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Essential Real Estate Strategies: Top Tips for New Agents to Accelerate Success in 2024

Published August 27, 2024 by Real Estate Leads

Essential Real Estate Strategies: Top Tips for New Agents to Accelerate Success in 2024

Every one of the most successful and accomplished individuals in any career field was at one time a complete beginner. That’s the truth of situation, as everyone needs to start somewhere and it’s equally true that very few people if any become an overnight success. Putting in the hard work to get there takes time, and it’s time you need to make available if you want to achieve that for yourself. This is every bit as true for people who are new to working as a real estate agent in Canada, and what we’re going to do with this entry is share real estate tips for beginners.

The reason this something of a more pressing issue for new realtors is that for most of them they will be flying entirely on their own, meaning that they need to be supporting themselves and in many cases supporting a family too all the while as they start a new career in real estate. The need to find a measure of success in the business can be a pressing one, and this is why beginner realtor strategies are going to be welcomed by those who are new to the profession.

For many of them they will view earning a decent living from working in a real estate as something that needs to be achieved quickly. And again this is often because of necessity more than it is for a sense of personal accomplishment. There are mortgage payments to be made and not all of them will have a spouse’s income that can be relied on the interim until they start earning commissions regularly. A more strategic approach to real estate agent success will also be needed for those working in major metro areas of Canada.

This is where working as an agent is going to be more competitive, and lead generation for realtors is going to be more of challenge simply because of the fact that so many of them are vying for those leads. This is countered by the fact that there is more of an opportunity to make really good money in real estate in this major metro regions, but there’s no debating you’re going to need to work harder – and smarter – if you want to achieve that for yourself.

We foresee many of you wanting to start capturing quality real estate leads now, and that will be a part of our focus with this look at top tips for agents to accelerate success this year. So let’s get right into sharing what we know about how new realtors can enjoy success in this profession faster.

Right Mindset

It’s not uncommon for a realtor to feel overwhelmed and possibly a bit anxious too when they get underway with their new career. But there are means of getting off on the right foot to a greater extent and that’s what we’re going to discuss here. Continue reading through this entry and you’ll be better equipped to have the confidence you need to navigate the early stages of your career.

Lead generation is an integral part of a realtor’s success no matter what stage of their career they’re in, but one thing that is an especially sensitive issue when you’re new to the business is ROI on lead generation. That’s to be expected as new realtors won’t have the same operating budget that a more established one will, but the good news there is with paid real estate lead providers like us you have the guarantee of receiving qualified leads.

What you do with that lead and how well you nurture it and / or convert leads into clients for real estate is another matter. But we can start at the start and say that we can relate to how new agents will want to be judicious about how they invest in buying real estate leads and being choosy about where that money goes. But to begin with a new realtor needs to have their mind in the right place, and that may mean focusing on real estate networking tips more than lead generation budgets or anything else of that sort.

Anyone in business of any sort will be aware that you can’t think your way to success. But a negative mindset can be a deal-breaker and can really hamper your ability to make the right moves as you start to build a name for yourself and have real estate agent success. Here are the three best tips for new real estate agents who want to have the right lines of thought when it comes to early success in the real estate business.

Be Patient

The first one is going to be to have patience. It is quite likely you won’t have many listings or homebuyer clients in the first few months of starting as a real estate agent. And this can be true even if you’re applying yourself to the best of your ability. Success in real estate takes time, and so patience is conducive to success. You’ll be less likely to make poor or rash decisions based on a lack of clientele if you understand that it takes time to build up a client base and see success from real estate lead generation. You’ll need to be patient with ROI on lead generation too.

Here’s a tip for real estate agents that you may well have heard before but it’s worth saying again because patience is hard and it could be easy to ignore. But without it you might be rushing into costly mistakes or becoming demoralized. None of which is good for business. Realtors who’ve been in the business for a long time and had success will agree that patience combined with persistence will eventually pay off. Stay focused on your small daily tasks and see them as contributors to your long-term goals. Every step forward is progress.

Be Strategic

Being strategic involves knowing where to invest your time and resources for maximum return on the time you put into promoting yourself as a real estate agent. Putting effort – and potentially investment – into the right channels will likely provide better results than rushing around and spreading yourself and the resources you have available to you too thin. Being clear on this is key to embracing real estate tips for beginners in the right way. Succeeding as a beginner real estate agent isn’t exclusively working hard, it’s also working smart.

So be sure that your days involve prioritizing high-impact activities and establishing clear goals that are achievable. Focus on lead generation and lead nurturing, but also dedicate time for learning and real estate networking. Tools and systems to streamline your tasks and track your progress are highly recommended here, and so many of them are available to realtors online now.

Stay Positive

New realtors who envision themselves with many listings and homes being bought and sold in numbers through them shortly after the start of their new career are likely in for disappointment. There’s no getting around that. But fear negativity and pessimism can crush your spirits as much as your lead-generating potential. It is very important for a realtor to stay positive, and in many cases you’ll need to ‘fake it till you make it” as the expression goes because your optimism – or lack of it – will come across in your interactions with leads and clients.

You also don’t want to be what is known as a ‘secret agent’. This is a term used to describe a realtor who is more often found behind a desk rather than out and about and being proactive with real estate lead generation. It’s super important to get out there in your community and have face-to-face interactions with people, letting everyone you come across know that you’re working in real estate now and you’re eager to have new clientele.

Beginner realtor strategies can also include being creative with this. Every realtor is going to be buying billboards, bus bench spots and the like in order to promote yourself, and nowadays a real estate agent website is a must for any realtor who wants to be getting real estate leads online. But those approaches won’t necessarily get the immediate attention of someone who is ready to work with a real estate agent in your city.

You might want to try wearing a hat with your letterhead on it at the grocery store. Be personable and always introduce yourself and be willing to strike up conversations. Sometimes realtors will put a removable decal on their vehicle, and this is one approach where you’re guaranteed to get a lot of reach even though you’re not necessarily assured of getting leads from it. Agents are often surprised at how many leads they can generate simply by being unique, creative, and simply aiming to do what other agents are not doing to promote themselves.

