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Ylopo is a comprehensive digital marketing platform with an emphasis on Facebook advertising.
Platforms: Browser; mobile-optimized
Ideal for: Agents, teams and brokers looking to leverage Facebook; tech-forward teams and agents
Top selling points
- Use of Dynamic Ads for Real Estate
- Lead filtration functionality
- Categorized demographic targeting
- Mobile-first websites and ad campaigns
- Auto-pilot functionality
Top concerns
While the internet data exchange (IDX) websites and customer relationship management (CRM) integrations are sound, the heavy reliance on Facebook marketing may deter agents who aren’t comfortable with consistent monthly ad spending.
What you should know
Ylopo (the name is a play on the word “Monopoly”) provides customers with a smart, proven marketing strategy that could be applied to almost any industry.
When it comes to tracking down, capturing and converting real estate leads, Ylopo offers the industry a best-in-class foundation for long-term success in online marketing.
Ylopo starts with semi-custom, mobile-first websites built from Squarespace.
With IDX feeds and plenty of creative flexibility, a Ylopo website serves as the primary destination for leads being pushed there by the software’s multi-tentacled Facebook strategy.
The company makes full use of the social network’s Dynamic Ads for Real Estate (DARE), combining it with both Lead Ads and product catalog formatting.
Lead Ads are form windows that automatically capture a user’s basic contact data when requesting more information about a listing.
Product catalog formatting is as it sounds, presenting shoppers with a scrolling catalog of properties. Each listing in the ad is deliberately selected based on what Facebook’s data believes would be a good match.
A Facebook pixel follows home shoppers, and Ylopo communicates their whereabouts so agents can quickly react to lead activity with a text or Facebook message.
Everything can be accessed, monitored and edited from Mission Control, the software’s backend. Campaigns (listing ads) can be viewed, have their budgets increased, or turned on and off with a button.
Ylopo’s Lead Filtration feature gives agents the opportunity walk the line between lead volume and quality.
Setting the filter to “None” drives every click and like into your CRM regardless of quality. It’s a good way to build a database.
Quality moves up with each setting, from Low to Standard to High, which provides the fewest but highest quality leads.
Behind the scenes, Ylopo’s algorithms apply various levels of scrutiny to each lead’s online activity. Obviously, leads delivered by the High setting have had their actions more carefully monitored.
I haven’t seen a feature like this before, but I have seen Facebook-connected marketing platforms that consider “likes” worthwhile leads (although they usually aren’t).
Ylopo’s Listing Rocket module automatically changes the content of a Facebook listing ad based on status changes in the multiple listing service (MLS). The software applies seven different ad themes to a listing, including new to market, open house announcements, 30 days on market and price reductions.
Listing Rocket, another standout feature, cleverly eliminates the burning pain point of audience selection when creating a Facebook campaign.
Instead of meticulously manually selecting characteristics of people to target, Ylopo has bundled audience members into ready-made demographic blocks. Listings can be put in front of Seniors, Young Families, Current Renters, Military or Empty Nesters, for example.
Ylopo smartly chose to not build its own CRM. It instead partners currently with LionDesk and Follow Up Boss. Customers can choose the best option, and more CRMs will be added soon.
Other features include automated texting, seller listing reports, push-button listing presentations, retargeting ads and detailed, per-listing budget breakdowns.
In choosing to implement Ylopo, agents will need to get over the hurdle of a monthly Facebook ad budget. I also recommend taking in as much of the Ylopo Academy training programs as possible, even though the auto-pilot feature makes it virtually hands-off. It always pays to understand what you’re paying for.
Overall, Ylopo is a potent, exhaustive platform with marketing innovations that are hard to find elsewhere, and many have not been touched upon in this review.
New teams looking to gain traction, and agents wanting an alternative to Zillow Premier Agent budgets should benefit from signing up with Ylopo.
Have a technology product you would like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe.
