere.
Step 3- Drive traffic on Facebook to the blog post. The goal here is brand awareness, getting people over to your website and ultimately creating goodwill with someone that has fallen on hard times.
Step 4- You now have an audience at your disposal in Facebook from everyone that read your blog post and have positioned yourself in the mind of the seller that you are not a greedy savage like the 10 other investors that called them and sent them junk mail today.
Step 5- Continue the dance... Do another ad that goes out to this new audience you just created and that think you're awesome. Typically something low risk, so the seller can dip their toe in the water like email opt-in, invite to a webinar or no strings attached phone call, etc.
This process is called Facebook Retargeting. Again, I'm sure there's a 100 YouTube videos on this as retargeting has been hot for a few years now.
Good luck and keep us all posted on how it works out for you!
Rental Property Investor · Richmond, VA · Member since 2017 · 295 posts · 229 votes
9y
@Lucifer Vîrroc I have a good friend that uses facebook ads for her online boutique and gets great results from them, so I am glad to hear that you also get them in the real estate world. If you don't mind me asking, what's your monthly cost for the ads and how many deals a month are you closing from them? Thanks for the information!
Investor · Bay Area, CA · Member since 2015 · 47 posts · 19 votes
9y
Hey @Chris Tracy that's an epic process. Obviously you've done a little bit of it.
I would add after every post you can provide a content upgrade very related to what you are doing... "please enter your email to get your content upgrade..." type of thing and if that person takes the content upgrade.. pixel them in your confirmation/thank you page and exclude them from your future facebook ads since they are already in your system.
And make sure everyone who took the content upgrade are nurtured through your email autoresponder system... more free content of what you do - process/systems/what to avoid etc. - could even be just your other blog posts packaged in your email.
@Rashawn Stevens you could actually do a more direct approach.. have a simple landing page that capture emails and give away your epic post compiled in a pdf... this approach is called lead magnet and the whole system is called your sales funnel.
I've done a few of these sales funnel marketing and have driven traffic using Google Ads and Facebook Ads for different types of businesses..
On the topic of finding a motivated seller.. what's the top 5 most important concerns these sellers have? put them in a pdf and run ads against them...and be sure to have an autoresponder system to nurture them and lead them softly to give you a call so you can close them.
I do this all day as my main business specially the google ads(95%) and facebook ads(5%) part... millions of businesses need this type of system to get a predictable lead flow and many don't do it well...
Midland, TX · Member since 2017 · 28 posts · 13 votes
8y
For FB ads, the cheapest way is to run a “lead generation” campaign. It’s like a funnel, but keeps you on the same page (Facebook). You’re able to target your market by keywords or by search radius. You set a daily budget, and get started! It’s a little finicky and you’d have to test different ad copy and the creative (images/video/carousel) to find what works for your market, but FB is POWERFUL and under utilized in most areas.
The key is get them to stop scrolling, read your ad and get interested, and then have a “call to action”. Perhaps you’re wanting to buy “ugly houses” or whatever, so you can set up a “click here” for a free estimate on your house for cash price (or however you want to do it). Once they click, you capture their info—this is KEY. Getting their info puts you in the drivers seat, rather than putting out your info and waiting for them to call.
Once they hit enter, there are several very easy ways to have the info immediately sent to your phone as a text or email. Follow up with the lead ASAP. There’s a whole follow up process here that’s crucial but I won’t bore you with that here—haha. There’s a lot of interesting psychology in FB ads, but it’s fun and absolutely fascinating.
Beat of luck to you!
Midland, TX · Member since 2017 · 28 posts · 13 votes
8y
@jeffrey hotz Thanks for sharing that post with me. I actually don’t even like the “ugly houses” quip and haven’t used it in an ad before, but I do like the terminology when talking to ppl because we all know what houses were taking about, haha. But now, I definitely won’t use it!
95% of the deals I close are from Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads are a great way of generating leads and becoming your markets go-to home buyer. If you're trying to find a cheaper way to find motivated sellers I wouldn't suggest using Facebook Ads. A solid Facebook Ad Campaign will cost the same as any Direct Mail Campaign. If you need help setting up your ads DM me.
