7 bright ideas for small business advertising on a budget

Fundamental to small businesses, advertising boosts sales, helps generate and retain a consistent client base, and keeps your contacts informed about why your company’s variety of products and services are useful to them.

With 80% of your company’s future revenue coming from just 20% of your existing customers, selecting the best advertising tactics to generate quality leads consistently, and implementing advertising strategies to keep your contacts informed, can be costly.

Though cheap advertising for small business entrepreneurs is effective and inexpensive, many small businesses face a list of struggles every day to stay operational.

With a third of small businesses started with less than $5,000, the average small business using Google advertising spends between $9,000 and $10,000 per month on online advertising campaigns.

Whether a startup or a small business operating for years, if your advertising budget can best be described as frugal, how can small businesses survive the expensive costs of high-value advertising?

With countless online advertising platforms, ad formats, campaign types, and ad performance metrics available, for your business to convince the consumer that you are the solutions provider they should choose can seem expensive. Applying inexpensive advertising tactics to your marketing strategy will increase your visibility and make a healthy sales impact.

 

Identify your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

As a small business owner, your unique selling point is the core of your competitive advantage and should answer the following:

  • What is the unique reason that customers buy from you and not your competitors?
  • What makes your small business better than the competition?
  • What is your unique knowledge set or special skills?
  • What is your target customer’s biggest challenge?
  • What solution are you offering?
  • How are you better than your top 3 competitors?

Recycle Your Content

Recycling your content is a cheap advertising tactic that generates leads, increases consumer traffic, and extends your content reach, effectiveness, and business value.

It’s easy to get started in recycling and repurposing existing information into a new piece of digital advertising :

  • Whether converting existing content into another format, such as a blog to an e-book, or e-book to video, ensure its visually pleasing and adds value to existing content
  • Create a social sharing content calendar from the main points of an article
  • Collect blog posts on a given topic and transform it into training courses or workshop material
  • Use reader comments and reviews as the foundation for blog posts and articles

Nurture Loyal Customers

Another popular marketing tactic for cheap advertising for small business professionals is to invest in looking after your existing customers and encouraging loyalty.

Strategies to build loyalty in customers include:

  • Keeping customers informed through digital advertising
  • Providing after-sale follow up
  • Exceeding customer expectations
  • Using customer reviews and complaints as an opportunity to improve services
  • Training your team in customer service and basic sales processes

Partner with an Industry Magnet

For small businesses, collaborating with an industry insider (but not a direct competitor) when you’re on a tight budget is a savvy way to get in on opportunities that otherwise might be missed. Industry magnets enable your small business to:

  • Extend your marketing reach and access new markets
  • Build credibility
  • Access technical expertise
  • Access new revenue streams
  • Share risks and expenses

Create a Website  

Even in the digital age, 40% of small businesses still do not have a website.

If your website only presents basic information such as who you are, what your company does, and contact details, at minimum, a website asserts a digital presence and increases the chance of appearing in local search results, critical for getting your business seen.

For small businesses on a cheap advertising budget, many website builders allow you to get started for free.

Free website builders include:

  • WIX
  • Mozello
  • GoDaddy
  • Strikingly
  • Site 123

Profile your Target Market

Grouping or segmenting your potential customers based on specific characteristics will focus your marketing efforts.

Consumer segmentation is upon factors such as:

  • Geographic location
  • Demographics: age, gender, education, income, occupation
  • Behavior: loyalty, attitude, readiness to buy, usage rates
  • Lifestyle: social class, personality, personal values

Develop and Implement Marketing Channels

Growing your presence on free marketing channels is an effective measure to implement cheap advertising on a small business budget.

Marketing channels could include:

  • Your Business website
  • Social media
  • Emails
  • Blogging
  • Brochure and flyers
  • Networking events
  • Print advertising
  • Word of mouth
  • Cold calling and letter drop
  • Adfully

Finding new and retaining existing customers should always be front of mind for small businesses. Even after the first purchase, the real value lies in keeping that customer, not just earning the first sale. And revenue and retention don’t have to be high-price priorities. By implementing some of these strategies, you can take steps toward impacting your business goals right away.

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Don’t make it up: Cosmetic marketing strategies that actually work

Being talented is just one piece of the puzzle when launching yourself as a Makeup Artist. The other piece involves having clients that are excited to work with you, be that regularly or on an ad-hoc basis. If you’re just starting out, it can be challenging to develop a substantial and reliable client base.

This challenge typically stems from a few different factors: Choosing too broad of a market to focus on as opposed to a niche or targeted market, or focusing heavily on styles that are too niche and don’t lead to regular work. A lot of this can be avoided by remaining flexible and adapting to what brings you the most regular work.

