The way people consume information is changing. Gone are the days where the only source of news was the newspaper; where you had to wait till the morning to consume all the developments that transpired across the world the previous day. Gone are the days where you would resort to books for research.
The advent of the internet and the subsequent penetration of mobile phones have changed the way we consume information. With each passing day, more and more people are spending time on various digital & social media platforms, imbibing and disseminating information.
FUN FACT
Every industry has moved its marketing presence online, today tailored to mobile devices. Real estate is no exception. Hence, it is imperative that a real estate firm has a profound presence on the internet and its ads are specially designed for Facebook. Here's why:
• The sheer reach of Facebook
Facebook has an unparalleled reach in India. A staggering 77 million Indian residents use Facebook on a daily basis. Compare this with the widely-popular Times Of India newspaper, which has a daily circulation of only 8.57 million.
Source: Facebook internal data, June 2016
• Facebook is a mass media
Facebook is not just social media, but also an integral part of mass media. Potential buyers and developers are discovering each other every day because of their news feed. On average, people visit their news feed about 14 times a day. On the news feed, buyers are discovering content as they scroll. This content means something to the buyers – either brands that they or their friends are following – and not something that is forced upon them like traditional advertising mediums.
• Facebook efficiently fulfills basic goals of real estate
The three basic goals of any real estate developer are – brand awareness, driving traffic to the website, leads and enquiries. And Facebook fulfills all of these goals satisfactorily as it enjoys seamless cross-device functionality, creates a seamless lead capture experience on mobile, and finds potential customers who look like your best customers.
• Accurate targeting with Facebook
Facebook is identity-based since it has all the relevant information of an individual. Apart from this, it also monitors a user's activity, behaviour, preferences, etc. which helps in designing campaigns for acquiring quality leads and thereby reducing wastage on impressions.
• Track your performance with Pixel
One of the best features of Facebook is its ability to monitor how your ads are performing. With Pixel, conversion tracking, optimization and remarketing become effortless. Pixel helps advertisers track how many people visited their page in the last few days, how much time did they spend there, etc. This way, you can tailor your campaigns to target only those audiences that spent the maximum time. Ultimately, Pixel can be utilized to design better targeting.
•Facebook segments your audience better
– Core audience
The core audience is basically the group of people who are targeted using the information provided by them – demographics, interests, behaviours, etc.
– Custom audience
A custom audience is essentially a list of existing customers. A database of people who are either leads or who have purchased your project.
– Lookalike audience
With lookalike audiences, you have the ability to find new people who might display keenness in your project because their demographic and behaviour is similar to your existing customers.
For e.g – If your customer base is 30 to 45 years of age, married, and working in the IT sector, then Facebook will reach new people who fit this category but aren't existing customers.
• Facebook as a lead generation tool
Lead generation is a crucial objective for ad agencies to attract a customer towards a product or service. Facebook is one of the most sought-after mediums for achieving this objective due to the versatility and efficiency of its ads, and the tremendous customer reach it provides.It is also flexible enough to be used at every decision point along the way.
So what are those decision points?
– Awareness: When a Facebook user is informed about a product or service
– Consideration: When a user shows interest, clicks on the ads fill out a form, and turns into a lead
– Conversion: When a lead is convinced about a product or service and turns into a buyer
As you can probably tell now, Facebook is indispensable to a digital ad agency or any firm that is seeking to stamp their presence on the internet and social media. The platform enjoys an enormous customer base across the globe as well as in India. Its ad formats are creative, contemporary, flexible, and highly informative. It can comfortably attain all the objectives of real estate sector.
So, if you're a real estate firm, it is imperative that you maximize Facebook's potential for brand awareness and conversion.
This blog is based on the presentation given by Meera Parthasarathy, Account Manager, Facebook at Evolve – Real Estate Digital Marketing Conference organized by Amura Marketing Technologies at JW Marriott, Pune.