The New Year is upon us and a full slate of articles, podcasts and more are out with ideas and steps you should take to increase your productivity and generate leads for your real estate business. Yet, the best-kept secret of marketing every listing that we saw last year to sell faster and get more referrals, the 3D Facebook Open House, is virtually (pun intended) unheard of, until now.

We aren’t talking about posting on Facebook that a traditional open house for your listing is coming up, and boosting (ad on Facebook) the post to attempt to drive more feet and eyes through the listing. Instead, this is using two things you should already be doing on all your listings, a 3D tour and Facebook ad boosting, then combining them in a way that will put 5-10x more feet and eyes (albeit virtual versions) through that listing than any standard open house would.

If you don’t know what a 3D tour is, check out this one here (note the agent’s contact info on the top left, the ease of use to move through the home, and if you are really adventurous try it on your smartphone and a pair of VR goggles. This is not your standard photo slideshow set to elevator music called a “virtual tour” that sellers and buyers despise compared to a real 3D tour. This is an actual tour of the home that puts the user in control of where and what they want to see in your listing, just like a potential buyer would at your traditional open house) and see the stats below that this agent received in #4:

Now that you saw the power of the 3D tour (especially on smartphones/tablets, where over 70% of home searching is going down), here are the 4 reasons you, your team, and your office should make a 3D Facebook Open House standard on all listings:

  1. Almost no one is doing it! Only 16% of real estate agents put their listings on social media (NAR, see chapter 7: source). Wait..what!? That is such a despicable, low stat, but it only means pure opportunity for you. Our internal stats show a similar sad story. In the past 12 months here at VRX Media Group (3DTourMarketplace.com) our team has taken and processed over 2,000 3D tours for new listings and rentals across the US. We only saw a handful of those 3D tours shared directly on Facebook, let alone shared in a “Facebook Open House” format.  This means you have a huge opportunity to seize the extra marketing expertise points with current and future sellers and set yourself apart from the “MLS and sign in the yard” agents that sellers are sick and tired of. Go the extra mile for your clients and your listings will sell faster and you will get more referrals because your clients will see you took extra steps to market their listing in unique and effective ways.
  2. Your Current and Potential Clients are on Facebook and Make Real Estate Based Decisions on Agent Facebook Usage. According to the NAR (page 131), sellers 36  and younger were the most likely to work with agents who market on social media at 23%, 19% for sellers 37 to 51. This means you can get a 20% “more likely to work with you” boost from doing something as easy as marketing your listings on Facebook. Imagine when you are going a step above just posting the listing on social media when you host a 3D open house? The boost to your business could be massive. And when it comes to the term “social media”, Facebook still dominates the social media usage, 79% of Americans have a Facebook profile and 53% log in every day. Putting a 3D open house of your listing in front of that many people is nothing but pure, powerful marketing and puts you the agent in front of those same people too.
  3. It’s Easy, Affordable, and Trackable. If you have not posted a listing on Facebook yet, have no fear, it’s really easy. Which is why it is so surprising that under 20% of agents are doing it. Quick tutorial videos and step-by-step articles are all over the web and YouTube to walk you through it. Best yet, it is very affordable to boost/advertise on Facebook. We have seen incredible results from 3D tours properly shared and boosted on Facebook with as little as $20 – $50 going into the boost budget. We are talking 100+ unique people walking through a listing in as little as 24 hours. Does this mean you stop doing your go-to traditional methods of marketing your listing (i.e. flyers, postcards, traditional open house, etc). Of course not! But know that the cost and ROI tracking with a 3D Facebook Open House are leaps and bounds better than most traditional methods. With a 3D tour open house boosted post you have actual data to show your seller that this is one of the main reasons the house sold so quickly, or potentially why the price should be lowered after 100-300+ people walked the 3D tour with no offers. Knowledge is power in real estate.

    3D tour Dollhouse View

    See and experience the layout of the listing in a 3D Dollhouse view. Can’t do that on a flyer!

  4. It Statistically WORKS. At the end of the day, you as the agent better (should) be utilizing the best-proven strategies you can to market every listing you take. With the recent drop in price on 3D tour technology (some markets you can get pro listing photos and a 3D tour for as little as $159 – $299!)  from service providers just like us (shameless plug). This means you can now afford a 3D tour on literally every listing  to increase your branding and show off your expertise to your sellers and future clients with tangible results. We know of at least 12 agents (VRX Media clients) that have sold a listing directly off of a 3D tour, where the buyer called the agent from viewing the 3D tour on their iPad, computer, or smartphone and put an offer in right on the phone! Our internal research has shown that listings that use professional photography and a 3D tour sell 38% faster than listings that don’t! Look at these 3D tour stats on a listing that was shared and boosted on Facebook for $20, where they saw 120+ unique visitors in the 3D tour in the first 2 days and over 500 walks after 2 weeks. Ever have a traditional open house have 120+ people go through the house?
    3D Facebook Open House Stats

    Over 120+ Unique Visitors in First 2 Days, Over 500 After 2 Weeks and 140+ People Walked it 2x!

     

    This is proven to work, and you are doing a legitimate disservice to any listings/sellers you are not using this on. If you won’t do it on all your listings, the next agent will, and often will reap the longterm benefits of winning more listings, having their listings sell faster, and increased referrals from utilizing a unique, yet proven method like a 3D Facebook Open House.

How do you get an interactive 3D tour on your listing and boost it on Facebook?

You need to find a 3D tour service provider (more than likely a Matterport provider, though other 3D tour options do exist) in your area and do some web searching and calling to get the best price and turnaround time. Typically a real estate photography company will offer 3D tour services and some will even give you free room measurements with your 3D tour, along with statistical updates on 3D activity when requested. After you get the 3D tour, we recommend using the branded link (the unbranded is for MLS) on your Facebook post. Say something creative in your post with the 3D tour link posted below your content.

Here are two examples that should inspire you to give a 3D Facebook Open House a try on your next listing:

  • Facebook 3D Open House ? is live now at 2345 Street Ave in City! 2,100 SF, 3 bed, 2 bath, Priced at $199,000 in a beautiful neighborhood. Stroll through the house right now on your computer, phone, or tablet. This one will sell fast, walk it now!
  • Digital doors ? are now open for your chance to walk through (try in VR) my new listing at Address, City. Listed for $000,000 and sits on over an acre lot. Private message me or comment below with any questions. Don’t miss your chance to walk this incredible home in area or neighborhood goes here!

With a post like one of those two there you would want to spend at least $20 and probably upwards of $35 to $65 depending on your marketing budget for said listing. Also be strategic in the age, income, areas, and interests you target. Here is a good article on leveraging a Facebook boost properly. Let us know how your next Facebook 3D Open House goes!

Pro Tip: Along with a 3D Facebook Open House post of your new listing, be sure you are targeting the local Facebook Marketplaces (you know, the “Craigslist-like” Facebook marketplace), and posting (for free) your new listing there. The number of listing views, shares, and comments can be astronomical when doing a 3D Facebook Open House and combining that with the Facebook local marketplace post.