Real Estate Ads: 10 Industry Experts Share Their Best Design Tips

Katie Russell, Marketing Strategist at Fronetics Real Estate

Jarrod Jemison, Brand Manager at BiggerPockets

“I believe the key to designing effective real estate ads is to build trust by creating visuals that relate to the target audience’s lifestyle. Be simple and transparent in your copy while clearly delivering a value proposition that drives people to action. It’s important to design an aesthetically pleasing ad, but it’s even more vital to design an ad that connects with the audience. 

Strategically, we try to create short and simple copy that is engaging and has a unique selling proposition that benefits our audience. If possible, we use quotes and testimonials to build a level of authenticity and trust.

The elements we use to create an ad are:

1. a short persuasive headline
2. body copy that describes the ad
3. imagery that grabs our audience’s attention
4. a call to action that stands out and informs our audience to do exactly what we want them to do.

When applicable, I prefer to use icons and infographics over text to represent data, as this way of presenting information is typically quicker and clearer to understand. Visually, I try to use imagery that represents diverse groups of people. I believe it’s important to show people of color, women, same-sex couples, and various minority demographics in an industry that is heavily dominated by white males.”

Raul Siderias, Chief Markethinker at Markethink 

“What you want is to create real estate ads and landing pages that are as customized as possible, so that homebuyers can better relate to you and your brand. Go as granular as you can with your visuals, landing pages, and messages. It is hard work, but it will be totally worth it in the end, as your campaign spend will be lower. 

For example, if you’re retargeting a user that has visited your ‘pet-friendly apartments’ section, try to split your campaign into three categories. One for cats, one for dogs, and one that contains items that can’t be grouped or don’t fit into the first two categories. This way, you’ll triple your ad types, but your real estate ads will be more relevant and won’t just say ‘pet-friendly apartments‘ they will say ‘cat-friendly,’ ‘dog-friendly’, and ‘pet-friendly’ apartments. You can do the same for neighborhoods, amenities, or even budgets.”

John Ener, Digital Marketing Specialist at InCom Real Estate

“We have a huge sign in front of our design team that says “keep it simple”. We really can’t stress enough the importance of this. People are very distracted nowadays, scrolling web pages very fast and consuming the content that matters the most to them and ignoring the rest.

Untidy designs with too much text on it can be overwhelming to eyes, thus your audience won’t be receptive to your message. Keep the design simple and balanced. As a general rule of thumb, show only one thing.”

Vlad Girboan, Marketing Specialist at Point2 Homes

“The best real estate ads don’t appeal to the general public, but rather to a very specific audience. When it comes to real estate advertising, you should always start with the picture of your perfect buyer in mind.

Think of the property you’re trying to sell and figure out who would be the ideal resident. What’s their age and education level? Are they single, with kids or divorced? Do they work from home, or do they commute? This is called building a buyer persona.

With a clear picture of your buyer persona in mind, you can tailor the message and the visuals in your ad to appeal to that type of buyer. An ad for a New York condo should be different than an ad for a rural property in the country or a family home in the suburbs.”

Orsolya Kis, Senior Graphic Designer at RENTCafé

“I think one of the most important aspects is to be aware of your audience. Since the real estate market incorporates so many segments targeting different audiences—from renters and buyers, to agents and brokers—you need to design your visuals accordingly.

For consistency’s sake, I like to keep a general feel for each brand I work with, while also coming up with something new and innovative every time. This way, I keep the audience interested and engaged.”

Jason Fox, founder of Jason Fox Real Estate Marketing

“Images are everything. Long before people decide to drive by a home or even take a tour, they are deciding which houses they want to visit by looking at the pictures online. You only have a few seconds to captivate their attention and inspire them to add your listing to the list of homes to look at. If the property is not well furnished, then make sure to have it staged or at the very least, have the photographer provide virtual staging.

In Seattle, we use Architectural Exposure, an award-winning real estate photographer that has seen many of their images on the cover of popular real estate magazines.”

Nelson Cuesta, the CEO of AgentFire

“An effective brand ad should visually establish the agent or team as an authority within the hyperlocal market that they’re looking to dominate.”

Neska Husar, Marketing Director at SharpLaunch

“Always be consistent with your brand and aim for top quality artwork. When your visitors click on your ad to land on your property websites, your design needs to be consistent across all marketing assets, so make sure you’re using the same colors, logos, typography, and messaging and create a brand guideline that you can easily share with your marketing team. 

The more your brand is visible online, the more recognizable it becomes, and consistency is key to transmitting credibility, professionalism, and creating a memorable experience for your prospects and clients.”

Naomi Veres, Visual Designer at Bannersnack

“It’s vital to keep in mind that you are competing with many other brands and that you have limited time to make an impression on potential customers. Keep the ad copy short and simple, and give all the information required during the decision-making process (contact information, price, floorplans, etc.).

Design-wise, real estate ads should be clean and use icons and visuals over text to deliver the ad’s message as quick as possible. Plus, if you choose to follow brand guidelines in design details like color choice, logo usage, and style, your brand will stick in people’s memory and buy you some extra time in the future.

Ultimately, it’s a best practice to make sure that potential clients don’t have to make a real effort to reach you. The best transactions are the ones that can be completed in just a few clicks.”