Recruited an Entire Real Estate Team
"Thanks for all you’re doing! Can’t wait to get this rolling. Just had drinks earlier with one of my good agents who works all those areas and he’s ready for some extra deals."
Nick Kruger
Senior Mortgage Consultant/Branch Manager
NEXA Mortgage
Client: The Distinction Team NMLS #1323748
Channels: Facebook Page (Paid Ads), 2 Facebook Groups (Lead Distribution to Real Estate Agents and to Drive Opt-In Leads Into), Personal Facebook Profile (Organic Social Media Marketing), Email and SMS Marketing, and Direct Messenger Marketing (Responding to Real Estate Agents Who Engage)
Value Proposition: Self Sourced Lead Generation Systems, Automation Technology, Automated Distribution of Leads to Newly Acquired Real Estate Agents Relationships found via Organic Marketing as well as Setting Up Direct Messenger Conversations/Appointments and Email/SMS Outbound Copywriting providing "Turnkey" Solution for Client
Overview:
Nick Kruger and Mitch Kruger of the Distinction Team approached me about building a lead generation system for their team to distribute to their real estate agent referral partners with the possibility of leveraging them to build new relationships. I developed a comprehensive marketing campaign for them that included social media marketing, lead generation, and automated lead distribution. This what I call the "Path of a Lead for Robots LLC" system.
Problem the client needed solving:
The Distinction Team wanted to provide leads to their loyal referral partners but also wanted to expand their real estate agent referral network without having to pay for expensive leads or systems like Zillow and did not want to spend too much energy or time on doing so (like avoiding coffee appointments).
Solution I provided:
I introduced a system I've employed for other loan officers and mortgages teams where I would generate the leads using Facebook Paid Ads, put them on an automated drip campaign using email and SMS marketing emphasizing the mortgage qualification side using my SaaS product FUBots.
We then automatically distribute leads using Zapier into a private Facebook group. We would also post content focused on local real estate agents who engaged to our organic posts inviting them to receive leads via Direct Messenger to join the private group to get a chance to retrieve leads real time. We would also provide training (such as a guide downloadable as a PDF) on how to follow up and convert the leads as a value add to the real estate agent group members. We would also set up invitations with the local realtors inside the Direct Messenger for conversations/phone appointment either Nick or Mitch if they engaged on our organic post. We would instruct the real estate agent participants that we are already doing an automated drip campaign follow up system that sent them a list of homes that qualify for USDA, copy discussing the mortgage qualification side of buying a home, and to be prepared to have a real estate agent we assigned to reach out.
We would also conduct "lead dumps" if for some reason the automated lead distribution got into a bottleneck and the leads generated we're not being distributed properly. We would create events, make it a big deal with copy like "Okay I got 30 leads I got to give away!"
Key Objectives
Contact all leads as fast as possible and consistently: Nick and Mitch found that not only do they have to try to follow up with the lead as fast as they generate it, but they also have to touch them multiple times. This was humanly impossible when dealing with leads in the thousands.
Distribute leads generated as fast as possible and consistently to real estate agents: Nick and Mitch found that generating leads and then manually/directly sending them out to real estate agents created a huge delay on when the leads would get first contact (therefore lowering contact rate) and took more time and effort which took away from their ability to focus on what they do best - originating and closing loans.
Also, meeting with real estate agents on coffee appointments, although was enjoyable and fun, was not scalable and, like mentioned earlier, ate up time they could be spending on closing loans.
Educate the audience: Not many people know or understand the USDA loan but it allows anybody to purchase homes with zero down as long as they are able to find a home in a rural area. Being the first to introduce this product as a loan officer to the possible home buyer provides a huge advantage to The Distinction Team and if they find people who are qualified, will likely be the ones winning the loan due to first touch, first to introduce, and constantly on top of mind with their automated systems. The comments on the ad proves that many people do not know about the zero down USDA home loan.
The automated initial response email provided the "lead magnet" which is the list of homes that qualify for the USDA home loan which is automatically created by List Reports, a home search by List Reports (for real estate agents or loan officers who want to focus on a real estate agent referral partner - we would use their IDX), and an invitation to join a private group branded the same as the page the ad is from - allowing for another opportunity to engage on leads by getting their "Facebook" account.
Drive interest in working with The Distinction Team: Generate conversations about loan products that are able to help clients qualify if they thought they couldn't qualify before. The idea was not only promote these products, but brand The Distinction Team as the go to experts in these type of products and to stay top of mind. Ultimately to convert leads into loan applications.
Target Audience
There are actually 2 targets: Facebook home buyer leads self sourced by us and local real estate agents.
Home buyers we would create paid ads using Facebook Ads Platform to gather their information which we would send to the real estate agent into the private group.
Key Messaging
Introducing low down payment or 0 down payment loan products: By doing so, they now becomes top of mind to anybody who receives and reads his automated emails and SMS messages.