Another challenge can be the simple fact that you are brand, spankin’ new! Reasonably so, it’s tough to find clients when nobody knows about you. Thankfully, by implementing a strong marketing strategy you can overcome this obstacle and set yourself up for success.

Now, the question is: What should you focus on, and how can you best set yourself up for success?

Super fresh? Get some ‘case studies’

This may be seen as comparable to a musician playing ‘gigs’ for exposure, but doing a few free looks will likely benefit you in the long run. By offering to do ‘free’ work in exchange for photos of the look, you have the opportunity to convert this client into a future paying customer and you have demonstrated proof of your craft that you can use to advertise your business. It’s a win-win!

Now, this is not something that you should do for an extended period of time, but acts as a great stepping stone into the industry if you do not have traditional training.

Consider getting a website & blog

Once you have some photos, consider getting a simple website. This way, you have a location where you can easily direct people to. Site builders like SquareSpace, GoDaddy, and Wix allow you to easily design your own site. They also offer sleek templates that will help your photos stand out since visuals are everything for your business!

Register with Google My Business

While every business should sign up with ‘Google My Business’, small and local businesses should consider this a requirement. Considering that the search term ‘makeup artist near me’ and variations on this term are highly popular, registering with Google My Business would not only bring you closer to the customers who are searching for a makeup artist, but would allow you to control your presence across the web, and provide a space for current clients to review your work.

Get Social

Makeup is a visual medium, and because of that–– there are certain platforms that will allow you to boost your business with ease. The best social media platforms for Makeup Artists right now are Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest.

Instagram is a great platform for documenting your work, and can even be linked up to your website. This is also a great platform to reach out to potential clients. For instance, if you primarily focus on wedding makeup, keep an eye out for engagements via relevant hashtags!

TikTok is your new place to shine. This platform is excellent for bringing in your audience and giving them a glimpse into the process. What is it like to work with you? What’s your personality like? This is also the perfect platform to put together a few tutorials that link back to your Instagram.

Once you’ve set yourself up on either of these platforms, upload your work onto Pinterest. People are constantly searching for inspiration on pinterest, and if they love your work–– they’ll pin it and click through to your Instagram or TikTok. This additional step can do wonders for your online presence.

Get your work seen with Paid Ads

Paid ads are a great way to build traction when you’re first starting out, and also an excellent way to boost your business. However, setting up and running these ads can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming. Luckily, setting up paid ads has never been easier than it is today. Additionally, it only costs as much as you decide to pay for it.

While larger spends will make a bigger impact, experimenting with small amounts will help you determine the best ad types and the best groups to target. If jumping around different ad and social media platforms feels difficult to manage, an all-in-one platform like Adfully is an excellent option to alleviate that overwhelm and make the entire process more efficient.

Set up a referral program

Have you ever had to choose between two things, and then ultimately chosen one because a friend or family member told you it was great? That’s called ‘word-of-mouth’ marketing, and is incredibly powerful and pretty easy to start up.

In essence, you want your clients to be raving about you! While that sometimes will happen organically, offering an incentive for clients to leave reviews or referrals is a great way to ensure it’s happening. When your clients leave you an awesome public review, or refer a friend– that builds credibility and trust, and also helps to build client loyalty.

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Bad hair day: 5 beauty marketing mistakes (and how to recover from them)

Tried everything to market your salon business, but don’t have your calendar as full as you would like? Between managing your customers and handling everyday salon issues, it’s hard to put together a cohesive beauty marketing strategy to keep the wheels moving.

Most of the time, small mistakes slow things down instead of increasing your visibility. They may seem harmless, but before you know it, they eat up your marketing budget without providing any return on investment (ROI).

Improving your salon’s profit margins takes more than increasing prices or selling more products and services. You need to master your marketing and build a strategy that gets you new clients and simultaneously improves retention rates.

The industry revenue is expected to register consistent growth in the next three years and reach an $800 billion market value by 2023. You need to find out what keeps your marketing disheveled and turn those mistakes into opportunities in order to benefit from this growth.

Here are five beauty marketing mistakes that make each day a bad hair day for your salon business and fixes you can make to secure successful outcomes.

You have no strategy

Not having a marketing plan means gambling with your marketing budget. Testing marketing techniques randomly may work once in a while, but most of the time, you end up overspending on “magic formulas” that don’t bring clients.

Putting together a cohesive marketing strategy means setting clear goals and deciding how much you can spend to achieve them. It’s documenting your campaigns, setting milestones, tracking efforts, and measuring results. When you track everything, you can replicate the campaigns that generate ROI and fix what’s not working to make sure you spend your money wiser next time.

