The Best Facebook Ad Strategy for Realtors: Custom Audiences

Social media has become an essential tool in real estate marketing, with 48% of agents considering it the most effective form of advertising. However, many agents still face challenges in generating high-quality leads and converting them into clients through traditional Facebook and Instagram ads.

If you’re among those struggling to make social media ads work for you, there’s one powerful ad strategy that could transform your results: Custom Audiences.

Custom Audiences allow real estate agents to target specific groups of potential clients using their own data, effectively streamlining campaigns to deliver better results. In this article, discover why custom audiences are uniquely valuable to real estate agents, how to build your own, and how to get more appointments from this strategy. 

Why Facebook Restricts Real Estate Ads

When you first start running ads, you will be using Facebook’s own data to put ads in front of people Meta thinks are a good fit for your business. 

However, since Real Estate is a protected category, Meta applies “additional targeting restrictions” to your campaign.  Facebook does this to help prevent discrimination in housing opportunities. So if you are ONLY using Facebook data to run real estate ads, you will most likely be wasting your money on people not interested in buying or selling a home. 

Why Custom Audiences Are Essential for Real Estate Ads

So if Meta actively restricts real estate ads from targeting the right people, why do 67% of agents consider social media marketing more important than having a blog?  Because if real estate agents have access to their own data, they can use it to target a custom audience instead of relying solely on Facebook’s data. 

What is a Custom Audience anyway? 

A custom audience is a targeting tool built into Facebook and Instagram ads that allows businesses to reach specific groups of people based on their past interactions with that business. 

For example, by uploading your email list or customer contacts to Facebook, the platform can cross-reference the data with its user base. This way, your ads will be shown to the same individuals on Facebook and Instagram, ensuring you’re reaching exactly who you want to reach. 

Targeted Facebook Ads Strategy for Real Estate: Custom Audiences 

So now that you know what custom audiences are, now you can discover how to use them in a real estate marketing strategy on Facebook and Instagram. 

The first step is having your own data for targeting. REDX makes this easy with real estate lead data that’s updated daily. This means you receive the most accurate information for expired listings, FSBOs, neighborhood leads, vacant rentals, and more.

Keep reading to see why having specific and up-to-date data is super important for your ads strategy. If you’re already a REDX customer, you can follow these steps to export your leads via CSV. 

So once you have your data, what’s next?

First, Choose Your Target Audience. 

Let’s start by asking the question “Who do I want to target?” Depending on your skill level and experience in real estate, there are a couple of different custom audiences you might want to start with: 

1. Geo Targeted Audiences: Using REDX’s GeoLeads data, you can target a specific group of people in a neighborhood or city who are ready to buy or sell. 
2. Expired Listings: Using expired listing data, you can target homeowners who want to sell, but another agent couldn’t get the job done.
3. For Sale By Owners (FSBOs): Using FSBO lead data, you can target homeowners who are currently in the process of trying to sell their home and haven’t yet sold.

If you are just getting started, try expired listing data. These leads are super effective on ads because your messaging can speak right to the problem they are experiencing. To write effective copy to catch an expired listing’s eye, keep reading.

Second, Upload Your Lead Data to Facebook as a Custom Audience. 

To upload a custom audience, start by going to https://adsmanager.facebook.com/adsmanager/ and click “Create a custom audience.” 

From here, select “Customer List” and proceed to upload your audience data. Meta will review this data and should automatically be able to organize most of the columns properly. Just make sure to review any items with an exclamation mark on them for accuracy. 

Meta includes instructions on how to do this here, but if this is starting to sound complicated, REDX’s Ad Builder will do this for you automatically. 

Take note that for this process to work, you will need a Facebook business page. If you don’t have one already, you will be prompted to create one. 

Once this is done, you can repeat this step for all the different lead types you have. Do not include all your leads in the same custom audience though, since we will be segmenting our ads based on audiences later on. 

Third, Create a Targeted Ad for Each Custom Audience

Now it’s time to create your ad! Start by going to https://adsmanager.facebook.com/ and click the “Create” button. If you already have a campaign, you can follow these instructions to create an ad set under an existing ad campaign. If not, proceed to create a new Awareness campaign. 

In the Awareness campaign, you will see options for budget and special ad categories. After choosing your daily budget, make sure you have Special Ad Categories selected and choose “Housing”. Remember, you are still advertising real estate and you don’t want to get banned from Facebook ads by skipping this step. 

Finally, proceed to your ad set and select your custom audience under “Use saved audience”. If you don’t see the option there, you can click “Create New Audience” and repeat step 2. 

Lastly, Create Your Targeted Ad Message! 