Real-World Applications: With the leads being automatically distributed to local real estate agents via the private Facebook group - this allowed Nick and Mitch to directly engage with the real estate agents whether via Direct Messenger, or phone call. The fact that The Distinction Team was sending leads to these agents, they we're directly engaged in doing business before they even meet in person. This grew The Distinction Team's referral network.
Next Steps
Increase ad spend, add more local realtors to the group organically, expand to other markets and build the same system for another city or region since loan officers can lend anywhere in the state (not just one specific area). Allow the Facebook group to automatically distribute leads, the FUBots automation to do it's work, and increase amount of closings every month. Hire and train loan officer assistants as needed. Build a team.
Marketing Results
Marketing Collateral (Ads)
Facebook feed
Instagram feed
Instagram Stories
Facebook Stories
Instagram profile feed
Facebook video feeds
Facebook Marketplace
Instagram Explore
Instagram Reels
Facebook Reels
Ads on Facebook Reels
Facebook profile feed
Facebook in-stream videos
Facebook search results
Instagram search results
Audience Network native, banner and interstitial
Ad details
Special ad categories (Housing)
Lead (method) Instant forms
Location and Detailed targeting (Estimated audience size: 941,700 - 1,100,000)
Optimization (Leads)
When you get charged (Impressions)
Ad setup
Format (Single image or video)
Ad creative
Media (I leave as default or select all)
Ad copy
Paying more than $1200.00 a month in Rent? 640 credit score? Rental deposit?
WHY PAY RENT WHEN YOU CAN BUY? LOOK AT THESE NUMBERS!
1,000 a month = 360,000 in 30 years
1,500 a month = 540,000 in 30 years
2,000 a month = 720,000 in 30 years
WHY are you paying someone else’s mortgage?
Click below to get a list of homes that qualify for 0% Down USDA Loans!
Headline
GET THE LIST NOW!
Description
WHY RENT WHEN YOU CAN BUY?
Call to action (Learn more)
Instant form
Lead delivery (Zapier)
Display link
Facebook.com
Form copy
Minnesota Homes Connection
Discover the hidden treasures of Minnesota!
Discover the hidden jewels in Minnesota before they hit the market. Being in-the-know about properties on the market will give you a better chance of getting the home you want. We have assembled a stellar team of experts, builders, and investors who know everything about every property in Minnesota on and off the market. Also, you will be given free VIP access to our private home listing search app. Check your inbox(spam) for the list of homes, as well as the information on how to get access to this free private home listing search app.
Marketing Results
Paid Ad Details
Total Lead: 375
Total Reach: 37,873
Total Impressions: 108,107
Total Amount Spent: $1,707.25
Average Cost Per Result (Lead): $4.55 (Less cost that an average cup of coffee at a coffee shop.)
Age and Gender Distribution:
Men: 52% (195) Cost per result: $4.34
Women: 47% (176) Cost per result: $4.85
Organic Ad Details
Reactions: 85
Comments: 16
Shares: 9
Bonus Leads (Free from ad engagement): 12
Business Results
Won "Top 1%" from UWM in 2021
ROI for entire campaign (a cup of coffee at Starbucks costs more than $4.90 not including cost to drive and time spent to have a coffee appointment with a potential new real estate agent relationship)
Scaled contact with sped up "breaking the ice" period to have a direct business conversation with potential referral partners
Recruited entire real estate team
Created loyal partnership with referral partners 3 years later
Current Client Success
Nick Kruger achieving 2.5 loans for 750k a month in a tough market
Key Takeaways
Focus on details that provides trust and therefore increases responses and conversions:
I have found that using Instant forms gives you a higher likelihood of an opt in for several reasons:
It keeps the lead on Facebook instead of migrating to some foreign website or landing page
A lot of people's information is already prefilled which makes them feel like it's safe (like a password prompt that's already prefilled)
It has Facebook branded all over it so again it feels safe (this is why I type Facebook.com as the Display link and it gets approved by the Facebook underwriters because it's legitimately a Facebook asset
I also intentionally use gmail as the first automated follow up response since gmail is a more trusted email server than most random "autoresponder" email services.
Pay attention to the ad organic engagement:
Since the system was completely automated, nobody was paying attention to the actual ad. There were at least a dozen people who asked for more information and could have converted to conversations - especially if they engaged using their Facebook account. Just like the method we used to engage with real estate agents who engaged on our "click bait" post about getting leads and asking for likes or comments - we could have employed the same strategy with the organic engagement on the post and could probably convert them better since it follow up would be in their Direct Messenger inbox.
Testimonial:
"Thanks for all you’re doing! Can’t wait to get this rolling. Just had drinks earlier with one of my good agents who works all those areas and he’s ready for some extra deals."
Reference:
If you would like to speak to Nick Kruger as one of my references - please let me know and I will provide his information for you.