You make assumptions about your target audience

Being in your salon all day makes you feel like you know your clients better than anyone. So, you skip market research hoping to cut down marketing costs. It’s a method that limits your growth possibilities and results in poor customer service in the long run. It’s also bad for marketing–when you don’t know what your clients want, your messages don’t capture the attention necessary for getting new clients.

In the beauty industry, many customers only know what they’ve used and seen. So, you need to learn how to read between the lines when taking feedback from them. Anticipate their needs, educate them about new products and trends, and encourage them to step outside of their comfort zone.

To do that successfully, you need to know your potential clients well.

Anonymous questionnaires and in-person interactions can help you understand why people chose your salon in the first place. Use this data to ideate marketing campaigns that target similar people in your area who have the same problems, needs, or aspirations.

You ignore or underestimate the power of social proof

 

Social proof is another name for informal social influence: people tend to copy others’ actions, which they see as the “correct behavior” in a given situation. When your potential clients see other people coming to your salon, they’ll perceive it as the right behavior and copy it.

 

This social phenomenon makes reviews and testimonials a powerful tool in marketing. Word-of-mouth can bring clients without spending a dime on advertising. And you can use it to create a reputation for your salon offline and online to reach more people.

 

As much as 82% of customers read online reviews before stepping into a local business. Ask your current clients to leave honest Facebook and Google reviews. Then, don’t forget to answer back politely, even when the feedback isn’t positive. It may seem like a small gesture, but 97% of people who go through reviews also read the answers before deciding.

You improvise social media strategies

Social media management is time-consuming, so it’s easy to lose track of posts and interactions when you already have a business to run. However, inconsistent posting, not engaging with your audience, and answering messages an hour too late are all marketing mistakes that push people away.

On the other hand, you can’t afford not having a social media presence. This is especially true when your competitors have active Facebook pages and rock it on Instagram. If people can’t find you online or arrive on a Facebook page that hasn’t been updated for six months, they might think you’re out of business.

A lot is happening on social media, and you need to stay on top of the trends to remain in your public’s eye. Marketing blogs and podcasts are excellent sources of information for local business owners who want to keep up with what’s new in the industry.

Also, small hacks, like eye-catching visuals, Messenger bots for business, video content, or stories, take a relatively small budget to implement and have excellent ROI. If it’s hard to keep up with all this, you can always outsource the service and still get a great return on your marketing efforts.

You use discount sites to get new customers

Discount sites may seem like a cost-effective method to get a significant number of new clients fast. However, it’s more of a trap than an effective technique to generate consistent business growth.

Discounts in this industry can easily turn into a marketing mistake, as they can influence how people perceive the value you provide. Plus, they often attract the wrong category of clients. Discount hunters rarely turn into loyal clients, so the strategy isn’t sustainable in the long run. As soon as you start charging the correct price for the service, clients acquired with discounts go somewhere else.

Instead of paying for subscriptions on discount sites, invest the money in loyalty programs, local search engine optimization for your website, or high-quality social media content. They’re all lucrative ways to open new conversations and consolidate relationships with existing customers.

Any of these five beauty marketing mistakes may seem effective methods when you first start, but it’s essential to look at the long-term effects. Posting random messages on Facebook or offering discounts could still bring enough clients at the beginning, but it’s not necessarily a good thing if people enter your salon for the wrong reasons. You want to attract the right type of clients and make them come back to secure consistent revenue and business growth.

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Six Bar and Restaurant Facebook Marketing Tips

As a restaurant owner, you should be making use of Facebook Ads. While it may seem intimidating to the unfamiliar, it’s likely a whole lot easier than you might think. And what’s more, is that a little bit of effort can go a long way in getting your restaurant exposure—and with any luck, a whole lot more customers.

Leverage Facebook as the competitive landscape it is

In today’s mobile world, marketing bars and restaurants on social media is imperative. Why? Because it’s the new competitive landscape.

Facebook alone boasts 2.27 billion monthly active users on the site and one in seven people worldwide has an account, many of whom interact with businesses and groups directly on the platform, so if you’re not there, you’re essentially throwing your money away. But simply being there is not enough, so in addition to what we’re about to cover below, check out these other great restaurant Facebook marketing tips you can use to boost your skills.

Use a Places Page

When your customers use Facebook, they can “check-in” and let their friends know where they’re eating, leave reviews, and more, all of which makes for an easy, organic way for people to spread the message about your establishment. You may already have a place page, as it can be created by a customer, but if you don’t, make sure you create one so you can take advantage of its myriad benefits.