These practical real estate tips for beginners are right in line with developing the right mindset, assembling a strong foundation, and tackling day-to-day tasks effectively.

Stronger Foundation

It’s also advisable not to overexert yourself when you are just starting out as a realtor. It really does make the most sense to put the bulk of your efforts into lead generation, and if you can afford paid real estate leads you are almost certainly going to benefit from them. What is also true is that agents who have a team of experts generating leads for them find it is the quickest way to build their network as a new real estate agent.

Sure, this is a passive lead generation strategy and some will say you need to devote your energies to more active ones if there is a pressing need to build up a client base. But paid real estate lead services free up your time to focus on other tasks. By outsourcing this task you free up time to build relationships and provide outstanding service to your clients.

And there is strong ROI on lead generation potential here. While buying the leads themselves can be costly, if you convert even just one or two of them it can yield significant returns and make it a solid investment in your new real estate business. But of course some lead providers are better than others, and we know that you will be eager to start capturing quality real estate leads now.

Here at Real Estate Leads we have been doing this for years now, and if you read our testimonials you will see that realtors who have found the success that new agents will want for themselves are very pleased with the quality of the leads they’ve received from us. You can also rely on consistency, with a standard quota of leads to be received each month and with your choice buyer or seller leads, or a mix of both. Need more leads? You can choose to pay more and receive a greater quantity of them each month.

Plus – and this may be the biggest selling point of all – the leads you receive will be exclusive to you. No other agent will be receiving the same leads. This creates an exclusive opportunity for you to be first in touch with people who are genuinely considering the sale or purchase of a home. As a new realtor starting out, this is exactly what you want for yourself.

Follow a Playbook

It’s fairly common for new real estate agents to believe they have sufficient insight into what is best for starting to see incremental growth in their business. This isn’t the case most of the time, and it can also be an extremely inefficient way of thinking. Instead it’s best to empty your cup and be all about refilling it with what you can learn from others who have come before you and started to work as a real estate agent in Canada. Following a well-structured plan can save you time money and frustration setting you up for quicker success.

Real estate networking tips are going to be at the heart of this better playbook. Building a strong network is always key to long-term success as a new real estate agent. Your network is going to be more about who knows you rather than who you know. The more people you connect with the more opportunities you’ll have to generate leads, get referrals, and grow your business.

Even if you start with nothing else, you will always have an immediate sphere of influence (SOI) you can be working with. This is your friends, family acquaintances, and anyone else you know personally. These are the people most likely to support you and refer clients to you, and so there’s much to be gained from keeping them informed about your real estate career.

You can leverage your SOI by keeping in touch with newsletters, scheduled emails, and social media posts. There’s also the opportunity to ask for referrals, and reminding these people that you’re ready to help them with anything related to real estate. Another possibility is to host events like open houses, informational sessions, or client appreciation parties.

You can also be expanding your professional network, and this expansion is something that should be happening naturally and at all times in the interest of lead generation for realtors. This will also include building relationships with other professionals in the real estate industry, and notably with other agents, brokers, lenders, appraisers, and contractors.

Develop A Brand

There’s no escaping that a new realtor isn’t going to have any type of a brand established for themselves, and that goes hand in hand with not be a known name in the local real estate business community. A weak brand identity as a real estate agent makes it difficult for potential clients to recognize and remember you. Slowly working to developing a brand is essential if you want your marketing to really pick up momentum going forward.

So here’s what beginner realtors can do to start towards establishing their brand. Start by identifying what makes you different from other real estate agents. That could be an exceptional customer service deep knowledge of a particular neighborhood, or a unique marketing approach or selling proposition that differentiates you from other realtors. Your real estate agent website is also going to have a lot of sway of influence in this, and you should try to make sure it is updated regularly with local real estate-related content.

Next you should consistently be updating your social media profiles with engaging content to build a strong online presence and connect with potential clients. Quality branding materials are recommended too, with professional quality photos on all of them. Consistency in your visual identity across all platforms helps reinforce your brand.

Learn strategic real estate agent tips for beginners that cover everything from lead generation to personal branding and efficient time management.

Actionable Tips

It’s going to be that much more easier to look at your ROI on lead generation if you’re promoting yourself in the best ways possible. Because it is going to be that much more likely that you’ll have the volume of leads you’re hoping for, or at least you’re seeing them increase from one month to the next. So as for actionable tips that will contribute to this happening, you want to always be focused on building relationships. Relational connection is especially important for new real estate agents. You’ll thrive if you make person-to-person connections, establishing trust and showing genuine concern for your contacts.

Always have your clients at the center of your marketing strategies and ensure that you’re adding value at every step of the way. The increases you want to see are sure to follow. You will also want to aim to become you area’s housing market expert, as prospective clients will be looking for that type of expert with the knowledge they can leverage to sell their home for the highest price or buy a new home that fits them best.

So the question then becomes what to research as a beginner real estate agent. Here is what you need to build strong knowledge around:

  1. Demographics: Understand age income levels and occupations of the population in your target area to tailor your marketing approach
  2. Market Trends: Analyze current and past market trends to determine if property values are increasing or decreasing
  3. Competitor Analysis: Identify competitors in your chosen market. What are they doing successfully and where might they be falling short?
  4. Local Amenities and Infrastructure: Highlight key features of the neighborhood – schools, parks, public transportation, upcoming developments etc.
  5. Consumer Behavior: Identify needs and preferences of your target audience. What are they looking for in a property? What influences their buying decisions?
  6. Legal and Regulatory Factors: Get clarity on local zoning laws property taxes or other regulations that might affect real estate transactions
  7. Economic Indicators: Keep an eye on economic indicators like employment rates and job growth

Another challenge for beginner real estate agents as it relates to real estate networking is they often have more work than they can handle and yet they’re not yet at a point where they can start a team or hire help. In these instances it’s best to find ways to work smarter rather than harder. What is best here is to have some sort of prioritization system in place to focus on high-value activities and not be caught up in all of the time-consuming details that don’t come with a worthwhile ROI on lead generation.

