Boost by HomeSpotter is a NextHome partner and has run over 500,000 social ad campaigns on behalf of real estate agents.
We recently took a look at the past 2 years of ad performance data to determine why some ads outperformed others and which factors make the biggest impact.
Read on for the key insights so you can create smarter campaigns that deliver the results that you’re looking for.
Timing
In most markets, the recent months have been characterized by tight inventory. For listing-based ads, this means that speed is key to capturing demand from anxious buyers. The excitement around a Just Listed status has a shelf life and by executing on time, you can add value to your personal brand while capturing interest from the buyers most likely to take action.
Ads that are promoted as soon as they hit the market have a click through rate 8.2% higher than those that sat for 2 weeks or more before being promoted. In general, the faster, the better.
Draw attention to the timeliness of your listing by using an image overlay or ad text that announces the listing as each of those tactics boosts click through rate.
Capturing Interest
If you are looking to collect early stage buyers in order to include them in drip campaigns, using a compelling call to action (CTA) in your ad and a landing page with lead capture mechanisms are key. Consumers will hesitate to respond to a request for information unless there is a clear, valuable offer.
Earning a click
Before consumers can respond to your ad in a trackable way, you’ll need to gain their attention and convince them to pause their scrolling and click. Success goes way up when you have a tangible offer in your ad copy. That means spelling out what home buyers and sellers can expect when they hit your landing page, including things like a local market report, an automated home valuation or an invitation to answer questions over coffee.
Agents that customize the ad text to feature their unique selling points get 2.4x the click through rate of ads that use generic copy.
For listing-based ads, you’ve already got an attention-grabbing element in the listing itself. Include enough information in the ad itself to create a hook and explain what additional information is available if they proceed by clicking through to your landing page.
Focused landing pages with lead capture
Once a user follows your ad, they shouldn’t have to hunt for the information the ad promised. With the rare exception, that means having a landing page dedicated to your ad campaign. Reusing your homepage just isn’t focused enough and leads to user confusion and drop off.
Make sure you also have a way to collect user information so you can follow up as appropriate. That can mean creating a form on your site, where users are required to share information before they can proceed. Or utilize tools from Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn where users can share their profile data with one click before proceeding to your landing page. Wordstream recently concluded that forms that offer auto-complete from social accounts had a completion rate 20% higher than traditional forms.
Either way, you’ll want to thank users that complete your form, offer a way for them to contact you for additional information, and add them to your remarketing lists so they’re included in additional prospecting ad campaigns.
Targeting
Optimizing the details of your ad won’t help much if you’re not reaching the right people. Targeting is the single most important factor in campaign success. With Facebook cutting back on the targeting options available for real estate themed ads, it’s more important than ever to leverage your own data in your campaigns.
That means uploading your own lists like your sphere of influence and including your seller’s contact info in your targeting. You should also install a tracking pixel on your landing pages so you can create retargeting campaigns. In our data, campaigns utilizing retargeting audiences had a click rate 12.6% higher than those that only targeted new prospects on social sites.
About Boost by HomeSpotter
Boost helps NextHome agents create effective digital ad campaigns through optimized ad templates and custom targeting settings per property. New campaigns take less than 5 minutes to create through the streamlined setup process via the agent dashboard.
For more helpful tips from our partners at HomeSpotter, check out their blog!