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Zillow & Realtor.com Leads or Google & Facebook: What’s Best for Your Business?

Digital ads make it easier than ever for agents to get in front of the right audiences. However, making the choice about where to spend money on leads can be a daunting task. Should you spend advertising dollars on Zillow or Realtor.com? How do you know if you should run ads on Facebook, Google PPC, or both? How do these lead sources compare, and more importantly, do they convert?

During our latest webinar with Lab Coat Agents, we addressed those questions and more. Read on to better understand the value of each option and how Chime’s buyer and seller lead generation capabilities can help you make the best choice on ad spend. Or click here to watch the full replay.

First and foremost, if Zillow and Realtor.com are spending money on Google and Facebook ads, it’s a clear indicator that you should be spending ad dollars on the very same platforms. Both Google and Facebook are valuable but in different ways.

Facebook ads are good for overall branding and getting your business known in a given area. Google PPC campaigns are best once your prospects have intent to search for homes. We refer to this as the point in time where leads have moved on from the “dreamer stage” and are intent on actively looking for relevant listings.

In a perfect world you need both, but if you have to choose between Facebook ads and Google PPC, let preference be your guide. Are you new to the market and need more leads? Start with Facebook as they are best suited for brand awareness and to support marketing efforts. Are you established in the market but need more transactions? Lead with Google PPC as those leads are more mid-funnel and can help edge you down the path to conversion.

Here are the top three tips to manage your ad spend:

1. Retargeting – Ads are not a one and done opportunity. Chime offers Dynamic Ads and retargeting capabilities which are especially useful when you are building out a branded ad campaign. By generating ads that are customized to your brand and active listings, prospects can be quickly retargeted with the same ad after their initial click. Integrated with Chime’s IDX and AI assistant, dynamic ads are a great way to get in front of new people within your Facebook community and stay top of mind.

2. Registration – You need a registration form to capture lead information once a prospect comes to your site, but the rules are changing on when and how you ask for those details. With Chime, you can customize the registration form to suit your needs. Do you want people to sign in moment they try to view listings on your site? Or are you comfortable offering them two to three homes to view first and then asking for registration? Test and see what works best for your market.

3. Regrouping – The success of your ad campaign is not tied to the dollar amount. As Tristian noted, many agents miss the opportunity to garner more leads because once they turn on a Google PPC campaign they fail to go back and look at it again. How is it performing? What are your conversion rates? Is your dialogue working? Let the data be your guide.

For more on how Chime can help manage your buyer and seller lead gen campaigns, book a demo.

For more on how Chime’s buyer and seller lead generation capabilities can help your business, get in touch.