There are tools to improve efficiency, and nowadays the ones that use AI for real estate marketing are especially worthy of our attention. There are numerous ways AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Bing that can help you automate repetitive tasks, gain valuable insights, and also contribute to lead generation. Take advantage and use them to brainstorm for content ideas, research and synthesize housing market information, create your own lead engagement scripts, and come up with better and more compelling marketing materials.

The best real estate marketing automation tools can do much of the heavy lifting for you. With them it’s almost like you have a personal assistant who handles the creation and distribution of personalized email campaigns, the design and delivery of direct mail pieces, and management of lead nurturing efforts.

Maximized Marketing with Social Media

We’ll conclude this week’s entry by stressing just how much value there is with social media for real estate leads. Having a strong presence on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram can be huge for realtors, and new realtors who are just starting out are strongly encouraged to put a lot of their time and effort into establishing their social media presence as a realtor.

It may be among the simplest and most effective ways to generate leads, and especially if you regularly post content that’s especially relevant for potential sellers in your area. Provide useful tips helpful advice and insightful statistics will go a long way to demonstrating credibility and trustworthiness. With each impression you’re increasing the likelihood that you’ll be the first person a follower or viewer thinks of when they are ready to buy or sell a home.

Every new realtor should create a Facebook real estate page for themselves at the very least to start. It’s easy to do and once that’s done you can start buying Meta Ads that will make you so much more visible to people who are looking to work with a real estate agent. Lastly, always remember to keep your professional profiles public so they’re discoverable by the networks of people you are connected to. You may then want to expand onto other social media platforms as you aim to start capturing quality real estate leads now.

We really believe that investing a good portion of your marketing budget into social media is advisable for realtors nowadays given the way clients are now more naturally inclined to look for real estate and realtors who they’ll work with. This is definitely a trend that’s here to stay, so new realtors should be equally receptive to it and putting their efforts into social media for real estate marketing the same way. It can make a real difference in helping you have more success in the business early on.

Facebook Lead Ad Campaigns for Real Estate Leads

Published August 20, 2024 by Real Estate Leads

Facebook Lead Ad Campaigns for Real Estate LeadsIt tends to be the case that the more successful and well-established realtors are going to be older than the ones who are newer to the business and hoping to build the same success for themselves. That will be the case in any type of business where the people are working independently as licensed service providers, it’s just that with real estate it’s of an entirely different magnitude because of the amount of income earning potential. One area of self-promotion where youngers realtors may have an advantage is with social media marketing though.

That’s because the older realtors aren’t likely to have the same level of familiarity with social media platforms, but the reason that Facebook Leads ads for real estate and other approaches are increasingly valuable is because more and more people are starting their exploration into buying a home through social media. They’re probably not doing it entirely via social media, but Facebook and Instagram are two of the ‘places’ where they’re starting to look at properties or other information about the home buying process and what is available in the market right now.

Up until recently real estate lead generation strategies would have never involved any type of investment into social media, but as we all know times have changed drastically over the last 15 years or so. It is true that realtors generate leads for homebuyers through social media more often than ones who are considering the sale of their home, but when you take the age demographic of users into account again that also tends to make sense.

That can be countered somewhat by another emerging trend with Facebook. When it first launched into 2007 it was a social media platform that appealed to social media enthusiasts of all ages, but now it is considered to be more of an ‘older people’s’ social media network as younger people are more keen on Instagram and Tik Tok. Well, it’s older people who tend to own homes more often and will also be more likely to be selling them as well as making moves of any sort in the local real estate market.

This is why Lead generation with Facebook ads is so highly recommended for realtors who want to be maximizing their efforts to bring in new clientele to the best extent possible. So what we’ll look at with this blog entry is effective meta ads for real estate, and the good news there is that it’s not difficult – or overly costly – to be promoting yourself as a realtor on Facebook as well as making greater numbers of people aware of the homes you currently have listed on the market for clients.

There really is so much to be gained here, so let’s get right into it as we imagine you want to start capturing quality real estate leads now through social media platforms like Facebook.

Easier, Faster Connections

The way the Meta lead form ad format works is by simplifying the way potential customers express interest in your products or services. This is done by allowing them to fill out enquiry forms from within the apps on Facebook and Instagram. The instant forms that appear when someone clicks on the realtor’s ad are pre-filled with the user’s contact details (from their profile), and this makes for a quick and seamless form submission process when it’s submitted from a mobile device.

All that’s required of them is a few taps, and with that they can request the information they need and you’re benefitting from gaining a new lead. This is the basics of why Facebook Lead ads for real estate are so valuable, and there’s also the fact that you don’t need to send people to a form on your website. They’ll like that they won’t have to be redirected too, and if they’re genuinely legit potential buyers or sellers anything that streamlines the process of being in touch with a realtor and getting the ball rolling is going to be very welcome.

Agents that want to start creating these ads will need to have a Facebook business page and a Facebook (Meta) Ad account. Once they have one they will go to Meta ads manager and click Create. Then select the Leads option and choose the Manual lead campaign setup. Manual leads campaign is best because it offers the most control over the audience targeting. The next thing you will do is name your campaign, and if a realtor is creating this for their own agency they might want to name it according to the time of the year, considering that home sales usually peak during spring months.

Consider Reach per Cost

Real estate lead generation strategies always need to be followed with the agent’s operating budget in mind, and that applies to creating these Meta ads for real estate too. At this point in the process the creator needs to choose a daily budget for their ads, and unless they’ve already seen much success with real estate lead generation from these ads it is not going to make sense to go with a high number and think that the added reach they’ll get from the ad is going to be worth it.

For those who are new to social media advertising for real estate it will be best to go with a smaller budget. Less than $10 per day is probably best to start, and then see where it goes from there and how many inquiries you receive through the ad. Keep in mind the region where you’re working as a realtor and the state of the market is going to be a big factor in these results. The next step is to name your Ad Set and select Instant Forms. As for the name, it is best to use the target location as the Ad Set name.

This will be the region we were just talking about above, and you want to have this in the title for the ad because it makes it very clear to viewers where the homes are located and where the realtors behind the ad has the right level of knowledge and expertise with the local market. Be sure to select Instant forms as the conversion location, and then select your Facebook business page as where the lead will be redirected to. First time ad placers will be asked to accept Meta’s terms of service.

