How to write a killer Facebook ad that brings in listing leads

When I ask real estate agents what their most pressing need is (when it comes to Facebook and their real estate business) the responses I get lean heavily on the “How do I get real leads?” side.

Using Facebook to get “real” real estate leads is both easy and complicated. It’s about so much more than just plopping an ad out there, and at the same time, it’s almost as simple as plopping an ad out there.

The problem is the ads that are plopped out there. The ads I see are bad — terrible. In fact, many agents are paying for “ad services” that are sucking a monthly fee from the agent and pushing out ads that have no hope of converting into real leads.

Well, I take that back — they might bring in one, or even two, over the course of a year … with the same ad spend that the agent could be using to bring in several dozen solid leads. Just enough that agents continue to spend (waste) money with these services.

Bad ads

So what makes a great ad? What compels people to want to give you their information? I can tell what it is not.

A great ad is not about you or your services — ever.

It’s that simple. A great ad is always about the customer — always.

Here’s an example of a bad ad. I see ads identical to this ad all over Facebook: Realtor photo, headline focused on “local market expert” or “top agent” or some such nonsense, snippets about the agent that supposedly help the customer decide to use said agent and no call to action. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. This ad has a mild call to action but most don’t have anything.

Components of good ads

Now, let’s get into what a great ad has.

First of all, it captures the attention of the prospect with an image that is relevant to the message. Your headshot is not relevant. Despite what you’ve heard, your headshot does not “develop trust or relationship” in an ad such as this.

Second, it addresses a problem that the prospect has — blatantly. Although the terrible ad above might subtly seem to address a problem (it’s assuming the prospects concern is wanting to use someone with experience and many transactions under their belt), it is not the biggest problem in their mind.

Third, a great ad gives a command, and it’s not subtle. The command needs to imply you have a solution to the problem. It’s the “call to action” everyone speaks about.

Fourth, a great ad needs to give a reason why they should follow through. What do they get? What they get should be the answer to the problem brought up in the ad.

Here’s an example of an ad that works:

Notice something — this ad is blatantly looking for people who want to sell their home. It’s not hiding the fact that it’s selling real estate services. But it’s not about the agent, at all — it’s about the prospect.

They either do or don’t want to sell their home. If they do, they are told to take action, and for taking action they know exactly what they will get when they do — their home value.

It’s that simple. Don’t overcomplicate it and try to reach all people and all needs in one ad.

Christina Ethridge is the founder of LeadsAndLeverage.com, helping real estate agents capture, convert and close Facebook leads.

Email Christina Ethridge.