Best of R4 2018: Facebook for Real Estate Agents

These outside-the-box Facebook for real estate tips were shared during a session at the 2018 RE/MAX R4 Convention. Don’t miss your chance to gain insight from industry leaders, network with RE/MAX all-stars and enjoy world-class entertainment!

There’s no wrong way to use Facebook for your real estate business, but there is a smart way. And it’s actually quite simple: Create a business account and use it for all professional promotions. If you’re still connecting with clients and marketing yourself on Facebook via your personal page, you’re missing out on a suite of free and easy-to-use tools available only through business pages.

Here are a few tips for maximizing features you may be missing out on – and how to leverage them for your business.

1. Add a “Send Message” button to posts

Connect with leads immediately by adding a “Send Message” button to posts. If you have the Facebook Messenger app installed on your mobile device, you can read and respond to questions as quickly as through a text, even when you’re not at your desktop computer.

2. Set up automatic responses in Facebook messenger

A fast response is critical to making a good first impression. Fortunately, automatic messaging couldn’t be easier to activate. In your business page, select “Settings” in the upper right menu bar. On the next page, select “Menu” in the left menu. Scroll down to “Response Assistant” and turn the feature on. Then click “Change” to customize the outgoing message. You can even select “Add Personalization” to automatically include the person’s first name in the message.

3. Schedule marketing posts

Carve out some time to build posts for the month, schedule them and move on to other business-building tasks. From your page, select “Publishing Tools.” Then select “Scheduled Posts” in the left-hand menu. Click the blue “+ Create” button, build out a post as usual, and hit “Schedule.” When is the best time to post? It depends on your goal. If you’re looking for people to share your content, post around 1:00 pm. If you’re looking for clicks, post around 3:00 pm. Dive into the details in this post from Quick Sprout founder Neil Patel.

If you’re short on time or struggling for content, remember that as a RE/MAX agent you can have content posted to your page through the free BombBomb Social Prompt program.

4. Target low-cost advertising

While targeted Facebook advertising isn’t free, if used correctly it can be one of your most inexpensive and effective marketing tactics. The key is to be hyperlocal and personalized in your ads. For example, perhaps you offer translation services to serve the growing number of Hispanic homebuyers and sellers. Write an ad in Spanish and target the ad based on languages listed in a profile. You can target ads to people based on their current location, listed interests, and more. You just have to get creative (and have a business page).

Facebook is always rolling out new features for its business users. Stay current by logging in frequently and taking advantage of what’s new.

What questions do you have about Facebook business tools? Post them below.