Nothing to be concerned with there unless you’re doing something illicit, and we’ll assume that’s not the case. So go ahead and do that and make sure maximize number of leads is selected.

Building Target Audience

The most important part of effective meta ads for real estate is building your target audience. You will be paying for these ads, so you want them being in front of receptive viewers as often as possible rather than viewers who are not interested in buying or selling a home in the target region where the placer is working as a real estate agent in Canada. Start with this by adding postal code locations. The aim is going to be targeting specific geographic locations with our lead ad campaign, so postal codes will narrow down the audience in the right way and quickly.

Now switch to original audience options and choose an age range from the field you see there. It’s unlikely that anyone under the age of 25 owns property, so set this one for 25 to 65. Seniors do buy and sell real estate, but not nearly as often as people who are still in what is referred to as their working years. And yes, for people in Toronto and Vancouver it is highly unlikely anyone 25 to 30 is going to buying or selling a home, but you can still be fine setting your lowest age range to this number.

After selecting your desired audience age range, users will be ready to start creating the actual ads. Real estate ads on Instagram will be different, and that may be something we’ll cover in another blog entry in the future here.

Ad Design

Here is where the realtor will have the chance to really craft a compelling ad that will hopefully draw the attention of people who are ready to make a move in the real estate market in the near future. It’s fair enough that not everyone is naturally gifted with design or knows how to use tools like Canva. And it’s true that most realtors are not graphic designers either.

One option if agents really want to have something visually attractive for their ad is to use an outsourcing platform like Fiverr where it won’t cost them much to get a reasonably good design and from there it is not difficult to use the built-in photo enhancing software on mobile or desktop devices. Having good visuals isn’t an integral part of lead generation with Facebook ads, but it certainly does help.

Images for campaign are often created by taking a screenshot of the region on OpenStreetMap.org, putting it in to Canva and then adding a short call to action. Agents should test multiple versions of their ads as well as having a look at the ads that other realtors are placing on Facebook. When they see something the like they can go ahead and try to create something similar.

The next consideration is going to be writing ad copy. The ‘primary text’ area is where the realtor will be adding their main sales copy to their Meta ad. Another option you have nowadays is to get a basic ChatGPT membership and have AI write your sales copy for you. You can also have Meta make suggestions for you.

Write Headline and Select CTA

We think that most realtors in Canada will be able to write well enough on your own, and if they’ve been in the business for a while they have probably already done plenty of writing related to the real estate industry and all of the interest that go into buying or selling a home.

Whatever it is that the agent comes up with, they should always create an alternative version of it that contains the same information but is written differently. Or with a different information hierarchy (information related to the topic / listing in a different order). Once there is more than one version it is best to do split testing and be sure to use the target location in some of the headlines to make them more relevant to the target audience. After they’ve chosen the copy they’re going to go with they will next create their lead form.

That will be an entirely open process as what will apply to one realtor’s ad will not apply to another one’s. One need for all of them though is to link to a privacy policy in the form. There are privacy policy generators that realtors can use. Once the realtor has created their lead form and added a few ad variations they can now go ahead and publish their campaign. Facebook Lead ads for real estate work well, and once an agent has published their first one it’s time to see if the same gains are there to be had for them.

Real Estate Agents: 10 Creative Instagram Post Ideas to Boost Listings & Sales

Published August 13, 2024 by Real Estate Leads

Real Estate Agents: 10 Creative Instagram Post Ideas to Boost Listings & SalesYears ago it would have sounded absurd if someone would suggest real estate agents need to spend more time being active on social media in the interest of generating real estate leads. But nowadays no one will suggest there’s anything inaccurate about that, and most agents who are receptive to trends in real estate marketing are going to be quite active with their social media platforms. The reason being that is often where prospective clients glean information about real estate – and potentially which realtor will be best for them to work with.

So what we’re going to look at with this week’s entry here are real estate social media tips, and specifically Instagram post ideas for real estate. Some of you may be aware of the way that Instagram is the most visually-oriented of all the major social media platforms, and that lines up well with the prerogatives people have when evaluating real estate. That goes for both people wanting to sell a home as well as those who want to buy a home with the help of a realtor.

People put a lot of value on the seeing aspect of their evaluation, and thus the immense value in real estate Instagram strategy. For realtors who want to use Instagram for real estate there is of course going to be a need to get better with photography, but these days with the camera quality on smartphones you certainly don’t need any additional equipment to be able to do that. In some instances you may want to hire a photographer, but for Instagram you won’t need to if you’re at least reasonably capable with your smartphone camera.

It is entirely possible to boost real estate listings on Instagram, but another part of that and the one that will be more challenging than snapping the photos will be to write engaging text for those images. The type that will also be compelling enough to prompt the user to take your CTA (call to action) with contacting you if they’re ready to make a move in the local real estate market. Either selling or buying a home. We’ve got 10 real estate agent Instagram tips for you here, and each of them has been seen to boost listings and sales by profit and growth minded agents just like you.

Engaging Social Content Works

The reality for real estate agent wanting to boost their Instagram engagement and attract more potential clients is that it’s challenging to come up with new ideas for creating social content that is engaging to the extent it needs to be. This is why we’ve collected these 10 Instagram post ideas for real estate with the idea that they will help agents showcase their expertise, better engage and compel audiences that are ready for that engagement and compulsion, and then ultimately grow a real estate business.

Some of these real estate social media tips may also be cross-applicable to other platforms too, and Facebook most notably, but all of them are highlighted the way they are here because they are implicitly connected to the overtly visual nature of Instagram as a social media platform.

Let’s get into them.

Highlighting Local Charm

Real estate agents do well when they are able to highlight the unique charm of local attractions and businesses. You can really draw in potential clients when you do this well. An idea is to partner with local businesses or promote local events on your Instagram feed. This strategy is also going to be beneficial for certain interests in the local community plus also providing useful information to your followers so that the marketing power of your real estate Instagram posts are enhanced.

