July 08, 2024 by Amanda Berthelot
If you’re a real estate agent, you’ll know how important it is to constantly find new customers. While repeat business is often the key to success, it’s unlikely that your customers are going to be returning for quite some time. The best way for you to keep your business going would be for you to generate new leads constantly. This becomes easier when you know what options you have, and who you should be targeting.
Table of Contents
- Finding Real Estate Leads
- Best Lead Generation Strategies
- Online Lead Generation Tips
- Networking for Leads
- Leveraging Social Media
- Real Estate Follow-Up
- Creative Lead Ideas
- Leads for New Agents
Finding Real Estate Leads
The first step to take would be for you to find real estate leads. Networking is one of the best ways to learn how to get real estate leads, as it allows you to connect with neighbors, local charities and other agents in general. Although meeting new people is important, you shouldn’t overlook the importance of talking with people who you already know. There’s a good chance that you have built a lot of trust with them over the years, so ask them first if they know if anyone is looking for a home. They will probably want to deal with someone who they trust, which puts you in a prime position. Networking is all about establishing a connection, and if you can do this, it’ll help you to find more leads moving forward.
Ask for Referrals
Another thing you can do is ask for a referral. In the world of real estate, referrals are a goldmine. Unlike cold calling, a referral gives you an immediate “in” which can save you a lot of time when moving people through the sales funnel. Asking for referrals needs to be done politely, but that doesn’t mean you can’t adopt an aggressive approach. Make it a habit to ask every client for one or two referrals. When you do secure a referral, send a handwritten note to whoever referred you. This will allow you to build positive relationships, which can lead to more referrals down the line.
Come up with a Process
Every salesperson should have a process. If you work in real estate then you should have a process which helps you to improve your working efficiency. It helps to use the data you have now so you can create a customer profile. What platforms are your customers using the most right now? What are their demographics? What are the chances of them subscribing to your newsletter? If you can adopt a process like this then you will be able to evaluate it every few weeks, so you can determine if you need to add more strategies or if you need to eliminate any steps that aren’t bringing you the results you’re looking for.
If you aren’t collecting data, now’s the time to start. Keep track of every data point you may find useful, including:
- Demographics
- Home sale price
- Referral source
- Neighbourhood
- And more
You can then use real estate software to create email drip campaigns, so you can reach out and contact any warm leads you may already have without having to do anything.
Video Creation
If you’re like most real estate agents, you probably don’t bother with video. If you want to learn how to get leads in real estate, however, you need to change that. Offering to create a video of a home is a great way for you to convince existing sellers to list with you. It also gives you the chance to showcase a home in a way that photographs can’t. You can also create content, that includes:
- How-to Instructions
- Home Features
- Interviews
- Selling Tips
- Q&A Sessions
Creating videos can be difficult if you’re not very tech-savvy, but with that being said, you can take steps to make it more appealing. Invest in good equipment and keep your videos short. You should be shooting for two or three minutes in all instances. By doing this, you can find people who are already interested in selling their homes but need the final push to choose you. You can also showcase your experience by doing this, which is a great way for you to generate new leads moving forward.
If you want to make professional videos, just be sure to invest in a tripod as this will stop your camera from shaking. Good lighting and a good camera will also help you to get the professional look you’re going for.
Best Lead Generation Strategies
Finding leads is important, but your strategy should focus on generating them too. Generating new leads gives you the chance to constantly invest in your process while ensuring that your profit is steady and consistent.
Create Sales Brochures
A good way for you to generate new leads would be for you to create a sales brochure. Don’t consider creating a PDF either. You need to focus on digital documents instead, as these are far more engaging and the intent data that they generate can be used to refine your process. In this day and age, you have way more options than ever when it comes to marketing. People also crave interactivity, video and better content experiences. You can provide all of this, by simply:
- Creating a digital brochure with activity tracking
- Online reports for housing trends
- 3D tours and video functionality
- Interactive whitepapers
- Translation for marketing materials
- Personalized newsletters for neighborhoods
These are just a few examples of how you can gather intent data, and how you can use digital brochures to your advantage. The above examples aren’t just designed to attract new people. They’re designed to educate, engage and attract too. The more you know, the better you can market yourself and negotiate with confidence.
