#1 Reason Why Facebook ads for real estate agents do not work in 2021.
In 2021, social media platforms are beginning to be the number one advertising spot for real estate agents who want to generate more real estate leads for their business. Whether if they are using organic or paid strategies, there isn’t a single real estate agent in North America that isn’t leveraging some form of social media in their lead generation or marketing strategy. But why is it that the most common complaint amongst real estate agents is that Facebook ads for real estate agents do not work anymore in 2021?
There is definitely no shortage of social media coaches, gurus, and marketers online that are constantly talking about their brand new method for real estate agents to generate leads on social media. Whether if it is a new ad template for Facebook, or a new “never before seen” strategy, or even using a brand new platform like TikTok or Linkedin, real estate agents are constantly seeking different and new strategies and methods to generate more real estate leads in 2021 on social media. But they are approaching this all wrong. The problem doesn’t lie in the “how”, it lies in the “what”. It’s not the methods that are failing, it’s the agents themselves.
We see countless real estate agents running Facebook or other social media ads in 2021 burning tens of thousands of dollars on ad spend each month, but we only know a handful of agents that are successful at it, getting the consistent lead flow they’ve always wanted and closing deals while the rest complain about how the platform has failed them and move on to the next strategy just to fail at that.
Real estate agents who fail at paid Facebook and other social media ad strategies think that the only reason they fail is that the ad spend is too much and they can’t afford to spend the amount of money needed to close enough deals to turn a profit. So they pick up their business and move on to organic, time-intensive, free marketing strategies. When in reality, they are not fixing the source of their issues, which is a lack of belief and self-confidence, stemming from ignorance and a lack of information.
In this article, we are to cover the number one reason why real estate agents fail at running paid ads on Facebook and how developing self-esteem and self-confidence can not only help you grow your business by mastering paid real estate lead generation strategies, but also any lead generation strategy that you choose to pursue.
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#1 Reason Why Facebook Ads For Real Estate Agents are Not Working
To understand why real estate agents fail at Facebook ads, we first have to look at the most prevalent reason why real estate agents fail in their businesses at all. Which is the lack of belief and self-esteem.
In an information-intensive age in 2021, real estate agents are not failing because they are using the wrong platforms, the wrong methods, or the wrong strategies. There are countless real-life examples of real estate agents succeeding using every lead generation strategy imaginable. From door-knocking and cold calling to paid Facebook and Google ads all the way to writing books, there is no shortage of real estate agents around the entire world who are finding success using unique and traditional lead generation strategies.
The reason why 80% of real estate agents fail within their first year in the business is not because of the lead generation method they use, it is because most agents do not have the confidence to execute their lead generation strategy properly and see through their plans with persistence.
When a real estate agent, or any entrepreneur for that matter, lacks self-esteem and belief, they develop a very low confidence level in themselves and their abilities. And if you allow yourself to develop a low confidence level, that will lead to fear, which will lead to failure, because when you don’t believe that you can succeed at doing something before you even begin to attempt it, you will never put in the consistent effort to follow through with your success and overcome the initial failures and setbacks that are inevitable. This principle is true for any method of lead generation for real estate agents and any businesses in general.
As for the topic of paid ads, real estate agents have a tendency to be fearful of wasting their money, which leads to them not investing enough money on their ad campaigns, “pulling their punches” or quitting too early. Logistically speaking, paid ads on social media is the best lead generation method for real estate agents that are ready to scale and grow their business into maturity. So why are so many agents lacking the confidence to run paid ads and run them effectively when they know that this is the only real estate lead generation strategy that has a clear measure of success?
If the lack of self-confidence and belief is the number one reason why real estate agents fail at paid lead generation strategies, then what can real estate agents do to build confidence and belief in themselves to actually be willing and able to invest the right amount of money into their ads in order to see a profitable ROI for their ad spend?
Knowledge.
In order for real estate agents to be able to develop a sense of belief in themselves and the method they choose to generate leads, they first must have a detailed understanding of how that method works and why other agents are succeeding using the exact same method. If you want to generate more real estate leads using paid ads on Facebook, you first must have the knowledge of exactly how Facebook ads work. Now you can get this information from a variety of places such as free information on the internet on Google and YouTube or directly through consultation with an expert or experts such as coaches, friends, mastermind groups, and others who have succeeded in the past.
It is important to note however, they no matter where you get that information, that you are not simply just getting a brief overview of the subject. Make sure that once you have decided for certain that you are going to be using Facebook ads to generate real estate leads, that you go out and acquire as much specialized knowledge on the subject as possible and become an expert on that subject or have partners or team members in your business that you can count on to provide that knowledge at an instant.
In the section below, I am going to share with you the 4 best tips to build confidence on social media. Although this is useful information, it is not enough for a complete beginner or someone who is completely new to running Facebook or any social media paid ads to go off on and be successful. The best method of acquiring the knowledge you need in any field to build confidence and self-esteem which leads to persistent action is by consulting or “masterminding” with an expert you trust.
The Top 4 Tips for Real Estate Agents to Build Confidence on Using Facebook Ads
The 4 ways to correctly optimize Facebook ads for real estate agents
- Put Yourself on Video
- Use Better Landing Pages
- Have a Clear Follow Up Schedule
- Believe in Yourself and Your Service
1) Put Yourself on Video
The number one way to optimize Facebook ads for real estate agents is by putting yourself on video and running ads to video posts instead of using a static image or graphic, or even worse, a post with only text.
Because there are already a plethora of real estate agents running Facebook ads in virtually every single market in North America, by simply running an ad to an image post, it is almost impossible for you to stand out in front of the crowd. By putting yourself on video you are not only optimizing your ad because you are showing something different, but you are also able to convey your message more effectively.