Good ideas are to pair bright, sharp, and quality images with helpful educational tips, features on good local businesses, and highlighting the best neighborhood amenities. You’ll also get more traction with your posts if you capture the beauty of local parks, restaurants, and monuments in eye-catching carousel posts, Reels, or TikTok posts. Realtors that are willing to go the extra mile with this can also considering collaborating with local business owners to create fun neighborhood guides and showcase recognizable features of the community.

This is just one way to Boost real estate listings on Instagram, and another possibility is to add personal touches to your Instagram posts to make them more engaging. Done right you can also be expressing your unique personality in a creative way if you share your own experiences at local events, or offer your own genuine perspective on how the neighbourhood has evolved over the years. Try to incorporate a personal flair into your content to captivate your audience

Work in personal touches and your realtor Instagram account can be turned into a valuable resource for real estate lead generation.

Create Captivating Property Showcases

These days there is no debating the fact that a key aspect of real estate marketing is creating appealing property showcases. There are few better ways to attract prospective buyers and highlight your listings and making them a part of your social media platforms like Instagram is very necessary for realtors now. Videos, photos, and virtual tours are perfect for creating incredible real estate Instagram posts that showcase your properties in the best light.

To stress the importance of this with real estate Instagram strategy, consider the estimate that around 73% of potential customers are more likely to choose to list their home with agents who use video. This goes back to the visual prerogative that buyers have nowadays, and it’s entirely because with the Internet the availability of video content is to such a great extent and people want to see as much of it as possible as they consider making an offer on a home for sale. Remember, homeowners are going to want there to be as much interest in their home as possible.

Here’s what you should be doing to create a captivating property showcase:

  1. Showcase successful virtual open houses and then complete the content by adding the story behind the sale to add a personal touch
  2. Clean and stage the property in advance of capturing high-quality photos and videos
  3. Advertise open houses and market listings on social media to attract potential buyers and maximize exposure.
  4. Use filters and features on social media marketing platforms to give more eye-catching appeal to these property showcases

Aim to showcase your expertise as a realtor in these Instagram content examples too. A good way to do that is with regular updates on your real estate Instagram account featuring appealing property showcases. This will likely reflect on your dedication to assisting clients in finding their dream home. There’s so much to gain from making your listings stand out and attracting more potential buyers through social media marketing and you should be approaching Instagram post ideas for real estate with all of this in mind.

Agent Insights & Tips

An Instagram account that is regularly putting up posts with great images but also content that shares useful insights and tips for buyers, sellers, and homeowners can better create the realtor as a fixture in that forum and as one of the ones who is a more knowledgeable professional in the real estate industry. Consider these real estate social media post ideas to help buyers make informed decisions:

  1. A downloadable ‘buyer’s package’ that is offered on your website
  2. Collections of tips for a wide range of buyers, for everyone from first-time homebuyers to investors
  3. Free home valuation assessments made available to any homeowner who’d like one

The focus for homeowners who are ready to sell will be different. For real estate agent Instagram tips here a proven-effective approach is to share tips on how homeowners can better set the price for their home realistically. Maybe also share what you know about getting professional pictures taken, along with any type of well-written and persuasive statements that demonstrate your ability as a real estate agent who better understands the needs that apply to all homeowners as they prepare to put their home on the market.

Create short videos answering frequently asked questions from clients too, and make it clear to say something along the lines of ‘these are what some of the many previous clients I’ve worked with have asked me repeatedly’. You may also want to share motivational quotes to inspire confidence. By imparting useful insights and tips on your Instagram account you will be assisting sellers in achieving their goals.

Your Instagram real estate posts can also cover what you know about helping homeowners maximize their home’s potential. This could be with everything from upgrading their furnace to be more energy-efficient to landscaping renovations that will put the property around the home more in line with what are the current tastes for landscaping around homes. Here’s an opportunity for you to recommend a local landscaper who you know and who’s business you are happy to promote.

This will not only will this provide valuable information to your audience, but it will also give them a glimpse into your personal life, making your real estate Instagram posts more engaging and relatable.

Engage Your Audience

Interacting with your audience on Instagram and other social media platforms has to be an integral part of what you do here. It is key to nurturing a robust connection with followers and establishing yourself as a bonafide local authority on real estate who is also up to speed and savvy with modern technology. Audiences become more engaged when you run contests, ask questions, and create interactive content like polls and quizzes on your Instagram Stories.

Strategies like these ones are sure to excite your followers and promote engagement from them. If they’re likely to buy or sell a home soon, it’s much more likely they will consider you as the realtor they are going to work with. Understanding your audience and crafting compelling content can maximize the impact of your social media accounts. But you must tailor your content to your target audience, along with making it likely that followers will respond positively.

Active interaction with your audience can foster solid relationships, keep engagement levels high, and draw in new clients. This has to be a forefront aim with real estate Instagram strategy. You need to be putting out good content regularly, so scheduling content in advance on your social media platform is a good ideas as it can help you stay connected with your followers while demanding less of your time.

It’s advisable to plan Instagram posts ahead of time, and seeing to it your posts have a balance of educational content, property showcases, and personal content. This approach will ensure a consistent and engaging presence on social media while allowing you to focus on other aspects of your real estate business.

Behind Scenes Glimpses

Offering behind-the-scenes glimpses of your daily life as a real estate agent may craft a more personal connection with your followers. Showcase pictures of you and your team that really emphasize the human element of helping others get into the homes that fit them and their lives best. You can also be celebrating successes and milestones.

It’s good to share engaging pictures and videos of team events or team-building exercises to create excitement and foster team spirit in your Instagram for real estate posts. If you are the head of a real estate team you can recognize and reward exceptional members by sharing their achievements and expressing your appreciation for how well they’ve contributed to the success of the real estate team. When your give your audience a behind-the-scenes look at your office life you are creating a more personal and relatable social media presence.

Showcasing Client Testimonials

The extent to which a realtor serves their clients with the level of expertise and professionalism is matched by the need for providing desired results with the buying or selling of a home. Meet their expectations there and you’ll be doing well with building a reputation as a real estate agent. This is not connected to real estate social media tips at all, but where this starts to move towards is the idea of taking testimonials from satisfied previous clients and working them into your social media content.

