by justsellhomes | Apr 13, 2016 | Uncategorized
You’re planning on starting a real estate advertising campaign soon and you’re worried about other agents seeing your ads. They will click on it and cost you money. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve talked to agents who have done it themselves. Sometimes just to see what happens when you click and other times to cost their competition money.
With Facebook ad targeting you have a few different ways to block people from seeing your ads. The absolutely easiest way is if you have the agents in your marketplace email addresses or phone numbers. Then you could just upload and exclude the audience. However, most of the time we do not have that list. So how to stop them?
Facebook allows you to target people by interests, job titles, industries, etc… The problem with targeting by job titles is that agents put so many different job titles. From Sales Representative, Broker, Broker of Record, Real Estate Agent, Realtor, etc… its hard to get them all. You could also go by employer but the problem there is since most create a page they list their page as their employer which then leaves hundreds of them sometimes. At the very least you’ll have to list every brokerage in your area. Targeting by employers and job titles can only get you so far.
You can exclude audiences based on interests. This is actually where you have one of the most effective options for targeting agents. Agents have specific interests that no one else would have on Facebook. So for example, let’s take agents in Ontario. The regulatory body in the industry is the Real Estate Council of Ontario. Do you know how many in the general public are going to be interested in RECO? I would be willing to bet that its over 90% agents. So exclude people who are interested in RECO. So who is the regulatory body in your area?
After you target that look at local boards, provincial/state boards, and other organizations and groups that only agents would like.
Will you stop every agent from seeing your ads? Of course not, stopping them all will be impossible. You can stop a lot with the methods above.
by justsellhomes | Mar 3, 2016 | Uncategorized
Recently, I was reading a report from Google called Micro-Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile. They had some really interesting statistics to show just how much mobile matters and you can find some interesting insights into how this could be applied to Real Estate.
The main reason that mobile matters so much is that people are always on their phone. 68% of people check their phones within 15 minutes of waking up. For many its the first thing they do. 30% of people actually get anxious if they don’t have their phone with them. The most telling stat of peoples reliance on their phone is that 87% of people always have their smartphone at their side, day and night. They are consulting it, on average, 150 times a day.
If advertising is about being where people are, guess what, they are on their phones. So you need to create an experience that goes where they are on their phones. Get your content in front of them in a way that enhances their mobile experience.
So how are people using their phones?
91% of people turn to their phone for ideas in middle of at ask and 82% of people consult phones in stores before making a purchase. Do you think this is any different when they are walking through the home you have listed? They may walk through and think “What school district is this?”, “How far from work am I?”, “Do you remember what the price was?”, or a thousand other questions.
So how can you take advantage of this? Put a sign up in the house saying for more information visit www.ADDRESS.com and that can redirect to the page on your site about the property. Then on that page put absolutely everything they may need to know about it. Go in depth but make it consumable for a phone. So break it up into small, easily identifiable, sections.
Google has seen a 20% increase in the share of sessions coming from mobile but an 18% decrease in time spent per visit. Everyone is looking for quick and specific information. They aren’t there to read every word of a long post. When they pull out their phone they want something specific and will move on quickly if they don’t find it.
90% of users are not absolutely certain of the brand they want to buy when the begin looking for information only. Now compare that to the fact that 51% have purchases from a company or brand other than the intended one because the information provided was useful. You need to provide the information they can’t find anywhere else. Get hyper-local.
The last really telling stat is that 73% say that getting useful information regularly is the most important attribute when selecting a brand. Many are worried about providing too much information and bothering the consumer. This stat shows that if you are sharing useful information you can contact them regularly.
People are using their phones to answer their questions. That means you need to have a mobile friendly site that answers those questions. Whether thats about individual listings or about the buying and selling process. Create the content and start becoming the resource for them.
by justsellhomes | Feb 19, 2016 | Uncategorized
You may not have noticed it yet but Facebook business pages are becoming increasingly obsolete. Organic reach on most pages is down drastically. A few outliers still get great engagement but the large majority aren’t anymore. Facebook has made changes to improve user experience and the best way to do that is to show less page posts.