Communication

Beyond simply creating a page, communicating with guests is a big part of Facebook marketing. If you don’t communicate when people are trying to engage with you or your business, they’ll simply go elsewhere.

Make sure your tone is friendly and open, even in the face of complaints. Show concerns about any issues at hand, provide assurance of resolution, and remain positive to instill confidence and trust with other. Beyond that, do your best to ask questions, reinforce and/or share excitement, and get guests engaged with your business as often as possible. You can even gently remind them to take initiatives that boost your business on the platform, such as leaving a like or comment—just don’t be heavy-handed. Finally, give them incentives to come back and visit you again.

Use Targeting

Use the targeting feature of Facebook ads to get the most out of your advertising campaign. You want to reach people in the local area that are interested in dining at your establishment, so use the platform’s behaviors, interests, and demographic metrics to reach new customers. There are many ways you can take advantage of targeting, so use what works the best for you and your business—like using the food and drink category under Interests.

Be Friendly

Show off your restaurant and make visiting your page fun for your guests. For example, you can include a picture of your staff, share a fun, witty, or memorable quote from a guest or team member, or showcase something interesting or exciting that happened at your establishment recently. Perhaps you could post a tour of your kitchen or explain your drink or food menus. Don’t be afraid to get creative if it’s on brand, or simply be helpful and inviting, like sharing specials or upcoming events.

Promote Your Uniqueness

Every restaurant has something unique to offer. Showcase it and use it to your advantage so your guests know what experiences they can look forward to. For example, when running Facebook Ads for bars, you might mention that you have an extensive local craft beer and wine selection. Maybe your restaurant is in a special location, or you could promote the atmosphere that guests will experience while dining with you. Anything that has a unique appeal will go a long way in helping to promote your business in a positive way.

Offer Something Free on your Page

Let’s be real, people love free stuff. Use your Facebook page to offer deals or incentives so visitors are compelled to check it out often. For example, you could list a favorite recipe that you have or how to make a certain drink at home. You could also offer a webinar course or have a newsletter that people can sign up for. These are all excellent ways to promote your business and get patrons interested in coming back.

If you’re looking to reach new audiences and grow online without breaking the bank, Facebook marketing is essential, and it doesn’t take much work to figure out. Once you get it down, rest assured you’ll have one more platform you can use to make a big splash with your current and potential customers.

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Five Ways to Get Your Roofing Business Marketing Online

Managing a roofing business is hard work, and often you have little to no time left for ideating and implementing cohesive marketing strategies. Unfortunately, without proper marketing, it’s hard to reach new potential clients and grow your business.

If you want clients to keep coming in, you need to make digital marketing a pillar of your business plan.

Why Digital Marketing?

It’s been years since homeowners conduct thorough online research when they need home services. According to Google, roofing-related queries are among the fastest-growing in search volume in this niche, with an increased number of searches for the terms “roofer,” “metal roofing,” “roof shingles,” and “roofing companies.”

There’s no doubt; potential clients find information about your products and

services online. You want to make your business easy to find where people are looking to turn these online queries into business opportunities. Digital marketing enables you to increase your company’s visibility online and get in touch with homeowners when they need it. Plus, it can help you step ahead of competitors and win new business.

Here are several ways you can use digital marketing to promote your roofing business online.

  1. Great Website

Any successful digital marketing campaign starts with a functional website. Your business needs an easy to navigate site where potential clients can find the information they need in seconds.

An effective website must cover everything about your business and your services. If you offer more than traditional roofing services, make sure you list everything correctly to help potential clients know what to expect when hiring you. You must also have your contact information clearly visible on the site and a call to action to encourage people to get in touch.

Remember that people use smartphones to search for information, so invest in a mobile-friendly website to help people find you quickly online.

  1. Newsletter

In this niche, people don’t make a buying decision overnight. Between waiting for the right season for changing the roof and handling insurance papers, they have plenty of time to research companies and gather information. You need to help them remember you during this process.

A newsletter is an effective method to engage potential clients and keep in touch with homeowners who might need a new roof at some point. If you send out a great newsletter, people are more likely to remember you when they finally decide to invest in a new roof.

Note that a newsletter isn’t a sales pitch, so it shouldn’t focus exclusively on your products and business. Pack it with helpful information that adds value to the readers. For example, you can use it to educate potential clients about the latest technology in the industry and how they can benefit from new materials and modern installment techniques.

  1. Local Search

Roofing is mostly a local business, so you should focus on promoting your company in a limited geographical area. Setting up your website for locals searches with local SEO techniques helps you target potential clients who live nearby.