Client testimonials are extremely persuasive in convincing potential clients of your skills and success as a real estate agent. Showcasing the positive experiences and success stories of your current clients can emphasize your value to potential clients and contribute to the growth of your real estate business. So go ahead and highlight client success stories in your real estate Instagram posts. The more you showcase your clients’ satisfaction it becomes increasingly likely potential clients will trust your expertise.

A good idea for this is to create a design template with a few variations for your testimonial graphics. Schedule these graphics in bulk on your Instagram account, and then you’ll have a consistent and engaging presence that puts your commitment to client satisfaction on display in a very compelling way.

Educational Content for Followers

Real estate agents can also incorporate educational content on real estate topics, market trends, and industry news into their social media to educate and engage followers as part of real estate Instagram tips. Share local market statistics to keep existing clients informed and make it clear that part of the reason you’re doing this is to open up opportunities for future clients. You can also offer checklists to help potential buyers stay organized as they prepare to move to a new home.

Keep the free and helpful resources coming with future Instagram posts too. One common one that agents often use is a home values tool that can be used to assist clients in researching properties and making informed decisions. Sharing educational content can highlight your expertise and dedication to helping clients navigate the complexities of the real estate world.

Your content can also be tailored for educating followers about important aspects of home loans and other financial considerations related to homebuying and home ownership in general. This could be with sharing tips on checking credit history and upping down payments. This can be valuable information related to real estate too, and again what you are doing is incrementally establishing yourself as a knowledgeable resource for your audience. It’s quite likely that you’ll see more potential clients coming your way as you see a boost of real estate listings on Instagram.

Lifestyle Inspiration Posts

With lifestyle inspiration posts included in your real estate Instagram you can be helping clients visualize their dream home and lifestyle, and if you can do this effectively it means the homebuying interest it stimulates in them become a key gain you’ll see from your real estate Instagram marketing strategy. Share exciting home decor ideas, helpful gardening tips, and amazing local activities on your Instagram account and you can’t help but inspire at least some of your followers.

Here’s what you can be including:

  1. Attractive shots of interior inspirations
  2. The latest design trends
  3. Home makeover tips
  4. Remodeling photos where the after is SO much better than the before

Posts like this may well be motivating sellers and buyers to envision the potential of their own properties and how they may be enhancing them before they put them on the market. Incorporating lifestyle inspiration posts into your social media strategy can make it easier for clients to visualize their dream home and lifestyle.

You may also want to share home improvement projects with DIY ideas and helpful tips on organizing. This can be part of valuable lifestyle inspiration content on your Instagram account too.

Influencer Collaborations

Agents can also be broadening their reach and having a wider audience if they can establish ties with local social media influencers who are big on Instagram and have expertise and sway of influence with some subject that can be connected to real estate in some way. Benefits of partnering with local influencers may include really boosting your visibility and influence on social media as are a realtor, and especially if that influencer is highly regarded in their industry.

Work together with local influencers by offering incentives or collaborating on content that prospective clients are likely to connect to and then engage with it. Measure the success of collaborations by tracking the number of followers gained, engagement rate, and then social media platform conversions. Forming partnerships with local influencers can widen your reach, provide your followers with beneficial content, and enhance engagement.

Community Event Celebrations

You can also spotlight your involvement and dedication to the community by celebrating community events, festivals, and local milestones and this can also be a consideration for Instagram post ideas for real estate. When you are aware of upcoming events that you feel potential clients would be interested in then you can create a post on your real estate Instagram account where you make them aware of it. This not only demonstrates your dedication to supporting the local economy and fostering a sense of community, but it also highlights you as simply as a nice and caring person.

Discuss the organizations you support and the community service events you participate in on your social media accounts. By celebrating community events and sharing your involvement, you can showcase your local expertise and commitment to the community, ultimately growing your real estate business and attracting more potential clients.

These are a few of the way realtors can use Instagram to promote themselves and make social media increasingly a part of how their growing their PREC. By following these creative Instagram post ideas, it becomes possible to establish yourself as more of an expert with local real estate and build strong connections with your audience. When this happens consistently over time agents then usually start to see better real estate lead generation from social media.

It takes time to see real results, but being committed to doing this has the potential to really pay off. This should only be a very formative introduction to doing this, and you’re encouraged to dig deeper and discover other proven Instagram tips for real estate success.

How to Get Traffic and Leads from Real Estate Facebook Pages

Published August 5, 2024 by Real Estate Leads

How to Get Traffic and Leads from Real Estate Facebook PagesThe majority of folks will agree that ageism isn’t a good thing, and fortunately in the business world it doesn’t have much sway of influence anyway. A young realtor isn’t going to be at a disadvantage to an older one simply based on their age, but they will be if they haven’t established the same name for themselves in the business. Which of course is pretty much guaranteed if you’re new to working as a real estate agent in Canada. We can take age into account when it comes to real estate Facebook marketing though, and here’s why.

It was a whole different story in 2007 when Facebook was new to the world, but nowadays it’s increasingly true that Facebook is the social media platform of-choice for ‘older people’. Again, not being ageist in saying that but if you’re a Gen Xer or older you’ll know that’s fairly true, and especially if you’re one who has teenage kids. They’ll tell you the same thing emphatically. But therein lies the truth of why agents can – and should – put a focus on ways to generate real estate leads on Facebook.

You probably see where we’re going with this; it’s those older folks who are on Facebook more than any other platform, and they are the demographic who are MUCH more likely to be selling homes, or having the financial means to buy them. Not to say there aren’t plenty of Gen Z types who may be ready to buy their first condo or similar, but if you’re looking to drum up business you put your focus on the areas where there is more of it to be drummed up. For social media for real estate, that is 100% Facebook.

Having Facebook pages for realtors that are independent of their personal page is highly recommended, and fortunately it doesn’t take much to put a fairly good looking one together where agents can advertise themselves and field any and all inquiries about buying and selling real estate in the area. Inquiries that are very EASILY sent via social media, and sent a whole lot more often nowadays by people on Facebook who are likely to buy or sell a home.