Many cynically assume its just to force business owners to spend money on ads. It’s not a cynical Facebook plot. Facebook knows that if people log on and only see page posts and not posts from their friends they’ll stop logging in as much. If they stop logging in then Facebook loses their entire value. They need to show less Facebook pages so that users still like the platform. So it does ultimately force you to buy ads to get visibility but thats a by-product of trying to make the user experience better.
Now that Facebook has made these changes it has led to a lot of posting becoming very one sided. You post a lot and get very little engagement. Facebook pages are almost starting to seem like Twitter. A lot of posts but not much happening. The top 1% continue to see great engagement but otherwise its pretty quiet out there. All the engagement is on posts you make as well, when your fans create their own post almost no one will see it.
This has led to an immense rise in the popularity of Facebook groups. People are joining them and being active at a large rate. Its allowed everyone to join groups with likeminded people to work with. From professional to personal, theres a group for almost any interest. When I log into Facebook, most of my favourite interactions come from different groups. From learning more about the industry, technology, entrepreneurship, sports, or being a geek, theres groups that I check and interact with daily.
If you want to create a ton of engagement then start a group. Groups could be used to successfully build a community. Keep them closed so that people can search them and find but you ultimately have control on who comes and goes. Do it for the neighbourhood you farm or niche you work. You’ll most likely have to create most of the content early on. It will take work but you’ll more effectively be able to build a community than just a Facebook page could.
So does this make Facebook pages obsolete? Not at all. Facebook pages still have immense value but not in the same way. Organic posting is not nearly as valuable as it used to be. Now Facebook Business Pages have two main value propositions. The first is branding, unlike a Facebook group you have way more control over the branding and messages that go out. So you can use it to build your brand more.
The most valuable part of a Facebook page now is that it gives you the ability to do Newsfeed and Instagram ads. Which are often the highest performing ads. Without that you’re mostly relegated to right side column ads which aren’t nearly as effective. Although thats most of the time. Interestingly I have one current ad set running for a client where the most effective part is actually coming from the right side column. That ad seems to be the exception to the rule though!
Facebook pages are not obsolete but their role has changed. They are no longer the best way to build a community of followers. That role now is most effectively done by a well managed group.
by justsellhomes | Feb 14, 2016 | Uncategorized
Crafting a smart digital marketing funnel takes planning and a great deal of thought. You need to carefully build every part of it to make sure it works properly. A lot of people have figured out the basics. That you need to drive traffic to a site and that site will help you capture their contact information and ultimately start a conversation. That conversation will end up leading to an in person meeting and then business.
However, many ask for too much up front. They start by asking for every piece of information from the get-go. Especially the phone number! The younger the demographic the more they guard their phone number. Asking for it up front can be like asking for the second date before you’ve started the first.
So here is where a “Thank You” can help your sales process. Stop asking for the phone number on the landing page. Ask for their name, email, and any other critical information you need. Try to keep it small though. The larger you make it the less people will fill it out. So instead, when they give you the first set of information have them redirect to a Thank You Page. A page that says “Thank You for Signing Up” and then you hit them with your next call to action.
On the Thank You page you can include a call to action that says “Do you want to get immediate help? Leave your phone number below and we’ll call or text you back as soon as possible”. Now those who want to talk to you on the phone will leave their phone numbers. This makes your follow up process even easier as now you know who wants to be contacted in what ways.
Not only is the Thank You Page an opportunity to collect their phone number. You can also use it as a way to collect other important information. If you’re running a buyer campaign and buyers start filling out your forms. The Thank You page can ask thank them for filling it out and then have a call to action saying “Do you need to sell your current home to buy your next one? Fill out the form below and find out what its worth.” Now you are providing them value by helping them with what they did in step 1. Now when you call them as well you already know more about their situation.
By doing this you are also categorizing the lead more effectively too. If you are getting enough regular leads now you know which to follow up with first. They can prioritize themselves. The leads who want something immediate will be self-identifying. Will this work perfectly? Of course not, no system is perfect.