Some of the most effective ways to rank high in local searches are listing your company on Google My Busines and optimizing your website for keywords with geographic references. You should also check that your company’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are always listed correctly on all platforms, including social media. You can also use Facebook Ads to target the local demographic and send them the right messages at the right time.

  1. Walkthrough Video

One unique way to market your roofing business online is through a walkthrough video that documents your process of putting on a new roof from start to finish. It’s informative and eye-catching. Plus, people love watching videos, and 64% of consumers are likely to purchase after watching branded social videos.

Video content is an excellent way to show your company in action and build trust among potential clients. It can help you increase brand awareness, get new leads, and generate sales in the long run.

  1. Questions and Answers

A helpful FAQ section educates website visitors and can work miracles for SEO. Put together a list of the most common questions people have when reaching out to you and give in-depth answers.

FAQ pages provide quick information and help website visitors make educated buying decisions. It’s a quick way to improve user experience and give that little extra that can help people remember you when the time comes to buy a new roof.

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Digital Marketing for Realtors: Strategies that Work

As a realtor, marketing plays a huge role in your success. In today’s environment, digital marketing is crucial.  Without a proper online strategy, it will be difficult for to find clients. People buying and selling a home today expect you to have an online presence. Here are some tips to help you market your business online as a realtor.

Why Use Digital Marketing for Real Estate in the First Place?

We use digital marketing today because it is one of the main ways we now communicate with each other. We can use sites like Facebook to post business ads and share photographs of new listings. Personal websites can showcase listings, photographs, panoramic views of the homes, and so on. Other sites, such as Twitter, help agents build their brand and get new clients. It is estimated that around 84% of real estate professionals today are using social media platforms. By developing a proper digital marketing strategy, you can stay ahead of your competition. These tips should help you develop the right plan for your business.

Email Campaigns

One of the most valuable tools in your real estate marketing arsenal is a proper email campaign. Use email to connect with new leads as well as past clients. You can leverage campaigns to show new listings to potential clients. According to Smart Insights, the open rate for emails for any real estate business today is around 27%. The click-through rate is estimated at about 3%.

One key ingredient is to ensure that you have relevant content that you can send to your clients. You must ensure that they will be interested in what you have to say such that they are likely to open the email. You should not resort to spam techniques but do send them emails they will  find interesting. You can achieve some truly great results if you use an email campaign as part of your digital marketing strategy.

Great Website

As a real estate agent, you need your website. This is a part of your brand, and it is where you can send to clients to have a detailed look at your listings. You want a site that runs fast. You want links, photographs, and everything to load correctly. Part of your overall strategy is to ensure that your website is the best that you can make it.

Both buyers and sellers are going to expect an excellent website. Clients often browse listings through mobile devices, so you need your site to load correctly on those devices by way of a mobile optimized version of your site. You want your clients to have the ability to browse your website easily and access the valuable information they seek.

Valuable Blog Content

If you’re going to market yourself online, develop and maintain a personal real estate blog. This is different from your website listings. This is where you can post articles, or “blog posts”, that relate to your industry. There are tons of topics you could cover, but here are a few ideas in the interest of getting your creative juices flowing:

  • Cover topics that relate to selling or buying a home. For example, you might offer post content on how to clean up your home so that it looks presentable during a home showing.
  • Post information about how to deal with home inspections or deal with insurance, mortgages, and other issues, linking to other professionals within your industry that your clients can view for maximum value add.

The more content that you provide for your potential clients, the better it is going to be for you and the more sales that you are going to see. You want to deliver content that will be valuable so that people keep coming back to your website. You can include links to your blog if you happen to send out a personal newsletter or other correspondence with your clients. It’s never a bad idea to cross-share your content among the various channels you’re employing in your overall digital strategy.

Virtual Tours

Today’s technology has come a long way, and this applies to real estate as well. Consider hosting virtual tours of your properties on your website. These are 360-degree displays of homes and the surrounding properties. This gives the potential client a great view of the house without having to be there at the location. They can get a good look at the home, and then decide if they want to view it in person.

These virtual tours are a great way to market your listings and get more sales as they professionally showcase your listings. The buyer then has an easier time making that vital purchasing decision. They can compare multiple listings quickly and make up their mind about which ones to visit.

Social Media Presence

You need a full social media presence as this is how many potential clients are going to contact you. It is not enough to have the occasional Facebook post. You should be active on your social media sites and posting content. For example, you can post links to new listings, relevant real estate news, and other information that your clients will find valuable. You could include links to past clients and their experiences with you. A proper presence on social media establishes your brand online and connects you with not only your past clients but your future ones.