You’ll want to optimize a Facebook real estate page too, and that’s another part of what we’ll look at with this blog entry here. It is all a part of how to get started with effective Facebook marketing for realtors and it’s something that agents of any age should be applying themselves to if they really want to get real estate clients from social media.

Real Visibility

Indeed, Facebook pages for real estate agents can play a major role in creating more awareness and building a strong online presence. What is increasingly likely is that people who are scrolling through their Facebook feed may be considering a real estate purchase, and if they happen across a post (as a paid Facebook ad for a realtor) that puts an agent right in front of them it is possible they’ll consider that agent.

Now of course that is dependent on whether or not they are already working with an agent, or if they know one through a family friend or acquaintance and would be leaning toward that individual as a result. But if not, it becomes possible that the agent they see is the one they reach out to. This can be especially true for out-of-town buyers who want to buy a home in a different city.

Facebook Pages are great for promoting your latest listings or for creating ads to reach potential clients. They can also be an effective way to generate more traffic and leads for your business, but they need to be put together the right way and deployed properly too if they are going to generate real estate leads for you. The first thing we’ll go over her is how to set up and then optimize a real estate Facebook page.

Before you can set up a Facebook business you’ll need to a have a personal Facebook profile if you don’t have one already. These days most people do, and again especially for the age range that will encompass most realtors AND the types of potential real estate clients they’ll be hoping to secure.

If you’ll be setting up a profile for the first time you can rest assured that your personal account will be separate from your business page and your personal information will remain private. But you will be acting as the admin for your business page and with all aspects of Real estate Facebook marketing as you move forward with this.

Once you have your personal account you’ll be ready to create your business page. Do this by visiting Pages in the menu and click Create New Page. Next you’ll need to enter your business name. From there you’ll enter your PAGE name and choose a category. Seeing as this is a business page, your name should include ‘real estate agent’, ‘realtor’ or something similar in the title. The aim with doing this is to differentiate your Page from your personal account, plus making your Page more discoverable in search results. Some realtors add PREC if they’ve incorporated as a realtor and if you have this is something that you can add in addition to ‘realtor’ if you’d like.

As for category, the options you will look at will be fairly obvious. Most will go with real estate agent on Facebook, but you can also choose from:

  1. Real Estate Developer
  2. Real Estate Company
  3. Real Estate Appraiser
  4. Real Estate Bimbo
  5. Real Estate Service
  6. Commercial Real Estate Agency

Go with the option that best represents your Page and business, whether you’re a solo agent or part of a real estate team that is eager to generate leads from Facebook. It may also be helpful to add a bio to your page, and you have the option of doing that here. You can also choose to add it later if you feel you’re not ready to write one yet.

Try to Stand Out

The next part of creating Facebook pages for realtors is to input your business details, and it’s here that you really want to put some effort into this and make your entry different from the ones coming from the hundreds of other realtors on Facebook. You can start with the easy parts where there’s no room for anything different with what you’re entering – your contact information, real estate agent website with blog, and business hours. Facebook also requires you to enter a valid phone number to continue the process.

You’ll then finish setting up this part of your realtor Facebook page with website email and location. Of course you will enter the location of the city where you are working, and keeping in mind too that this is a big part of search terms when people are looking for a real estate agent on social media. In the bottom-left corner, take note of how FB is letting you know what your ‘page health’ is compared to similar Pages. This helps you understand what information to add to optimize your real estate Page so that you get maximum engagement.

Moving along with this you’ll then need to upload a profile picture and cover photo. Remember these visual elements are the first things people will see when they discover your page and as such they are an integral and immediate part of how your representing your business. Profile pictures should be professional, high-resolution headshot images of you. The shot will automatically be cropped into a circle, so make sure the headshot is centered and focused on your face. The size of it will be displayed at 176×176 pixels on desktop and 196×196 pixels on mobile.

Add Cover Photo

The cover photo you choose will be shown as the banner image at the top of your page. What you should conceptualize here is a space where you are previewing your style, services, or approach. Often when realtors are looking to optimize their real estate Facebook page they will add an easily-recognizable photo of the city they are working in, or other options could be their logo if they have one. If the realtor works as part of a team they may also choose to have a group photo of themselves with the other team members.

There is room to be creative here. Considering again that the most predominant Facebook users are the Generation X types you may even want to take an unconventional yet effective approach here and choose an inappropriate image rather than one that is very ordinary and unexceptional in any way. People of this age generation often prefer to see inappropriate images rather than appropriate ones, and their sense of humour tends to be tailored the same way too.

All this keeping in mind that it is this age bracket of people that are going to be most active in the real estate market for the foreseeable future, and they are the ones who will be buying and selling homes most often. It’s a smart move to take real estate Facebook marketing and gear it towards this demographic group as best as possible. The cover photo will display at a 16:9 ratio and should be at least 400 pixels wide and 150 pixels tall, this according to Facebook’s image dimensions guidelines.

Connect & Invite

We’re really stressing the idea of meeting your prospective clients where they are at, and with the focus again being on that 40/45+ age bracket they also make up a large portion of the 1.2 billion using WhatsApp frequently for communication. So it’s a good idea for agent to have WhatsApp on their devices too and also have it connected to their new real estate Facebook page during this step.

Connecting your business page to WhatsApp helps streamline things if you’re already active on the messaging app and regularly use it for fast and effective communication with clients.

Another must-do for agents who want to get started with effective Facebook marketing for realtors is to be proactive and invite friends to follow the page. Once you’ve set up your Facebook Page, it’s time to start sharing it with the world and the best place to start sharing is with your personal network. This is easily done too because during the setup process you will be prompted to invite friends to follow your page. Those of them that known you’re switching careers to real estate will very likely be more than happy to help you out this as they will want to see you be successful. So notify the friends on your personal account about your Page and invite them to like or follow it.

Plus it is always possible that someone in your personal network can be a potential lead or connect you with one, so sending out those invites really is highly recommended.

Stay Informed

Turning on page notifications is the final step in the setup process. You want these turned on so you don’t miss any updates or potential leads that come through your Page. You can also choose to receive marketing and promotional emails from Facebook. Facebook will share product recommendations and tips to help you get the most out of your Page.

