Is social media advertising for estate agents a worthwhile investment? Yes, social media advertising is a valuable resource for estate agents who want to reach a wider audience – and prospects – as long as it’s done right. And that’s the key. If done well, it can produce terrific results.

This blog is designed to help you establish whether social media marketing for estate agents is a worthwhile investment – whether it’s likely to attract property buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants. It will outline how social media ads work, the benefits they offer, potential challenges and how to maximise return on investment (ROI). And it will provide practical tips on everything from how to get property leads on social media to the best social media for estate agents’ advertising.

How does social media advertising work for estate agents?

Paid social media marketing gets results fast with ads and can be a great way to target your audience. Organic media is “free” but takes time, as you need to build trust in your brand, which is done with the use of search engine optimisation (SEO) and content marketing.

The best way to reach sellers, buyers and renters and boost engagement is to use a combination of both types.

Key platforms you might want to consider, include Facebook ads, Instagram (Meta Ads) and LinkedIn. They each serve a different purpose and provide different targeting options, such as location, demographics or interests.

Benefits of social media advertising for estate agents

Just some of the benefits of advertising on different social platforms are:

• Increased brand awareness and engagement. You can quickly become known as the go-to estate agency in your area.
• Cost-effective estate agent lead generation. When compared to traditional marketing.
• Targeting specific audiences. Such as first-time buyers, home movers or investors is made easy.

Challenges of using social media ads in property marketing

Naturally, there are some challenges too. They include:

• Competition and rising ad costs. It’s almost certain you’ll be competing with other estate agents, which is why it’s so important that every single post and interaction presents your agency in the best possible light. Rising ad costs can be less significant if your ROI is good.
• Compliance with advertising regulations. This can take up valuable time. A good digital marketing agency for estate agents can help here, as they’ll be practised in all things social media and compliance.
• Creating content that converts. This can also take up your time. Again, an experienced digital marketing agency will be able to help. They will have an entire team that can help with content – including graphic designers and copywriters.

What results can estate agents expect?

According to research by Statista, approximately 28% of marketers included Facebook among the social media platforms delivering the highest ROI. Instagram followed, mentioned by 22% of the participants.

There are plenty of inspirational campaign examples of property marketing on social media.

Our favourite is Engel & Völkers. They’ve taken things beyond the property walkthrough videos – which do make for wonderful ads – by focusing on what’s at the heart of homes, such as memories, life events and security.

Instead of simply showing rooms and outdoor spaces in their property walkthrough videos, they show how life could look for you if you lived there – weddings, family life and more.

Or you could opt to give regular property market updates like West Haven Group, to become known as the specialist agent in your area.

There are some common mistakes that could lead to wasted ad spend. They are:

• Posting with no strategy in place 
• Posting too often, or not often enough
• Forgetting to cater for mobile users
• Not responding to negative feedback
• Using poor quality content
• Underestimating the power of the hashtag
• Being too pushy or salesy

How to run effective social media ads for estate agents

Your target audience should determine which social media platform to use. If you are looking to attract a more mature buyer or seller, for example, you could find that Facebook will work best. Or, perhaps you have the contract to sell homes for a new development and need to reach first-time buyers. For this, Instagram could be the way to go.

Tailor your ad copy to your target audience too and create relevant eye-catching visuals. Take photos from different angles to keep things interesting or focus on the small things that make a house a home.

Test your social media advertising performance frequently, adapting your strategy and tweaking accordingly. And take advantage of any opportunities to optimise ads or posts.