Most business owners know that the two most important factors for communication are body language and tone of voice, both of which are more important than the actual message that you are sending to your audience. When you put yourself on video, you are doing two things:
- You are building trust with your potential clients by showing your face and putting a person behind the business, allowing a complete stranger on the internet to get to know you as a human being aside from just another real estate agent.
- You are showing your confidence in yourself and your services and conveying that through your body language and tone of voice to your audience so that they are more likely to be attracted to you and use your services.
We talked earlier about why real estate agents fail and how not having confidence is a major reason why. If you are constantly putting yourself on video, you are able to break that fear and develop more confidence in not just yourself but also your level of service to your clients by showing your goals and your aptitude publicly, which is a great way for you to hold yourself accountable.
2) Use Better Landing Pages and Conversion Strategies
The second thing that needs to be done in order to optimize Facebook ads for real estate agents is by using better landing pages that lead to more conversions. In talking to other real estate agents, the single biggest complaint I hear about why Facebook ads for real estate agents don’t work is that the leads that they do generate never convert into actual closings.
Now it is important for real estate agents who run Facebook or any other paid ads to understand that the most important number that they need to track is not how many leads they generate, but how many closings they have each month. If an agent is getting 100 leads from their ads each month but only one closing and another agent is only generating 10 leads each month but they all convert into closings, which agent had the most successful ad campaign?
The way to turn the leads that are generated from Facebook ads for real estate agents into closings is through high converting landing pages and funnels that turn clicks into conversions and leads into clients. If you are simply sending your Facebook ad leads to your generic website then you probably are not generating a lot of leads, traditional websites are confusing for consumers and don’t have a focused message. When a lead clicks into your website, it is easy for them to get lost or even bored and jump to the next site.
In order to convert more leads into prospects or even clients directly is to send them to a landing page that introduces yourself and your business, showing them exactly how you can help them in their home search or sale process. At the end of the page, you should also offer something free in exchange for their email address and contact information such as a neighborhood report, CMA, or a list of homes to view. That way you can build a relationship with your cold leads and follow up with them in order to convert these leads in to clients and into closings.
The bottom line is, the strategy of using Facebook ads for real estate agents is not to generate more real estate leads but to generate clients and closings.
3) Have a Clear Follow Up Strategy
Now that once you have absolutely optimized your lead generation and conversion for your Facebook ads, the next step is to have a clear follow-up strategy and schedule down to the day or even hour for the leads that you have generated.
When people complain that Facebook ads for real estate agents are simply not working in 2021, they are usually expecting immediate results from top-of-funnel leads that are not even really ready to buy or sell their homes yet. These leads require follow up, sometimes for weeks, most of the time for many months or even a year. Over 80% of all sales are actually generated on the 8th touch with a new lead. This means that at least 8 out of every 10 leads require you to follow up with them and have a substantial dialogue with them at least 8 different times.
It shouldn’t be a surprise why Facebook ads for real estate agents are failing at such a high rate, it’s not the platform that is failing and not even the ads or landing pages, but the agents’ lack of follow-up. In order to turn any real estate lead generation strategy into a profitable marketing stream, agents must have a sound, solid, and clear follow-up schedule in place that can be used over and over again on autopilot for every new lead that is generated.
Once you have a solid lead follow up system in place, your confidence for converting your leads and turning a real profit from your Facebook ad spend will go up, because you understand that it takes follow up for at least 8 touches for every lead in order to convert them into closings. That way, you will not feel defeated or discouraged when your leads start coming in but tell you that they are not ready to buy or sell yet.
The best follow-up systems in real estate are automated CRMs. Because real estate leads take so much follow-up in order for them to become real clients, you need to have an automated system for you to continuously dripping on these leads until they are ready to buy or sell so that you can then begin to work with them as clients. Consult an expert on the subject of follow-up or explore CRM options for your database so that you have a good idea of what your ideal follow-up CRM would include such as automated email campaigns or ISA teams.
4) Improve Yourself and Your Service
The last thing that needs to be done in order to improve the results of Facebook ads for real estate agents is through the agent improving themselves and their services to their clients so that they are confident that once their leads are ready to buy or sell, that they can then actually close the sale.
Although the new craze between all real estate agents is to find ways to generate more real estate leads, it’s easy for agents to forget that their main job is to serve their clients and help them through their transaction up until the closing of the sale. When an agent focuses too much of their time on looking for ways to generate more real estate leads, they are usually not spending enough time working on themselves and their quality of service to their clients.
A big reason why Facebook ads for real estate agents are not working is that agents spend so much time on their lead generation they end up not having the time or the aptitude to close any of their sales for their leads.
Once you work enough on your business you will be confident that you will be able to close all of your leads and actually profit from the investment that you made into your marketing. That way, you will be confident enough to invest as much money into your Facebook ads or any lead generation strategy as long as the ROI makes sense.
Think of it this way, if you know for a fact that after spending $500 on Facebook ads to generate more real estate leads that you are able to close all of those leads and turn a $2,000 profit each month, then you would invest that $500 no matter what.
Bottom Line
The key to being successful in real estate isn’t what method of lead generation you use or how much money you have to invest in marketing. Top real estate agents in the nation are showing us that you can become an industry leader using all kinds of different tactics to generate more real estate leads. The one thing that agents need to do to be successful in using any lead generation tactic is to be confident in their own abilities as a real estate agent and have the belief that their efforts or investments into lead generation will pay off based on their abilities.
While most agents around the country are focused on ways to generate more real estate leads for their business, the really successful real estate agents are working on themselves and their own skillsets and servitude towards their clients so that they have the self-belief that they can confidently close any deal that comes their way. That way, you will be more willing to spend the time and the money needed to on your lead generation strategy, which in turn will help you explode your business.
The saying goes: Every successful entrepreneur works harder on themselves than they ever do on their business.