Real estate agents used to get most of their business in person—they would go around town, putting up leaflets on grocery bulletin boards and handing business cards to shop owners. Perhaps they even go from house to house with their brochures, a smile and a handshake. Nearly all agents can count interpersonal skills as a tool that helps them get new clients, but this doesn’t seem to be as effective in capturing new clients these days.
These days, people pay more attention to their phones when they’re out and about, or they will not even go for a physical grocery run; they’ll just have the goods delivered to them. In this new reality, agents have to adapt through technology and bring their advertisements to people. They can succeed in this through Facebook and other social media platforms.
Nowadays, people spend at least 38 minutes a day on Facebook. Furthermore, the largest group of users on the platform is between 18 to 34 years old, a group that is well within the target market of real estate agents. Social media management and targeting ads is a good strategy for agents to get more business today. However, as with many things, it is different to know something and know how to do it.
The best time to post on Facebook for businesses
Marketers often disagree about the best time to post on Facebook. Over the 16-year lifespan of the platform, there have been various studies and analyses done regarding engagement. For instance, some people claim that weekends are the best time to post, and others maintain that Saturdays and Sundays are actually the worst.
Still, there are those who push a more industry-centric strategy; it depends on your business. To understand how to get more people to see your posts, you must know the difference between the types of content you can release on the platform.
Sponsored posts versus regular ones
Ideally, your fans will see everything you post on Facebook. They liked your page, after all; they are at least interested in what you have to say. They will see posts, comment, share, and create for you a momentum for awareness that hopefully translates into sales. Most recent posts first was the website’s default years ago, but that is no longer the case.
Since Facebook is more than just a place to network with your friends and family and is now a business, there are different ways your posts will appear on people’s News Feeds. For instance, organic posts—ones that are effectively status updates or blog articles—only appear on news feeds of people who have hit “Like” on your page. If they haven’t, they won’t see the post unless they look for it manually. A sponsored post, though, works differently.
Sponsored posts may be seen by all users, and are like Public posts. Those who have liked your page will automatically see them, but it would also show up in the feeds of people who haven’t liked your page. Think of sponsored posts like articles with a signal boost. Facebook uses an algorithm to decide who to show these posts to, but they do not get into details. It can be inferred that people who are interested in topics related to your post will see it.
The difference between Sponsored Posts and ads
A sponsored post is different from a Facebook ad. Advertisements are more customizable than posts. Instead of just encouraging people to visit your website or engage with your Facebook page, as you could do on sponsored posts, you get a whole suite of objectives. An ad can be placed for brand awareness, traffic, lead generation, conversion, and more.
What’s more, Facebook ads management provides other options like creating custom audiences, tracking conversions, and even turning your ads on and off so they can be displayed at certain times and days. If you customize your audience for an ad, you will be sure that it reaches people who are interested in your service.
When your business should run Facebook Ads
For any business in any industry, you have to know your customer well so you can deliver content that would appeal to them. For example, a company that makes beach towels will probably not run their biggest campaigns in November. That is just street smarts, and if you’ve spent any amount of time thinking about your audience, you’ll know the basics.
To succeed in Facebook, though, you must get more granular. For instance, online sellers move the bulk of their wares on Mondays, while weekends are traditionally slow days for them. People are also more likely to buy items around the time their paychecks come. To know when you should run your agency’s ads, you have to ask a few questions.
When do you get the most number of inquires?
You must know what days and hours your posts are read the most, when you generate e-mail sign-ups, and when people ask about your services. If you know when people are asking about listings, what listings they are asking about, and other questions that pop up most frequently, you will get an insight into the concerns of your customers.
The ads might also have a high reach but low engagement. Look at the reach of your posts, or the impressions these have made. If your ads are being read by many people but are not getting responses, you might not be getting your audience’s attention. In this case, you could retarget your ads to a different group or revise the messaging of your post. Sending your ads out early in the morning might also be the culprit; not everyone jumps out of bed at five in the morning. Try posting towards the end of lunchtime; the early afternoon is a high traffic time no matter what niche you’re in.
If you understand your audience clearly, that makes a good first step towards getting more people interested in your listings. If you don’t know the Facebook habits of people you are targeting, you might as well be shooting in the dark with your advertisements.
Conclusion
Knowing your audience is an essential part of marketing, but it is practically the lifeblood of a Facebook advertising campaign. You must be aware of your audience’s concerns, when they log onto the platform, and how they interact with others on it. This will ensure your campaign’s success and get you leads that aren’t around to just kick your tires.
If you are looking to boost your online visibility and amplify your brand, consult with our team at Framework Pros in St. Louis now!