So you want to stay informed, and you always want to stay updated with your page and knowing that it’s optimized to the maximum extent. So we’ll switch direction now and focus on how to optimize an existing real estate Facebook page. Doing so means it is more likely you will generate real estate leads on Facebook, and of course that’s exactly what you’re hoping to achieve with this.

The first suggestion is to create a username consistent with your business. Your username will be your Facebook handle and the web address used for your Page and will display in the URL when you share the link or when people search for you. If you don’t choose a name for yourself and entire it into the filed then Facebook will auto-generates a username if you don’t choose one. It’s not likely that the one chosen is going to reflect your brand accurately so choose something similar to your Page name in the interests of consistency and searchability.

Next you will want to review business details for accuracy. This is also an important step to take when optimizing your realtor Facebook Page, and your focus should be on ensuring your business details are completely up to date and accurate. Preventing situations like a potential client sending an email to an old address is important as you don’t ever want to lose real estate leads.

Make the needed update if you’ve switched brokerages too, and if that’s the case you’ll want to add a new email, website logo, and possibly go with a new headshot. If you’ve formed a team, consider noting that on your Page and making the appropriate changes. Have a CTA (call-to-action) call-to-action button on your page too so that would-be clients can act quickly and easily if they want to be in touch with you without delay to discuss the possibility of buying or selling a home.

You want it to be clear for them as to what they should do. Should they call you? Fill out a form on your website? Whatever you think is best should be indicated with your Page’s call-to-action (CTA). A CTA is essential to have on any agent’s Facebook Page if real estate lead generation is the primary focus for it.

Create Your CTA

Here is how you do that. Click on the icon with the three small dots in the right corner of your Page. Then select the ‘Add Action’ Button. You’ll then be able to choose from the several different actions that are available to you. Most realtors will be looking to have a fast way for prospective clients to contact them. With the Action button, you can choose how they can contact you, whether by sending a message on Facebook or emailing.

After you’ve selected how you want your CTA to function on the page Facebook will create a button that will be shown at the top of your Page. When visitors click on it they will be automatically directed to the action you set up.

Now we move on to setting up notifications. This is something that is equally important because no realtor will be okay with missing out on a quality lead because someone’s message got buried in their inbox. If you’re a busy and successful realtor then it is fairly common to have quite full inboxes all the time. So make sure your Page notifications are turned on, for everything from likes and comments to new messages in your inbox.

If you want to take an extra step to ensure you engage with every message you receive then you can set up automatic DMs for when someone contacts you through the FB real estate page. If they receive an auto-reply it lets them know that their message was seen and they will see that favorably and be more inclined to keep the conversation going. It can also be a good way to answer common questions right out of the gate or direct someone to more information.

Inbox automations

No real estate agent is going to be inclined to spend any more time on Facebook than they have to, and that’s because they’ll be spending as much time as possible working as a realtor and doing everything that comes with that. But at the same time they will not want to be unaware any time a potential lead reaches out to them via their Facebook business page for realtors.

If you set up an Instant reply that sends an automated response to someone as soon as they reach out then that doesn’t need to happen. This automation allows you to create a custom reply that is triggered to send after someone sends their first message to you. Having this auto-reply in place makes certain the sender isn’t left on read, and it also makes it so that the agent doesn’t need to reply right away if they happen to be very preoccupied at the moment.

It’s also a really good idea to use a social media marketing tool like Hootsuite, and the reason it is so popular is that it is an all-in-one social media content creation, scheduling, and monitoring tool. With Hootsuite Composer you can create and schedule posts for Facebook, plus Instagram, Twitter, and other social media sites if you’re promoting yourself as a real estate agent there too.

Join & Participate in Facebook Groups

Joining and participating in Facebook Groups that are related to real estate – and real estate in the agent’s area in particular – is a smart way to expand their network by connecting with fellow agents, potential clients, and other industry professionals. And it’s possible to join a Facebook Group as a Page rather than joining it with your personal account, so when you’re in the group you’re especially visible as an agent who is ready and able with helping people with real estate.

There are all sorts of benefits to be had with this move for Real estate Facebook marketing too. Your best results will be when you find and join real estate-focused groups or local interest groups. Some may be public, while for others may need to be approved to join. When conducting your search for relevant groups, consider groups that offer a chance to connect with homeowners or other industry professionals.

Once you join one of these groups you will need to participate and be active in the community if you want to form genuine connections and ultimately generate real estate leads on Facebook. Participate smartly, and be aware that a lot of these groups won’t allow overt self-promotion. Don’t try to be too sales-y, and remember that the goal is to expand your network and position yourself as a helpful resource so that you’ll be top of mind if anyone needs a realtor.

Boost Posts

You should be sharing a variety of real estate-related posts on your Page, covering topics like home-buying tips and recent listings. If one post performs well, you can boost it so that it reaches even more people who may not be following you yet. A boosted post on Facebook is an existing, organic post that becomes a paid ad when it’s boosted.

An example might be an instance when you share a photo from one of your recent listings on your Facebook Page. You get decent engagement with the current page followers but you’d like it to reach even more people. Boosting the post may help it reach a new audience.

You’ll need to spend money to boost your posts. But it differs from creating an ad because you don’t need to create anything from scratch. When you boost posts you amplify the content you’ve already created, which is a huge benefit. Boosting your posts helps you get the most out of your content creation efforts and increase your reach to potential leads.

Create Ads

If you can afford it, paying for Facebook ads is pretty much the best way to get the added visibility and promotion you want to go along with Facebook pages for realtors. You may well have already bought traditional advertising placements in local media. With Facebook ads you’re able to expand your reach in a big way and tap into a larger, targeted audience.

Meta Business Suite offers extensive ad opportunities across both Facebook and Instagram. Explore the different formats and placements to find the best fit for your goals. It might be that a carousel ad would be a good option if you’re advertising a listing and want to showcase multiple images. You can also include a CTA with Facebook ads. This part is essential if you want to generate real estate leads from Facebook. Make sure your ad is compelling enough to get people to stop scrolling and follow your CTA, whether that’s to learn more or put them into direct contact with you.