Recap

These tips should help you launch a successful and well-rounded digital real estate marketing campaign. Your presence as a realtor online matters, so you need to employ the right tactics in an ongoing fashion to grow your business, get new clients, and stay in contact with those you’ve worked with in the past.

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8 Real Estate Social Media Marketing Tips for Beginners

There’s no denying that social media is for more than just being social. Using the various platforms to promote your real estate business is critical in this digital age. Not only can you promote and highlight your own blog posts, insights, and listings, but you can connect with fellow real estate agents, learn tips and tricks, and build relationships with your colleagues and potential clients.

According to a 2018 report, 77% of realtors were using social media. Likewise, 47% of real estate businesses received high quality leads from social media interaction. It’s likely those numbers have risen within the last two years.

It’s no secret that time spent building your social media presence is time well spent, though it may be tricky knowing where to start. We’ve put together a list of steps you can take today to help make your presence on social media more impactful, drawing in your audience and driving traffic to your website.

  1. Make use of a Facebook business page

Having a business page on Facebook is a great way to reach a wider audience. While the algorithm that determines who sees your posts and who doesn’t is constantly changing on the social media giant, there’s no denying that any free advertising you can do is worth it. Optimizing your business page will allow you to direct your attention to the demographics of the user base you’re targeting. Not only that, but the business page allows you to book appointments, publish content, and talk with your audience, all in one place.

A business page also allows your current and past clients to leave reviews, which will help potential clients better understand the level of service you provide.

  1. Networking

Another great aspect of social media as it allows you to network with other real estate agents. LinkedIn would be a great place to start. You can search for fellow real estate agents, or those you wish to learn from, and connect in a more personal way. You can also post informative articles and videos, comment on other posts, and engage in a meaningful way.

  1. Use display images

Instagram was designed around displaying beautiful images. This is a great platform to use to showcase your current listings as well as past listings. You can use the stories feature to provide more personalized updates on your properties.

This is an ever-changing platform, so uploading new photos to your profile frequently is the best way to stay top-of-mind with your audience. Plus, if your audience is consistently seeing your content as they scroll, you’re more likely to be one of their top picks when it comes to buying or selling a home.

  1. Share testimonials

Taking time to share testimonials on your various social media platforms is a great way to not only document your client’s satisfaction, but to share their experience with your audience. 93% of local consumers use reviews to determine if a local business is good or bad and 68% of Americans report positive reviews making them more likely to use a business.

Hiring a real estate agent is a big deal. People want someone they can trust. By posting your reviews, you’re giving your potential clients a glimpse into what it’s like to work with you, giving them some peace of mind and nudging them a little closer into working with you.

 

  1. Add property updates and new listings

Even if you don’t have time to get a new listing up on your website, you can update your social media to include your latest properties. Adding a few photos, a short description, and a way to contact you is a huge step in the right direction. By letting your audience know you’ll update them when the full listing is available on your website, but that they can contact you in the meantime for more information, you’re getting your properties in front of them fast than if you waited until you could update your website..

  1. Use the right hashtags

Using hashtags with your content on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram is a great way to make sure people can find your posts. People can search certain hashtags, and any post associated with that hashtag will pop up in their search. Make sure you do a little research with a tool like Hashtagify to see which hashtags make the most sense for your content, but you may end up with a list that looks a little like the following:

  • #realtor
  • #realestate
  • #homeinspection
  • #homebuyers
  • #realestateinvestment
  • #propertyforsale

 

 

  1. Update your blog often

Utilizing your blog is a great way to reach a wide audience. You can create content not only for home buyers and sellers, but for fellow real estate agents. Create content rich, helpful posts that are going to inform and delight your audience. Ideally, most posts are going to help solve a problem your audience is having. Once you create your posts, you can use your social channels to promote that post and reach a wider audience.

  1. Include easy ways to contact you

Make sure all of your social media accounts and your posts have easy contact information for your prospective clients. Your job is to get them talking to you, so make it as easy as possible for them to connect with you. Try to include an email address, location, phone number, and your website or blog details in your profiles. In your posts, include the best way to get ahold of you, whether that is through a phone call, email, or comment on the post.

Social media doesn’t have to be difficult. Start small, let your audience know you’re there and you care, and grow as you can.

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Facebook Advertising for Realtors: Six Best Tips

Social media sites such as Facebook are excellent for real estate advertising. Your business can get a lot of mileage out of the site to generate new leads and clients. Here are some top advertising tips for realtors to increase business leads using the platform.

Why Use Facebook Ads for Real Estate?

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) indicates 69% of American adults are already on the platform. Around 70% of today’s real estate agents use Facebook; in fact, it is the top tool used by real estate professionals for generating leads. Another statistic indicates that 78% of marketers who have used social media for two years see increased traffic to their websites.

