Revenue-boosting PPC for real estate investors
Strap in: this is an (almost) exhaustive list of best practice strategies on PPC for real estate investors. There’s a lot to consider. But if you get it right, you can drive millions of pounds in revenue. And – as you will find out in this article – we are so confident we can help you that we can cover your ad spend.
By the end of 2022, the total value of the world’s property stood at $379.7 trillion – with growth of 18.7% across the previous three years. You only need a tiny slice of that pie to make some serious money. Here are some key considerations for capturing and converting new leads through PPC.
Before we get started…
When it comes to PPC for real estate investors, revenue is the metric that matters. Getting your PPC campaigns up and running can be relatively straightforward. You can manage everything yourself. But driving the really transformative returns? Returns that are measured in the millions?
That takes expertise.
At Adbetter we are highly experienced with paid media and specialise in the property and real estate industry. If you want to see how much ROI you can expect by working with us, get in touch now.
“Adbetter’s performance marketing expertise and experience has been invaluable to GetGround as we set up and scaled our marketing operations. Their ability to optimise our previous agency’s CPL substantially within their first month working with us – right up to their present day support and insight – has been fantastic. Finding an agency who will work hand in hand with you to achieve revenue goals was important to us – and in Adbetter we found that. Their practical, dependable approach coupled with their ability to build full lead journeys (from ad design and copy to lead capture and reporting) has made them a seamless addition to my team and one I’d recommend in a heartbeat.”
The ABC of PPC for real estate investment: what you need to run ads
There are four things you need to get started with a pay per click campaign.
Available pay per click channels
The most effective PPC channels for real estate lead generation campaigns are Google, Facebook and Instagram. The key difference between the platforms is that with Google you can target people with high conversion intent (more on that later), whereas with Facebook and Instagram you have to work a little harder to find the people who are likely to be interested in your property investment services.
Best practices for your PPC adverts
People are bombarded with ads these days. Your audience is no different. Think carefully about how your image is going to grab their attention and capture their imagination. What can you include in your image that helps to make sure the right type of people are drawn to your ad? When you are paying for every click, you want to make sure you are attracting the right audience.
If you are advertising across the Google Display Network, make sure your images are formatted to display correctly across all placements.
Copywriting and messaging
It’s not about you. It’s about your reader. Address them directly. Write in a way that’s focused on outcomes and benefits. Think about what your reader stands to gain from working with you. Consider their potential objections or barriers to purchase and show how you can remove those doubts.
Quality vs quantity
Leads can be a misleading metric. Sure, your ad might attract thousands of prospects. But if none of them have any likelihood of actually converting, then you’ve wasted time and money.
Think about how the design and messaging of your ads can pique the interest of the right people. People who actually want and need your services. It’s better to attract a handful of high quality leads than a lot of leads who are very unlikely to become customers.
Test, test, test
Imagine you were running an ad in a magazine. With print advertising, you have one chance to get the image and message right.
Not so with PPC.
Your platform will give you the option to add multiple variants for both your image and your advertising copy. And it’s good to experiment. Your platform will test different image and copy combinations to find what converts best, then preferentially display ads that have the highest chance of converting. Feed the machine. The more tickets you buy for the raffle, the more chance you have of winning.
Don’t hide from your data
No matter what PPC platform you use, your ads dashboard will provide you with lots of data on how your ads are performing. This data has valuable secrets to reveal – and it’s your job to uncover them.
Try to identify any trends in the best performing ads. Is there something you are saying in your messaging that is encouraging clicks? Do your ads perform better with a certain type of image? When you know what’s driving results, you can double down on those tactics – creating more ad variants based on what’s working and ditching the stuff that isn’t.
Test, repeat, test, repeat. And then you should see your ad performance improving.
Best practices for your real estate landing pages
The vast majority of PPC campaigns have a clickthrough element – and you will usually be driving traffic through to your website. While it’s quick and easy to simply send people to your homepage, it’s best to create a standalone landing page specifically for your PPC campaign(s). This gives you more control over the next actions your hard-won lead takes – and can encourage conversion.
The top priority: capture data
The main objective for your PPC landing page is to capture data on your audience. Once you have a name and an email address or phone number, you can target these leads with additional marketing (like email & SMS) that nudges them towards conversion.
Everything about your landing page should be focused on encouraging your visitor to give their data. So think carefully about how you incentivise them to complete your form with a value exchange – whether that’s a discount on future services, a brochure, some industry advice or something else.
Design and copywriting
The design and layout of your landing page can make or break your PPC campaign. It should feel like a continuation of your ad. That means using similar images and colours, making sure your logo is prominent and so on.
Your landing page should also be designed in a ‘mobile first’ way. Optimising for mobile devices is key as it’s likely that a good chunk of your audience will have clicked your ad while using their smartphone or a tablet. And pardon the pun, but the area above the fold (the portion of the page that displays before the user scrolls) is key real estate. Sum up your proposition in this area and make sure it’s enticing, compelling and persuasive.
Break up your copy with subheaders that allow your visitor to scan read your landing page. Your messaging should be bold, clear and benefit driven.
