Marketing Without The Numbers
I have spoken before about the Facebook Marketplace, and how it is modernly reminiscent of the Craigslist Marketplace (Before it got weird). The Facebook Marketplace is a tool that is heavily used by one of my Real Estate Clients. In addition to putting the homes for sale and lease on the MLS, where it would syndicate to thousands of other sites, they would also put it up on the Facebook Marketplace. I have been told it is a great pre-marketing tool, a way to get an idea of if pricing is too high or if demand is there. For the longest time, you would be able to see how many people viewed it and see how many messages you had. You had better metrics if you boosted it, but with a good reputation you don't need to boost every listing.
Here is a snapshot of when said metrics were available:
Here is a snapshot of when said metrics were available:
Looks pretty good to an owner who trusted you to get their unit leased out. Now, I remember the day very clearly where I had started my work day on Facebook and went to the Marketplace tab where all your listings go and proceeded to update my eyeballs versus messages numbers, and found my eyeballs number was gone. I tried to refresh my page, see if it was hidden in the "new" layout, and finally ended up submitting a complaint. I then had to ask myself, is this a useful enough tool without that metric? In the same day I discovered Facebook removed that metric, my husband realized LinkedIn did the same thing on personal accounts. When you are using someone else's platform, you play by their rules.
So was Facebook and social media worth it. When I sat down and thought about that, I realized it is a tool in my tool box and I should not discontinue use, but how useful of a tool was it? In 2019, 19% of all leads came from Facebook for the Real Estate company. In 6 months of 2020, it makes up 35% with total leads for 2020 (so far) surpassing 2019's numbers. So its a tool to be using, my next thought was...in what way should we be using it now? It is said that the proof is in the numbers, or the pudding if your a foodie, and we do need some numbers. I rethought the leasing snapshot and applied it to the lease after:
What I actually love about the new snapshot is that it shows the social media as one of the tools for that stage and shows how much time and effort and other tools there actually are in the process. Even without the metrics, Social Media does something bigger than what a number can signify, it builds relationships. Even if the lead comes from Zillow, when they find the homes on Facebook they actually talk to the person and from the conversation is really where you connect.
All this to say, Marketing is worth it, even without the numbers. Facebook, if you are reading this, I would really love my eyeball metric back!
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