Once you’ve finished creating your custom audience, it’s time to craft an ad that will truly resonate with them. Let’s use Expired leads as an example.

How to Write a Real Estate Ad for Expired Leads 

When targeting homeowners whose listings have expired, your ad needs to directly address their pain points and offer a clear solution. 

They’ve already tried to sell their home but were unsuccessful, so they might feel discouraged or unsure of what went wrong. This is your opportunity to connect with them and show how you can help.

Here are some tips for writing effective Facebook ads for expired listings:

1. A Headline that Grabs Attention: Your headline should speak directly to the frustration of the homeowner. Focus on the fact that their home didn’t sell and offer a solution.
   • Example: “Your Home Didn’t Sell? Let’s Get It Sold Fast!”
   • Example: “Struggling to Sell Your Home? Here’s What You Need to Know.”
2. Address Their Concerns in the Body Text: The body of your ad should highlight why their home didn’t sell and how you, as an experienced real estate agent, can change that. Speak directly to the reasons homes don’t sell, such as poor marketing, incorrect pricing, or lack of exposure.
   • Example: “If your home didn’t sell, it’s not your fault. Many agents don’t have the expertise or the tools to sell expired listings. I specialize in helping homeowners like you successfully relist and sell their homes using proven marketing techniques.”
3. Offer a Solution: Now that you’ve addressed their problem, present your services as the solution.
   • Example: “Using exclusive data and a targeted marketing strategy, I’ll ensure your home gets the exposure it needs to sell quickly. Let’s discuss how we can get your home back on the market and sold fast.”
4. Clear Call-to-Action: Finally, guide them to take action. Use a compelling CTA that prompts them to reach out for a consultation or phone call.
   • Example: “Click here to schedule a free consultation and learn how we can relist your home and sell it for the price it deserves!”

When you put it all together, you’ll have an amazing ad that speaks to real estate agents. If you did everything right, it will look something like this: 

If everything looks good, go ahead and publish your ad. When you publish, monitor your ad for the first 24 hours to make sure there are no issues with your ad going live. Sometimes ad campaigns can get paused due to budgeting or payment verification issues. 

What to Do After Your Campaign is Published…

Congratulations on creating your first ad! However, there is still work to be done. Ads are only one part of a successful marketing campaign in real estate. With real estate ads, the average conversion rate is somewhere between 0.4 and 5%. 

If that doesn’t seem like much, you’re right. The real secret to this Facebook ads strategy comes when you prospect for a couple of hours a day to the same people seeing your ads. 

Start Calling Those Leads!

To increase those conversions, it’s time for you to start dialing. The beauty of this approach lies in its simplicity: You already have the phone numbers of the people who saw your ads.

This strategy has been proven as a great way to warm up your cold calls so you are more likely to convert your call into an appointment. 

Use Multiple Different Audiences 

Using one lead type is a great way to start. However, to get maximum results you can run custom audiences for each of your favorite real estate leads. 

Imagine having your GeoLeads, Expireds, FSBOs, and FRBOs all warmed up and ready to take your call. That’s where the real magic happens. 

Simply repeat the process for each lead source.

Keep Your Custom Audience Up-to-Date: 

While custom audiences are great for precise targeting, it’s important to remember that people’s circumstances can change–especially in real estate. 

Continuously running ads to the same group without updating your audience can lead to diminishing returns over time. To avoid ad fatigue and maximize your ROI, update your custom audience with REDX data on at least a monthly basis. 

Automate Your Custom Audiences 

If setting up these campaigns feels daunting or time-consuming, remember that tools like REDX’s Ad Builder can automate this process for you, ensuring that your custom audiences are always up to date with the most accurate, real-time data available. With features like automated audience uploads and targeted ad creation, you can focus on what you do best—selling homes—while Ad Builder handles the technical aspects of your social media ads.

From Lead to Listing!

Incorporating Custom Audiences into your real estate marketing strategy is one of the most powerful tools you can use to boost your Facebook ad performance. By targeting expired listings, FSBOs, or those in specific neighborhoods, you can create tailored ads that speak directly to their needs, resulting in higher engagement and better lead conversion rates.

Grab your lead data, upload it to Facebook, and craft ads that address the unique challenges your audience is facing. With the right strategy, Custom Audiences can transform your social media ads and help you get more listings!

About REDX

REDX offers real estate professionals a complete all-in-one prospecting platform for generating listing appointments. The platform includes seller leads, a dialer with up to three lines, and a lead management tool for simple follow-up. REDX maintains the position that all agents should be compliant with state and federal telecom laws – learn more here.

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