“Be where your customers are."

It's a tried-and-true piece of advice for any successful real estate marketing strategy, and these days there's no doubt your customers are on social media. Most folks in real estate either see Facebook as a goldmine for leads or a dead marketing medium saturated with cat videos and memes. But Facebook marketing isn't dead, it's just evolving.

Perhaps one of the biggest evolutions to hit Facebook recently is the emphasis on video content. With all the “noise" out there, the attention span of your audience is shorter than ever. It's imperative to capture their attention by providing easily digestible, engaging video content.

Officially launched to the general public in early 2016, Facebook Live provides a way for you to broadcast live video from your mobile device and interact with your audience on a more personal level.

Haven't heard of Facebook Live? Watch the short video below to learn more or skip to continue reading!

Whether you're a total newbie to Facebook Live or you're just looking for some creative ways to incorporate it into your overall marketing mix, Breakthrough Broker has you covered.

Below are seven ideas for how to use Facebook Live for your real estate marketing needs:

1. Virtual Showings: Having a tough time coordinating with a buyer's schedule? Do you want to showcase your listings in a creative way? Maybe you just want to give your Facebook friends an inside look into the house hunting process? Take your audience on virtual walkthroughs with Facebook Live.
2. Open Houses: The next time you hold an open house, consider streaming it through Facebook Live so your friends, family, and Facebook followers can join in from the comfort of home via their computer or mobile device. Showcase the home's best features or simply do a complete walkthrough. Talk about the neighborhood and show viewers what makes it great. Of course, you need to pay attention to the attendees who are physically in attendance, but this is a great way to fill some inevitable downtime.
3. Online Classes: Hold a first-time homebuyer seminar and answer some of the most common questions asked about the buying process. Conduct an informative session on the short sale process for homeowners who feel like they've run out of options. Any topic you can think of is fair game!
4. Neighborhood Tours: Just landed a new listing and want to create some buzz? Perhaps you just want to position yourself as the neighborhood expert in your farm area? Hop in the car, launch Facebook Live on your mobile device, and take people on a virtual tour of the neighborhood and its hot spots. Between destinations, you'll have time to speak directly to your viewers and demonstrate your knowledge. Just make sure to pay more attention to the road than your phone.
5. Inspections: If you have an inspector you refer buyers to, consider asking if you can follow him or her on an inspection so potential future buyers can see what goes into the process. The inspector can discuss a few of the main things to look out for when buying a home or address a list of the most common questions they receive. Not only does this provide you with some great video content, but the inspector will get exposure for their company as well!
6. Q&A Sessions: Even the most experienced buyers and sellers have questions from time to time. Sit down with a trusted lender and allow your viewers to ask questions about the loan process. Gather a group of willing neighbors in your farm and have them discuss their favorite things about the neighborhood while taking questions from viewers. Again, the possibilities are endless. Think about what questions your previous buyers and sellers had and create Q&A sessions on those topics!
7. A Day in the Life: Broadcast an hour of your workday while handling some important things around the office and show people what it's like to walk a mile in your shoes. This allows you to show your Facebook followers and potential clients what you do to aid them in their home buying process and it breaks down that virtual “wall" to make you more approachable.

Important Tips

Be prepared. Sure, you want this to be a fun way to interact with viewers, but if you're rambling and bouncing from topic to topic, people will lose interest. Consider creating an outline of the main points you want to cover beforehand to stay on track.

Timing is everything. You'll find most of your viewers don't join in right at the beginning of your broadcast, so don't front-load your presentation with the most important info right at the beginning. Make sure to keep it short enough so your viewers do not lose interest.

Incorporating Facebook Live into your real estate marketing is a great way to interact with people on a more personal level, but if nobody tunes in you could end up spending all that time and effort and get no results. So how can you make sure people get the memo and are actually watching your content?

Here are a few quick ideas:

1. Create a Facebook ad to tell people you'll be going live and give them a sneak preview of what you'll be covering. Have the ad click through to a landing page that describes the upcoming live stream and allows them to input their email address to receive reminders. Not only will you attract attendees, you'll also capture email addresses you can use for future marketing campaigns. Since this will cost you money up front, consider saving this technique for your most important broadcasts and make sure your landing page is efficiently capturing leads.
2. Ask friends and family members to join in, comment, share, and engage with your live video. This will boost your exposure and make your video appear in the newsfeeds of other potential viewers.
3. Send an email to your current sphere of influence to let them know when you'll be broadcasting. Ask them to forward the email on to anyone else who may be interested.

Can you think of additional creative ways to use Facebook Live in your real estate marketing? We would love to hear ideas or success stories in the comments below!

Lance is a Denver Realtor, a marketing consultant for a variety of small businesses, and a real estate, music, and food journalist. He loves thinking outside the box to develop creative marketing strategies based on technology and is always up for a good challenge. He wears many hats, both figuratively and literally. In his free time, there's a pretty good chance you'll find him attending concerts, trying new restaurants, sampling local breweries, or trying way too hard to play his favorite songs on guitar (whether it actually sounds good or not is up for debate). He will try just about any kind of food at least once, no matter how weird or unusual it may be, and has a special place in his heart for a good plate of nachos.