FB Shrinks Its Attribution Window—What This Means For Real Estate Marketers

Facebook recently announced that they are changing its attribution model from 28-days to 7-days due to “privacy initiatives.”

This means, anytime a consumer makes a purchase more than a week from when they were last served the brand’s ad will no longer be trackable or measurable by the advertiser.

This announcement has a significant impact on brands and industries with long sales cycles—and thus something every real estate marketer needs to be aware of when considering their marketing strategy.

What is Advertising Attribution?

Attribution is the process by which you track the ad referral source for a pre-determined action (ie. a form submission, a purchase, a download). It is this method by which your advertising effectiveness is evaluated—and often the determining factor when allocating marketing budgets.

There are two main considerations every advertiser should pay heed to with this change:

1. What is the average attribution window driving your business on Facebook?
2. Do you have transparency into your attribution across different advertising platforms to guarantee the largest return on your media spend? 

The “Social Dilemma”

The first question can be answered by simply pulling a custom report in your Facebook ad manager. If your business is using the existing 28-day window, you can review how Facebook is attributing conversions based on a 1, 7, or 8 – 28 day window. If your business is currently receiving the bulk of conversions inside a 7-day window, then the change should be minimal based on your current strategy. 

However, if a significant portion of your conversions occur outside the 7-day window —as is the case with many real estate marketers selling property that takes weeks, months, or even years—you should take a hard look at your content, targeting, messaging and retargeting strategy to determine if Facebook is still the right platform for you—at least at your current investment level. Because, without the understanding as to whether your advertising efforts led to a conversion, your ability to effectively optimize your ad dollars no longer exists. 

A Balanced Marketing Model

The second question is, do you feel you have a grasp on your current advertising attribution across platforms, the tools at hand, and partners in place to help you successfully execute a cross-platform strategy? Undoubtedly, Facebook and Google will always be must-buys given the sheer size of their platforms. But, with this share of the marketplace comes the ability to dictate changes that are, at best, ambiguous to your business. At worst, these changes can strip you of foundational elements to your marketing strategy (i.e. removal of FHA targeting for real estate brands). 

In order to hedge against the unexpected, sweeping changes these tech giants have been known to make, it’s important to have a partner that checks both boxes: scale AND real estate specific solutions and tools. Without control, transparency and the ability to properly measure, you can never have a real understanding of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and return on ad spend.

If this left you scratching your head, don’t hesitate to reach out. As specialists in real estate marketing, we are at your disposal to help you navigate through this fragmented and ever-evolving industry to help you develop a holistic and effective digital media strategy. CONTACT US