If you are full service real estate agent chances are you when you take a new real estate listing you are promoting it online.  There is alos a very good chance that you are wondering why your property ads are not generating business, even after spending time, money and energy on multiple digital channels.

 

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There are 2 reasons why your ads are not working:

  1. They are not intriguing
  2. They do not satisfy potential buyers needs

 

There are 2 reasons why your digital real estate ads are not working: 1. They are not intriguing 2.They do not satisfy potential buyers needsClick To Tweet

 

If you are not addressing these needs then you are just throwing your money away. In order to capture the market you crave you are going to have to work on fixing those issues.

This article discusses the practical tips and tactics real estate agents can take to overcome mistakes which may be performed while creating a real estate listing.

“The typical buyer who did not use the internet during their home search spent only four weeks searching and visited four homes, compared to those who did use the internet and searched for 10 weeks and visited 10 homes,” according to Smart With Your Money. You need to be one of those 10.

On average a person views approximately 4000 ads a day. That is crazy. With real estate ads becoming more and more popular, you have just a few seconds to grab customer’s attention.

 

Three Core Components

 

Real estate listings are syndicated on several national and international platforms. As we all know,these ads have a standard format, which makes it easy to create and distribute.

The following are 3 necessary components which should be a part of every real estate listing ad.

 

1. Property Information

 

This includes all the primary information related to your property. Seekers typically check the basic information about a house. If it seems reasonable, only then will the client review further information. This is usually the opening sentence of your commercial which contains:

    • Complete address
    • Number of bedrooms
    • Number of bathrooms
    • Area (square footage)
    • Asking Price

2. Images

 

Power of professional photography

 

If the information meets the requirements of the customer, the very next thing a buyer looks for is images and visuals of the property.

Pictures, no doubt, attract real estate buyers more than words.

Pictures, no doubt, attract real estate buyers more than words.Click To Tweet

We always recommend that you hire a professional real estate photographer to really showcase your listing amongst all the noise out there.

But if you fancy yourself a photog or are just on a budget you can take photos of your property from different angles which will enhance the beauty of your house. Here are some tips on how to photograph a home from a pro.

Once you have amazing images, you have accomplished half of the goal that impress potential buyers.

 

3. Property Description

 

    • How does your listing stand out distinctively from all the others?
    • What are the unprecedented benefits associated with your listing for the buyer?
    • What are the special features which only your home provides?
    • Why should a potential buyer select your listing?

These are the questions which need to be answered in the description.

This is where you can use the power of story telling to captivate potential buyers.

A genuine buyer will always read the description thoroughly. So create a visual image that they can see themselves enjoying

 

Tips To Go From Good To Great

 

If you want your listing to hold a position in the customer’s heart you will need to focus on more than just writing and attaching visuals. Your potential buyers are looking at a ton of listings and trying to decide which ones they should go tour… help them decide with amazing real estate listing.

Given below are various approaches that will create a significant impact on your property ads.

 

1. Create Catchy Headlines & Opening Statement

 

What is the first thing which is most prominent in an ad? Headlines, as they are written in broad and highlighted text. And they should be, as they summarize the whole announcement. It impacts the client the most and creates a picture in the reader’s mind.

Do not write headlines for your ads by highlighting the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Instead, begin by introducing the remarkable architectural style or extraordinary location of the house or building. Let’s have a look at some eye-catching headlines:

  1. Newly Remodeled Mid-Century Home
  2. Cozy Bungalow in the Hollywood Hills

With your opening statements, you can also target your desired audience. See below examples.

  1. Gaze off your huge deck onto your private 5 acre sprawling equestrian estate.
  2. Life on Lake Washington with sweeping views of the lake & mountains in an exquisite NW contemporary Seattle home.

It is crystal clear that the first one targets people looking for space to raise horses, and the second is targeting people that want to live on a lake or with lake views.

