800.978.5174
As the world’s largest social media platform, with over 258 million active users across North America, Facebook offers an unrivaled opportunity to get in front of consumers, right where they are.
Let’s define what a Facebook lead is, how Facebook leads are different from other online leads, and how to engage and convert them.
What is a Facebook lead?
A Facebook lead is a potential client that comes to you through Facebook. Facebook leads can be organic or paid, via advertising. Most real estate professionals have a Facebook Business page and are aware of the platform’s ever-changing algorithm, with increasingly diminished organic reach and engagement. This makes Facebook today mostly pay-to-play, meaning if you’re not putting advertising dollars behind posts, they won’t get in front of many people.
Facebook’s advertising platform can be resource intensive and requires the following, at minimum:
- Facebook Business page
- Facebook Ads Manager ad account
- Understanding of Ads Manager
- Ad sets
- Campaigns
- Targeting & demographics
- Ad formats and media: Image, video, carousel, or collection
- How to export Facebook leads and import them into your CRM
- Facebook ad policies
Did you know? Market Leader customers can tap into 1.8 billion active users without spending any time in Facebook Ads Manager. Our team of experts create and optimize ads featuring listings, plus content designed to attract and engage buyers and sellers.
You set the monthly budget and target market, we do all the work. No contract, no fuss.
“[Facebook Leads by Market Leader] provides users with fully managed, hands-off marketing campaigns. Listing and branding advertisements will leverage the full extent of Facebook’s targeted ad platform while allowing agents the peace of mind of knowing their personal brand and sellers’ homes are reaching engaged audiences.” – Craig Rowe, Inman News
How are Facebook leads are different from other online leads?
Because Facebook leads come from consumers browsing passively, where they’re choosing to spend their time, they are already engaged in the platform and their guards are down.
One big differentiator is that you will have another inherent channel to communicate with those leads, other than email or the phone, and more reliable consumer data to personalize your outreach. The more touchpoints you have with consumers, the more equity you will build.
The quality of information you get from a Facebook lead tends to be more accurate as well because it is captured on-site, and populated by information from user profiles.
Converting Facebook leads
The luxury of Facebook leads is the quality of information you receive associated with them. Because leads are generated on-site, contact information is typically automatically populated from that lead’s Facebook profile. This means you’re less likely to receive fake names and phone numbers.
While generating Facebook leads might be slightly different from generating other online leads, the process of converting them is similar.
Listen
Despite the wealth of knowledge you have to share, this process is about them. Ask questions and avoid selling them. Listening builds trust by allowing a person to feel heard and valued, which, in turn, will lower their guard and make it easier to build a real connection.
Learn
Once you’ve disarmed a lead, try to understand their preferences, interests, expectations. What do they want from you? What are their expectations of the buying or selling process?
Ask open-ended questions and give pause. Allow the other person to fully respond and think about the things they’re saying. It’s not uncommon for people to talk themselves right into the decision-making process that you were hoping to guide them through; you just need to give them the chance.
Engage
Engagement is where connections are built. It goes beyond the immediate conversation, whether face-to-face or digital, to forge a long-term relationship. It’s important to ask yourself if you’re engaging with people in meaningful ways, both verbally and nonverbally. Are you following up after conversations, however brief? Follow up with resources you think might be valuable to them; this will show you were listening to learn about them and want to provide value. The simple act of sending someone a follow-up text or email can mean a lot. Whether you’re thanking them for their time or simply telling them it was great to chat, the effort can leave a positive impression and let them know that they’re top-of-mind, after the conversation has ended.
Nurture
Consumers want to connect with businesses before they work with them. The key to building a connection is making your interactions about them and avoiding trying to sell them too soon. Offer value, information, and any resources you can to start earning trust right off the bat.
Is your lead responding to a listing or recently sold listing? Ask what they’re looking for, put them on a campaign to send them similar listings in their target area. Have they shown interest in the home buying or selling process? Send them more resources.
Stay Top-of-Mind with Campaigns & Automation
Your CRM should have marketing campaigns and automation built-in. For instance, Market Leader offers a complete marketing suite that is preloaded with your company logo and branding, a library of beautifully designed postcards, flyers, greeting cards, business cards, guides, and video-enabled, mobile-responsive emails to automatically put leads on integrated, multi-touch campaigns that start engaging as soon as they’re in your system.
With an MLS integration known as IDX technology, you can set leads up to receive listing alerts for properties that match their search criteria. Listing alerts are an agent’s most valuable engagement tool. Not only does it keep a contact coming back to your website where you can track their behaviors, it helps you stay top-of-mind so when they’re ready to list or start actively searching, you are their go-to agent.
