Posting your property’s listing to Facebook just got harder. Here’s how Rent. can help.

• Property teams can no longer post apartment listings on Facebook Marketplace using Facebook business Pages.

• You can still tap into Facebook Marketplace’s total potential audience of 495.7 million users.

• Paid placements eliminate this challenge and are recommended for properties posting to Facebook Marketplace.

Properties can no longer list vacancies directly on Facebook Marketplace from business pages for free, but they still have options. Find out how this impacts property teams who manage apartment listings and the best ways to reach renters on Facebook.

What has changed for rental listings on Facebook Marketplace?

With millions of users, Facebook Marketplace has been a hub to easily advertise apartment listings, but rules have recently changed for multifamily owners and operators. On January 30th of this year, Meta discontinued a feature that allowed property teams to post apartment listings on Facebook Marketplace using Facebook business Pages. Rental listings must either come from personal profiles or paid ads in order to reach renter audiences on Facebook Marketplace.

This change comes as an extension of moves Meta has made to limit mass listings from being posted on Facebook Marketplace for free. In September 2021, Meta discontinued the ability for third-party vendors to upload listings in bulk using partner catalog feeds. For property teams, this means no more listing syndication from an outside app or rental marketplace. Apartment listings must be posted one at a time to Facebook Marketplace from a personal profile.

This also adds more work in getting the vacancy filled. Those who post listings from their personal profile must track activity within their own page and handle each new inquiry that comes through individually. They must also manage leads manually, whether that’s transferring new lead information to a PMS (property management system) or another system for tracking inquiries.

Can I still reach renter audiences on Facebook Marketplace?

While these changes have caused properties to pivot, properties have a ton of options to continue reaching renter audiences on the platform. Facebook Marketplace alone has a potential audience of 495.7 million users for advertisers worldwide.

There is still ample opportunity to reach this audience in a way that is cost-efficient and less stressful for busy leasing teams. Much like an ILS (internet listing service), properties on Facebook Marketplace reach renters in the right place at the right time—as they’re actively shopping for a new place in their local area.

Here’s how you can maximize your reach with renters on Facebook Marketplace

If you’re already advertising your property, you’re steps ahead. Multifamily advertising on Facebook eliminates challenges that have come with this change because paid placements will still run on Facebook Marketplace. Just make sure Facebook Marketplace placements are selected in your campaigns. Many solutions like RentSocial. automatically include Facebook Marketplace as part of a broad selection of other placements that get your property exposure on Facebook and Instagram.

Make sure your approach is worth the investment

Property teams can get the most reach with renter audiences specifically by leveraging advertising solutions that are integrated with rental marketplace listings and have refined targeting. This is especially important for property teams that have multiple listings, need to update ads efficiently and want more flexibility in ad creative.

To maximize your social presence, make sure you can:

• Target in-market renters within Facebook Marketplace, so your budget is used toward reaching people who actively search for apartments in your area.
• Leverage content from your listings so ad creative is automatically updated without you having to manually manage everything.
• Create a variety of ads at scale so all of your properties and listings get the exposure they need.
• Deliver leads directly to your PMS (property management system) for less time wasted following up with individual inquiries.

Social media is increasingly powerful for property teams as more efficient, FHA-friendly options become available. With continued changes to multifamily advertising regulations, having a diversified and data-driven approach will help you fill vacancies and avoid wasted effort.

New Rules. Better Options. Reach renters directly on Facebook, Instagram, and more with RentSocial.

Get exposure to 50x more in-market renters than traditional social ads with targeting powered by proprietary data from our marketplaces.¹ Fill out the form to find out how your property can stand out on social.

References:
¹ Based on census.gov population statistics and the Rent. 2021 Renter Survey data. Assumes a 12-month average lease duration, renter population that is 18+ years old and the same pricing offered across social ad providers)