How To Use Facebook Ads For Home Builders

Are you constantly posting on Facebook without any idea if you are doing it properly or what you need to do to generate leads?

You may have noticed that your competitors are already building up their brand awareness on Facebook.

This means if you’re not using the right strategy, you’ll get left behind.

If you want to be the #1 builder in your area and create a steady flow of leads for your building company that you can turn on and off as you need them, then you need to know how to use Facebook ads for home builders effectively, rather than just posting updates.

On average, it costs around 50% less to acquire leads on Facebook than it does on Google Ads.

Not only that, the leads are at an earlier stage in the sales process which means you get to take a prospect out of the market before they even start speaking with another builder.

So rather than continuing to waste money on advertising that no longer works, such as print or the yellow pages, start investing in the #1 advertising platform for residential home builders that enables you to measure every dollar that is spent and track every lead that is generated.

If you are like most residential home builders and you are unsure as to what you should be doing on Facebook, here’s some tips.

Some Hot Tips on How to Use Facebook Ads for Home Builders

Firstly, ensure your building company has a well-setup, professional Facebook business page. This includes accurate contact information, a well-designed logo, a professional cover photo or video, and regular posting of high-quality content—specifically photos and videos of finished homes.

Just be aware that not many people will be seeing your posts organically, so you’ll need to throw a few dollars at each of your posts in order to boost them.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

It makes no sense to invest your time in creating useful information that is only seen by a couple of dozen people.

Creating Your Audiences

You can do this based on interests, such as following certain magazines or being interested in Home Design. Or, you can create lookalike audiences based on people that are already on your email list or have visited your website.

Facebook lookalike audiences are extremely powerful due to Facebook's smart algorithm. Regardless of which audience types you use, you should still refine your targeting based on demographic information.

It’s unlikely that someone under 25 will be in a position to build a new home, so exclude them.

Likewise, with people outside your local area...it’s possible some people may want to move interstate and build in your town, but it’s not generally very cost-effective, so limit your geographical area to the area you are actually building in.

Setting up your audiences correctly is crucial to the success of any Facebook advertising campaign. So spend some time getting this part set up correctly.

Running Your Campaigns

When you have your audiences set up, it’s time to think about the type of campaign you should be running.

Although Facebook offers dozens of different options, you should only concern yourself with one in the very beginning: a website conversion campaign with a target of lead generation.

This means Facebook will show your advert to the people most likely to opt in for your offer, which should be a checklist, a free guide, or maybe a plan range.

There is no need to overthink this part; just use your current #1 lead magnet on your website.

Budgeting for Facebook Ads

Budgets are an essential part of any Facebook ad strategy.

Typically, 20% to 40% of your total ad budget should go towards awareness campaigns, and 60% to 80% should be allocated to lead generation campaigns.

The industry benchmark is to reinvest 1% to 3% of revenue into advertising.

Builders who spend more on advertising often achieve higher margins because they can control supply and demand effectively.

It's crucial to measure the effectiveness of your Facebook ads.

Use Facebook's analytics tools to track conversions, engagement, and the overall performance of your campaigns. Adjust your strategy based on these insights to optimize your ad spend and improve lead generation.

Getting In Front Of Your Favourite Prospects

One of the most cost-effective ways to get in front of your ideal client is by sharing quality information with them. Consumers in research mode love hearing tips from experts, and as a licensed professional custom home builder, you certainly qualify as an expert! 

Think about the questions you get asked time and time again by a new prospect…

What are their concerns, their fears, their priorities?

Make a list of ideas and start writing about them by offering actionable advice. If you’re not much of a writer, that’s fine. Just pull out your smartphone and record a video of yourself. You don’t need a studio, just get started.

Share your tips on your website, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. 

When you do this you’ll become a trusted advisor in your local community.

Getting Your Prospects To Make The First Move

Another way to generate more quality leads is by offering a free guide or template that appeals to your ideal client.

While individual snippets or tips are great for raising awareness of your building company and getting the attention of your ideal client, in order to get them to make contact with you, you’ll need to offer them something a little more substantial…

It needs to be a no-cost item, and it needs to be consumable in five to 15 minutes -  so nothing too elaborate!

We call these items lead magnets and there are many options for custom home builders. Downloadable guides, templates, price lists, floor plans, calculators...you get the picture.

This strategy is so powerful because, in exchange for your lead magnet, the consumer will provide you with their email address. When used in an advertising campaign, this strategy literally allows you to ‘buy’ as many leads as you need.

And the more perceived value your lead magnet offers to a consumer, the cheaper your advertising costs become! 

Using lead magnets to generate leads is fundamental in the new marketing process for custom home builders!

You Must Follow Up

However, the best strategy of all is to follow up on your existing contacts with exceptional value.

No question, email marketing is getting harder year after year.

Open rates are down, click-through rates are down…

So is email marketing dead?

The fact is, despite the decline, email marketing remains the most cost-effective marketing channel available to custom home builders, bar none! 

And that is not likely to change in the foreseeable future. 

In fact, if you do your email marketing correctly, you should expect to see an increase in open rates and click rates over the next few years. So, if you are not following up all of your existing contacts by email at least once a week, you’re leaving money on the table.

Your contacts love hearing from you, so long as you are providing value, so don’t be afraid to email them.

The key point here is to follow up with exceptional value.  

If they are a lead, provide links to articles you’ve written or videos you’ve recorded.

If they are stalling at the design stage, provide links and information that specifically addresses their situation.

It takes effort, but it works!

To convert these leads into high margin contracts, download our free Sales Blueprint for Builders now.