  1. Create a Lead Magnet

One of the critical aspects of any Facebook ad is the lead magnet. This is where you give something away for free to potential new clients in exchange for contact information. You need to ensure that what you are giving away provides value for the end-user.

Guides act as excellent lead magnets. Some ideas might look like:

  • Showcasing your expertise in the neighborhood that you serve by creating a home selling or buying guide for new clients;
  • Writing a guide that details simple home renovation tips; or
  • Providing a guide surrounding how to set up your property for a home showing.

Essentially, anything that helps the potential new client is a great lead magnet. The user simply needs an incentive to click on your advertising and provide their contact information to you.

  1. Use Videos and Images

You may be tempted to use static images for your Facebook ads. However, consider the use of both images and videos. Why? You gain better organic reach with video rather than plain text. Make sure that the video on the image aligns with the objective of your ad. If you include any text, you’ll want to avoid exceeding about 20% of the total image area. Advertisements are not approved by Facebook if they are too text-based.

  1. Monitor Ads

It doesn’t make much sense to create a Facebook real estate advertisement if you’re not evaluating how the ads are doing. Ad evaluation is quite easy to do within Facebook.

Marketing experts indicate that you should use A/B testing when evaluating ads. This is where you take two versions of your ad where there is one varying element. For example, you could try two different headlines for the same ad and then evaluate which one of those headlines is doing a better job. Once you have your two different variations, then you present each version to half the visitors. This test indicates which is the popular ad. You can use the Facebook Ads Manager tool to do this sort of testing.

  1. Use Targeting

Facebook provides plenty of targeting options for your advertising. By using targeting, you reach specific customers based upon criteria. This means you avoid wasting advertising dollars, and you’ll have a more efficient campaign. Other advertising channels do not offer this option.

For example, you can target them based on their interests, demographics, and behaviors. Here are a few examples of targeting:

  • Age
  • Area or zip code
  • Homeownership
  • Income level
  • Those likely to move

There are numerous ways that you can use targeting to reach your audience on the site. It is an excellent way to laser focus your advertising so you reach those that are more likely to purchase a home or visit your website where they can get more information about your services.

  1. Employ Carousel Ads

When dealing with real estate ads, you’re going to have plenty of images and homes that you are selling. Try creating real estate ads that leverages the carousel feature. This will give your ad visual appeal thanks to the catalog type of a format it offers wherein the user is able to scroll through multiple listings and images. You can use this as a great way to showcase all, or at least, many of the homes that you are selling.

  1. Make Ad Copy Concise

Transparency in your advertising copy is key to developing trust with a potential customer. You only have so much space in a Facebook ad to write your copy, and you need to accomplish letting your prospective home buyer know what they will be getting from the property that they are interested in. How do you make this happen? Use actual images of the home and copy that includes specific information. This would include data points such as location, number of rooms, square footage, and the price. Your prospect needs to know, in a nutshell, what they are getting before they click on the advertisement. You will establish more trust as a real estate agent if your ads are as concise as possible.

Facebook is an excellent avenue to showcase your listings and to bring potential clients to your site. Make effective use of the its tools and resources to create your ads and expect to see more leads as well as sales in turn.

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How to Generate More Real Estate Leads

Between showing homes, open houses, and all the paperwork that comes along with being a real estate agent, you likely haven’t put as much time into generating online leads as you would like. Unfortunately, in today’s digital world, just having a great website isn’t enough. Content marketing needs a seat at the table.

From social media, to video, to regular content creation, content marketing is a multi-faceted approach to drawing in new leads. While it might seem a little overwhelming, we’ve outlined a few of the best ways you can get started creating great content, getting involved with your ideal audience, and generating online real estate leads.

Establish a Social Media Presence

One of the best things you can do to generate leads for your real estate business is establish a social media presence. While you may not think Facebook or Instagram when you think of buying or selling a home, chances are your ideal audience is hanging out on these channels. Having your content in front of them on a regular basis will keep you top-of-mind when the time does come.

Each social channel presents unique opportunities to establish yourself as an authority in the field. Likewise, each channel provides the chance to connect with your audience in a different way:

  • LinkedIn is going to have fellow real estate agents, professionals, and those looking for more factual articles around real estate.
  • Instagram is a platform designed for photos, so showcasing your current and even past listings would a great use of this space.
  • Twitter is a great way to retweet those you respect as well as sharing note-worthy articles and little snippets of helpful information for your audience. It’s probably also one of the easiest channels to build relationships on.

Staying relevant on social media is a great way to drive traffic to your website, establish yourself as an authority in real estate, and build relationships with fellow agents and potential clients.