The Thank You Page is so often neglected. Its almost a throw away for most. You need to keep every interaction on point with your brand. The thank you page after they fill out the form is no exception.
by justsellhomes | May 7, 2020 | Uncategorized
The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA) had its Emerge series in the last quarter of 2015. I had the pleasure of being one of the speakers throughout the tour.
Scroll to the bottom to watch my talk on digital marketing at the last stop of the event.
It was a great experience and I wanted to share some of the things that I learned from the event.
1. Networking
These events are an incredible opportunity to network. Get to know other agents in your area. Better than that, travel to an event that’s not in your area and network with potential referral partners. Don’t be afraid to go up to someone and just start talking to them. Even the speakers themselves. It was amazing to see how much the other speakers would openly share not only their knowledge but their time with anyone and everyone who asked.
So when OREA Emerge comes to you in 2016, make sure you get out there and meet people. Even make a list ahead of time if you see some speakers you’d want to talk to and make a point of reaching out.
2. Ask Questions
What sets apart an event like Emerge from a lot of real estate conferences is the breakout sessions. Being able to speak directly to the experts after hearing them give their presentation is invaluable. I’ve sat in many conferences where I’ve heard great ideas and had follow up questions I wanted to ask. This style of event gives you that opportunity.
You can only convey so much in a 20-minute presentation about a particular topic so sometimes some details have to be omitted. That can be covered in the breakout session in great detail. All the nitty-gritty questions you had about launching it in your own business you can ask.
3. Attending is Just the Start
Showing up, taking copious notes, networking, and asking questions is just the start if you are coming to these events. The part that actually matters is what you do when you go home. Are you going to feel invigorated and full of ideas for your business? Now are you actually going to implement them?
Nothing matters if you don’t implement it. That’s what will make a difference in your business and in your life. Nothing else. Just knowing the answer isn’t the same as acting upon it. So when you get home
Below is my talk from the event. If you want to ask questions about it then get in touch or leave a comment below!
https://youtu.be/ot7dA9QjHic
by justsellhomes | Jan 27, 2016 | Uncategorized
“Price is the refuge of the marketer who has run out of imagination”
That was Seth Godin offering some amazing insight during his Keynote session here. The Just Sell Homes team is spending the week in New York City at Inman Connect. Wasn’t hard to get the entire team here, just had to book myself a flight!
Seth Godin offered some brilliant insight into the marketing mindset that is worth following. You need your marketing to be remarkable. What does that mean? It means that it makes it worth it for people to make remarks about it.
So what can you do in your marketing to stand out and make people talk about it?
Seth Godin makes this idea sticky with a story. Seth and his family went on a road trip and as they were driving through the country and his children were being rowdy in the back, they saw a field of cows. His kids looked over, paused for a couple seconds and then went back to being rowdy. They’ve seen cows before, they are used to seeing them. So they just went back to doing what they had been before.
Now imagine that one of those cows had been purple? They would have stopped the car, jumped out, taken pictures, called their friends to tell them about it. They would talk about it for years. The purple cow would have been remarkable.
How can you create a purple cow in your business? How can you stand out from the thousands of other agents doing the exact same marketing? The consumer has seen almost all of it already. If you’re only marketing that you will do it for a lower price than you are just in a race to the bottom.
As Seth Godin said “The problem with joining the race to the bottom is that you might actually win. Or even worse, you might come in second.”
Your best work should be to focus on change. Change peoples perception of you and real estate agents in general. Change outsiders to insiders. Change is all around and those willing to embrace it are the ones who will succeed.
Seth Godin said that change has an ugly, evil stepbrother and his name is tension. Tension pushes back against change because it might not work. Don’t be afraid to fail. If you try a new marketing strategy and the consumer says no then change course and try something else. You only have to be right once to see tremendous success. As many real estate coaches say “Every no gets you closer to a yes.”
Make your marketing remarkable. Your job is to create engagement. Give people a reason to talk about you and your business. When you are the leader and doing a remarkable job people will begin to follow you and endorse you. As that happens your business will grow.
Go look up more about Seth Godin. Brilliant speaker with some amazing insights.
Stay tuned for more posts as more happens this week at Inman Connect!
