When discussing online marketing, especially Facebook ad campaigns, one of the things we hear from time to time from agents is something to the effect of “I know everyone swears by it, but it didn’t work for us. I don’t know, I guess our marketplace must just be different”.
Is their particular marketplace different than others? Of course. Does that mean that the marketing engine just does not work in their particular marketplace? Of course not. So if we can agree that all marketplaces are different, but that the marketplace does not always dictate the strength or results of the marketing vehicle, what assumptions can we draw?
It’s very simple, one very important piece of their ad campaign is flawed. It’s flawed so badly that at the last minute, right before they will get a qualified lead from their marketing efforts, the prospect leaves and moves onto other things, without giving them their information. More often than not, that very important piece of the puzzle is the landing page they directed the homeowner to.
Landing pages are critical. Done correctly, they can instantly grab lead information, getting the Realtor® that all important qualified lead they are looking for. Done incorrectly though, the landing page can become nothing more than a nuisance that the homeowner perceives as annoying, causing them to take an “on to the next one” stance.
Online advertising works. It not only works, but it can make a smart Realtor® tons of money. The landing page is one of the most important elements that dictates the success or failure of any Realtor’s® online marketing initiatives. Whether you are doing Google Ad Words, Facebook Ad Campaigns, Instagram Ad Campaigns, Banner Ads on any number of sites, or even informational content pages on your Real Estate Website, you HAVE TO use landing pages. To those ends, today I want to share with you the elements and best practices involved in creating “the perfect” Real Estate Landing Page:
1) Keep your URL short and sweet (and memorable)
One thing that makes me crazy is when I see a marketing piece for a Realtor® that is really well done, but has this fatal flaw. They almost did everything right. The graphics are on point, the message is compelling and the call to action is perfect. The problem? The URL they chose to drive people to is simply too long.
You have to remember. Homeowners are inundated with marketing messages. You have seconds to get their attention and to get them to want to act. Why build all that good will to get an interested lead, only to lose them, because they don’t want to type in your extremely long URL?
Keep your URL short and simple and you will win.
2) Your website has navigation. Your landing pages should not
When you drive a homeowner to landing page, you have to remember that the purpose of getting them to your landing page is to just do one simple thing: Give you their name and contact information. That is all.
Your website may be awesome, but at the end of the day if you use the same navigation on your landing pages that you do on your website, you run the risk of the users getting distracted and not doing the one thing you want them to do.
Notice how this page does have Roger Prasad’s branding and logo, but there is no navigation, and nothing else for the homeowner to do, EXCEPT fill out the one form he wants them to fill out.
3) Make your offer clear
Maybe your offer requires some description with the landing page, in order to better explain to your prospect what it is they will receive, by giving you their information.
As you can see on this landing page from our website that offers a consultation for our Real Estate digital marketing system. Theform has a detailed bullet list of what will occur, to maximize the chance that a prospect fills out the form.
Bullets are my favorite way to do this, but no matter what you do, be concise.
There are many things that go into a successful landing page, BUT if you follow these basic steps, your response rate will be higher than you have ever seen it, and your pipeline will be full of leads.