Consistently Create Content

Video

Videos attract two to three times as many visitors to an agent’s site, and doubles the amount of time they spend there. Getting started creating videos might seem scary, but the payoff is well worth the discomfort. Your potential clients are going to appreciate the opportunity to view videos on your website, and creating a YouTube channel can help drive traffic to your website, giving you the chance to generate leads.

A great place to start would be creating tours of homes you currently have on the market. Giving people a peek at both the interior and exterior of the homes gives them more incentive to come and see the home in person if they enjoy the virtual tour.

And not only that, but 73% of homeowners say they are more likely to list with a real estate agent who offers to create a video for them. Even with this opportunity, only 4% of agents put their listings on YouTube. Videos are a huge marketing opportunity that the majority of real estate agents aren’t taking advantage of.

Blog

Creating and keeping an updated blog is a great way to build authority in your field. 77% of internet users are reading blog posts, and companies who blog get 97% more links to their websites. Moreover, creating evergreen content (content that will not age quickly) is a great way to ensure you can recycle the content for other platforms, such as social media or even to turn into a video.

If you’re looking for somewhere to start with your real estate blog, here are a few ideas:

  • Provide solutions to problems your readers may be having
  • Create posts for your current listings
  • Write for real estate agents and clients
  • Focus on your niche

Keeping your blog updated with helpful, informative content will improve your ranking on search engines, keep you top-of-mind when your audience has a question, and help establish you as an authority in your field. It could also help you seem more accessible and personable when a potential client reaches out for your help.

Meet Your Audience Where They Are

If someone reaches out to you on social media for help with a real estate question, helping them to the best of your ability may not pay dividends in the short-term, but we’re in this for the long game. Providing exceptional service, even when it’s for free through social media or a comment on your blog, will help build up a log of helpful tips and suggestions. This will show your audience that not only are you willing to help, but you know your stuff.

Buying or selling a home is a big step for someone to take. When searching for a real estate agent, they’re going to want to find someone they can trust. Building a digital relationship with your audience will help them feel more trusting of your services when it’s time to take the plunge into buying or selling a home.

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Measure Twice, Cut Once: Tips for Building Good Digital Advertising

As a construction company and home builder, you need proper digital advertising in today’s marketplace. You want to stay on top of your competition. This is why digital marketing for home builders is so important. Here are some tips to help you create the perfect digital advertising campaign.

Email Newsletter

One of the first steps in any digital marketing campaign is to have a newsletter on your website. Potential new clients can subscribe to this newsletter to get information and updates about your company. This newsletter makes it easy for you to keep in contact with your previous clients as they may be buying from you again.

Try to include helpful information in each newsletter that you send out. This could be information about your industry, helpful articles, videos, or anything that the reader is going to find valuable. Make sure you send this out on a periodic basis. A weekly or monthly cadence is your best option. Do not spam your reader base by sending daily emails as you may annoy the reader, and they will probably delete it.

Target Your Advertising

Your home builders’ digital marketing campaign should include some sort of targeted advertising. You can use social media sites, such as Facebook, to do this cost-effectively. By targeting your ads to audiences who are interested in buying from you, you stand to save a lot of money. Many other advertising methods waste money because you are targeting a general audience rather than those that are actually interested in homebuilding.

Make Videos

While you can write articles, guides, and documents that relate to home building, you can really expect to see some great results with videos. This makes it easier for you to showcase your business. For example, you can create a video where you walk through the entire process of building a home. Use videos to drive more interest in your business where the potential buyer has the chance to see exactly what your company is capable of doing.

Platforms like YouTube also afford you a huge user base, which can be to your advantage. YouTube is popular for those in search of information about certain products and services. You might provide video content that offers reviews of different home building products for various construction materials, and show your potential customers how you use those products in the building process. Don’t overlook the value of visual media, like videos, as they can be a great way to enhance your digital marketing.

Showcase Work

Show your potential new buyers work you have already done. Post videos and information about your projects on your website. As well, make sure to include testimonials from clients that have worked with you.

What you’re doing with such features on your website is building excitement and interest around your services and products. Having a showcase of your work builds an incentive for people to purchase from you. Often, we will make a purchase when we can visually see something, and it appeals to us.

Update the Website Often

Make sure your site is optimized for proper search engine ranking online to search engines such as Google. You can do this by optimizing each page with keywords. Site navigation should also be user-friendly. Spend some time to update your site as often as possible with new content. This not only provides value for the reader but keeps the site fresh with search engines, resulting in a ikely to get a higher ranking if your site is active. If you have an old and outdated web design, consider upgrading it to more current standards.

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