Remember: focus on what the reader stands to gain.
Talk about outcomes. Rewards. Anticipate any objections the reader might have and explain how you can overcome them.
Create a closed journey
Single mindedness is a strength when it comes to landing pages. That means limiting navigation options for your visitor and staying focused on one clear call to action. You don’t want to be including dozens of links to the deepest nooks and crannies of your website. Your visitor’s options should be to complete the action you want them to take or to leave. Anything else gets in the way and decreases the likelihood of conversion.
Utilise social proof and trust signals
Customer testimonials are a great way to build credibility and establish trust in your company. Ideally, take your customer reviews from a verifiable source such as Trustpilot or Google Reviews. You don’t want your review to look hammy and made up. If applicable, include logos from other brands that act as trust signals – such as Which? Recommended, your TrustScore or publications that your organisation has been featured in.
Best practices for real estate data capture
Screen your audience
Remember what we were saying above about lead quantity vs lead quality? It’s better to have a small number of leads with high conversion intent than a bunch of leads who are never going to become customers. And even though you’ve already paid for the click, you can design your form in a way that screens out people who are unlikely to convert.
For example, let’s say you only want to attract potential customers with a high budget. One of your form questions could be “What’s your investment budget?” – with the available answers starting from ￡350,000 and increasing in ￡50,000 increments. This signals to people with a budget lower than ￡350,000 that your services may not be right for them.
Obviously this increases your cost per lead (you’ve already paid for the person to click through to your landing page). But it can leave you with a highly targeted group of people – with high conversion intent – to remarket to.
The psychology of form completion (with apologies to Sigmund Freud)
Received wisdom suggests that the fewer form fields you have, the more likelihood there is that your form will be completed. But that’s not always true. Many people are reluctant to give away their email address or phone number. Without a little coaxing, they bounce.
Now, we’re not proclaiming to be the next Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung. But there is a psychological component to the science of form completion – and once you understand it you can radically enhance conversions.
After designing literally thousands of PPC campaigns, we know how to lean on human psychology to get results. And we know that asking the right questions – in the right order – can increase your data hygiene, enhance conversion and make sure the type of leads you are attracting are exactly the type of people you want to do business with. Ask us for a free consultation and we can share some secrets with you.
Retargeting: reaching out to your fresh new leads
With the majority of PPC campaigns, the real (and fun) work begins once you’ve acquired some leads to remarket to. The first step is to design a campaign that allows you to nurture your leads – reaching out to them with content that sells your proposition and builds credibility in your brand.
This retargeting process is especially important in the property and real estate sector – where the lead-to-close time is typically over six months. We’ve written a short guide below.
Measure the metrics that matter
To get proper intel on your campaign performance, you have to be able to track every point in your user journey. It’s not just about how many people are clicking your ads, but how many of those are going on to become customers. That requires having your campaigns set up to provide full visibility into onward KPIs. Otherwise you’re throwing money into the wind and hoping.
It also helps to have an understanding of the metrics that matter most. Lowering cost per lead (CPL), for example, can save you money – which on the face of it is a good thing. But tactics that reduce CPL can have negative implications on your lead quality.
Many businesses don’t make the effort to track their campaigns correctly. Mainly because it takes time and can be technical. This is where you can leverage a big advantage over your competitors. And we can help. We know how to set up campaigns to capture all necessary data points – and we build custom dashboards that provide clear visibility into the metrics that matter most.
Sounds good? Get in touch for a chat about how we could help you.
Make sure you’re aware of the Ad regulations
The regulations for real estate PPC campaigns are not the sort you want to ignore. Failure to comply can lead to huge fines. So it’s important to know where you stand. With the Meta platforms, for example, property counts as a Special Ad Category. This places certain restrictions on your audience targeting. Meanwhile, on Google, you may be required to get financial services verification before running campaigns that target property investment related keywords.
Confusing? It can be.
There’s more information in the articles below. Or feel free to get in touch with any questions you have about regulations for real estate PPC campaigns. We are here to help.
Be prepared to spend. (Or don’t!)
Promoting property investment through PPC isn’t a cheap advertising strategy. Given the potentially lucrative returns, the top keywords on Google can be expensive. As for campaigns on Facebook or Instagram, you will need to run your ads at a high volume for the platform to learn how to optimise your campaigns for success.
But don’t let a lack of liquidity hold you back. We are so confident that we can drive returns for property investment companies that we might even offer to cover your ad spend. (Yes, you read that correctly.) That enables you to get a revenue-generating PPC campaign up and running, with none of the financial risk. Get in touch to find out more.
It’s all part of your wider marketing strategy
It’s worth remembering that PPC is just one way of advertising your business. Don’t lose sight of your wider marketing strategy and make sure everything is as aligned as necessary across your channels. PPC can also give you quick feedback on the type of marketing messages and offers that convert, which can act as useful insight for your broader verbal identity.
It pays – almost literally – to keep a keen eye on the nuances of your PPC campaign.
But don’t lose sight of the bigger picture.
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