95% of the deals I close are from Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads are a great way of generating leads and becoming your markets go-to home buyer. If you're trying to find a cheaper way to find motivated sellers I wouldn't suggest using Facebook Ads. A solid Facebook Ad Campaign will cost the same as any Direct Mail Campaign. If you need help setting up your ads DM me.
Hi there. Can you qualify that statement about Facebook ads? What kind of reach can you get with FB ads as opposed to direct mail?
@Lucifer Vîrroc how can I create ads in FB?
Thank you
I see this post went dormant without your question being answered. You asked a pretty broad question, but if you're still interested in learning more about marketing via Facebook, I'd be happy to help, either on this post (or another one) or by DM
95% of the deals I close are from Facebook Ads. Facebook Ads are a great way of generating leads and becoming your markets go-to home buyer. If you're trying to find a cheaper way to find motivated sellers I wouldn't suggest using Facebook Ads. A solid Facebook Ad Campaign will cost the same as any Direct Mail Campaign. If you need help setting up your ads DM me.
Hi there. Can you qualify that statement about Facebook ads? What kind of reach can you get with FB ads as opposed to direct mail?
Conway- I think one of the biggest benefits to running Facebook ads vs direct mail is that you can track the numbers better than direct mail. You can see the metrics of how many people view your ads, click through, etc vs sending mail and hoping it didn't immediately get thrown in the garbage.
Amy Herzing I spend around $600-$1000 on FB ads every month. I'll close 2-4 deals from that.
What do your ads look like? I'm testing out different ads, but I'm also new to REI in general. Was thinking of having my son do a quick video, something to the affect, "My dad will buy your house".
@Thomas Glenn I am not a RE wholesaler, however, I do manage marketing for one. I can only speak for what has worked for us which is carousel and video ads. Believe it or not, carousels have performed better for us. We make sure to have creatives with VERY BRIGHT colors that way it interrupts the scroll of FB users. It takes some work and lots of strategy EXACTLY what @Chris Tracy said.
If you're just getting started, I suggest you install the FB PIXEL on your business website. Run traffic campaigns giving away FREE knowledge. As people interact with your content, FB collects the data so you are able to help the people who have expressed interest. Now, you're probably asking what in the heck is a FB PIXEL and why it's so important. To answer that (possible) question, a PIXEL will let you know the number of times that your post was clicked and your landing page was viewed. This means that you can also retarget those who have made the decision to go to your www.com page but maybe weren't convinced. There is soooooooo much to faceboook and with their daily updates its hard to keep up. BUT IT IS WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT!
Wholesaler · Cuxhaven, Germany · Member since 2016 · 23 posts · 11 votes
7y
Facebook ads are a great tool that is up and coming in the real estate marketing sector. Facebooks vast store of information is unparalleled (except for Googles) and if used correctly you can become a dominator in your target market. No doubt.
I've done facebooks ads for my e-commerce dropshipping store, have helped others reach their marketing goals in a variety of industries (including real estate) and I'm having more success in getting motivated home sellers with Fb ads than any other "old-school" method. So, if you set up your "interest" targeting correctly and create an "FB creative" that attracts motivated sellers, you can definitely get a lead for as low as $10! And that's before lookalike-audiences/retargeting. Try beating that with yellow letters.
I also agree with @Chris Tracy 's general "5 steps formula". You need a sort of "brand awareness" for you and your real estate business and then retargeting the customers you've acquired with new content using Facebook ads. Yes, that includes making short facebook videos, writing blogs, posting them on your FB page and commenting/answering on topics in your industry online. In a sense, you're becoming a small marketing agency, but in the end real estate is doing marketing more than the real estate part.
The issue though with Facebook ads is that there is a big learning curve to it and takes time to understand, but I think it's definitely worth it once you've achieved somewhat of an understanding of the mechanics.
Hope this sheds a little light on the whole thing. 😁👌
Specialist · Branford, CT · Member since 2018 · 222 posts · 121 votes
7y
Facebook and websites are good to have in your marketing tools. However they require that someone be actively looking. You can use mail to reach people who haven't taken any steps yet.