 

2. Be Careful About Selection of Words

 

Your words play a very significant role in letting your reader understand what you are trying to sell. If your ad is difficult to understand and confusing for the potential buyers, they will skip your ad and move on to the next one. Therefore,

  • Try to avoid so many abbreviations in your listing
  • Use positive words instead of less appropriate words. For example, charming for ‘old’, cozy for ‘small’, etc.
  • Use words that can draw more attention like:
  1. Captivating
  2. Classic
  3. Appealing,
  4. Luxurious,
  5. Unique,
  6. Updated

 

Use This List Of Power Words For Inspiration

 

180 power words

 

3. Add Video

 

More than 90% of people agreed that images are more attractive than words, and videos are more engaging as compared to images. They deliver your message in a better way with a unique perspective. Take your listing to the next level by adding video.

 

Trending videos of house selling properties are captured through drones. They streamline the aerial view and provide attractive insight into the house.

Ads with aerial videos are sold 68% faster than the other ones.

 

 

4. Tell A Story With The Features Of The Home

 

So you have covered all the above mentioned points getting ready to launch your listing. You posted your listing, you wrote a captivating headline, took breathtaking pictures, added an awesome video, told a story with the description and a potential buyer has landed on your listing and is interested.

Now, what?

They will definitely look at the features of your listing.

Try telling a story about the features, or consider explaining the benefits of the features.

If you can help potential clients feel a certain way about a listing you can create an emotional connection that will get more people to your listing.

 

6. Promoting Your Listing For Maximum Exposure

 

If all you do is post your listing to the MLS it will get syndicated out to your MLS search, Redfin, Zillow, Trulia and other major real estate sites.  But there it will only be a listing amongst a sea of listings.  Try to send your listing to different channels where it can stand out.

Other places to post your listing:

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Craigslist
  • Juwaii
  • Youtube
  • Specialty Listing Sites
  • Blog Post

You need to be smart with your advertisements. Just like you would show different cars to different people, you need to showcase pertinent ads to distinct categories of your audience.  This is called target marketing.

As real estate agents we have to be very careful about this because of the Fair Housing Act.

 

 

Focus on your ad and make suitable adjustments to target different people. Target them respectively on different channels. For example, it might not be appropriate to target an certain people on social networks to buy your home.

real estate ads

 

You can safely target by area, type of potential client, style of house, etc.

 

Another example of changing your content to suit the platform is video.

You can upload a 10 minute video on Facebook and run ads to it, where as you are only allowed a 1 minute video on Instagram.

 

7. Get Some Professional Assistance

 

The real estate property market is so competitive that we cannot stand out without working with a touch of professionalism. No matter how hard we try we are not perfect with all of these tasks, and we know it.

Hiring professionals benefits in the distribution of work and helps achieve the goal.

 

8. Deliver A Clear & Concise Message

 

No one likes ads which includes a lot of superfluous contents in it. People love the commercial that provides just the right amount of necessary information within a blink of an eye.

When considering what to include, think of the reader’s point of view. Add information in a concise way so that you do not move away from the main point.

  • Include the price in your writing. This will keep you away from non-serious buyers. Moreover, it saves your time as well as the time of potential buyers.
  • Try to include contact details.
  • Do not forget to add a closing statement that invites the genuine buyer for a visit to your property.
  • Use bullet points rather than long sentences this will save space.

 

An Added Tip For You

 

 
So, let’s end the discussion answering a question that after preparing an attractive property ad what’s the best time to publish it and promote it to the real estate world to get maximum engagements?

HubSpot’s detailed breakdown of social media activity, reveals peak times for Social Media usage throughout the week:

  • Instagram
    • On average, the best times to post on Instagram across industries are 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM, during lunch and the end of the typical work day, respectively.
  • Facebook
    • On average, the best time to post across industries is 9:00 AM, when people are just starting work and going online for the first time.
    • Facebook sees another increase in clickthrough rates between 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, when folks are take their lunch break.
    • The best days to post on Facebook are Thursday to Sunday.
  • Twitter
    • Good times to tweet average around 8:00 – 10:00 AM, as well as 6:00 – 9:00 PM — which makes sense, given that it correlates with both morning and evening commutes.
    • If your goal is to maximize retweets and clickthroughs, aim for noon or 5–6 p.m.
  • Linkedin
    • Aim to post on LinkedIn between 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.
    • The best day to post on LinkedIn is Wednesday.
  • Pinterest
    • The best times to post on Pinterest are 8:00 – 11:00 PM and, interestingly, 2:00 – 4:00 AM. This could indicate some interest in the platform in non-North American time zones, which means global content is all the more important here.