Encourage Testimonials
Showcase any positive experiences your clients have had. Remember that word-of-mouth referrals remain to be one of the best lead sources you could hope to have as a realtor. Digital documents allow you to embed engaging testimonials within your brochure. Make it easy for people to leave reviews too, by adding a direct link. This will help you to cultivate relationships from the network you have now, so you can use it to push your business forward. If you’re just learning how to generate leads in real estate, then you’ll know that there are hundreds of options out there. By choosing a single strategy with multiple components, however, you can create an effective campaign that doesn’t overstretch you in terms of data cultivation or data processing.
Free Resources
Make sure that you provide valuable resources, such as checklists, online books and guides on buying or selling properties. Giving away free content is also a fantastic strategy that is often used by marketers to help brands position themselves as being helpful and approachable. Resources like this can add a lot of value and they are also a fantastic way for you to improve lead engagement as a whole. Use real estate directories too, including Realtor.com, Homes.com, Apartments.com and RedFin. Trulia. Partner with local businesses, such as moving companies, brokers and more. This gives you the chance to cross-promote your services so you can expand your reach while gaining referrals. You can also target specific areas here, which will help you to increase your visibility while connecting with buyers who might be searching for a property.
Online Lead Generation Tips
If you want to generate leads online then it helps to have a separate strategy. If you need some help with that then take a look below.
Optimize for Local SEO
It will take a few weeks to a few months for this to work, but if possible, you need to optimize your website for local SEO. You can do this for $129 a month if you go through SEMRush or Ahrefs. Optimizing your site for local search terms is the key to building local backlinks and it also gives you the chance to create local content. You can improve your search ranking this way, and this helps to make it easier for prospects to find you online. If you plan to scale your business then you will want an integrated website that allows you to generate leads automatically. You can then have them populated into a sophisticated CRM system.
Create a Blog
If you want to learn how to generate real estate leads then creating a blog that’s entirely focused on the property market is a good way to go. This will help you to attract organic traffic as well as natural links. It also helps to demonstrate your expertise, which is so important when you are trying to position yourself as a leader within the sector. Remember to focus on blog ideas that showcase local insights as this is the key to making sure that you’re posting niche content that attracts a big audience. Creating a blog is free, but it will take time to build your content and establish yourself as a central hub for the latest news and information.
Google PPC Ads
This can vary in terms of cost. As a general rule, you can expect to pay between $0.11 to $0.50 per click. It can also take a few weeks for you to start seeing results. If you want to adopt this strategy then you need to screenshot the search engine result page, which shows agents who have paid to secure that top spot. When you have done this, you then need to try and craft your campaign so you can target competitive keywords. Monitor any campaigns you create closely and optimize them regularly so you can keep an eye on your ROI.
Online Communities
Joining local forums, discussion boards and local Facebook groups is a fantastic way for you to generate leads, not to mention that they can also help you to build relationships with potential clients. They help you to know who your audience is, and they also give you the chance to connect with them in a way that is nurturing. Look for groups where your audience is active and focus on giving them as much value as possible. Give them helpful advice, answer questions they may have and also take the time to share your insights. Just make sure that you don’t promote your services too much and that you avoid coming across as spammy, because if you do then this will make it difficult for you to connect with your audience positively.
Email Marketing
The cost of email marketing is only around $20 a month, but with that being said, it is a fantastic way for you to drive business. If you can create a targeted email campaign and send out regular updates, newsletters and personalized property recommendations then this will help you out a lot. Just don’t forget to segment your list for buyers and sellers. If you are targeting buyers then you may want to create a list for those who are investors and those who aren’t. If someone has just bought a property, that doesn’t mean that they’re shut off from your campaign. An investor may still be looking for other properties, so there’s a clear distinction that has to be made. If you can do this while building trust then you will soon find that it’s easier to get the result you want out of your campaign.
Networking for Leads
If you want to network for leads, then you have to make networking your lifestyle. There are numerous ways you can do this, and adopting several strategies is often the way forward.
Make it Your Lifestyle
The first thing you need to do is work to make networking your lifestyle. Don’t just hand out business cards, and remember that it is your goal to try and make connections with people. Get to know mons who attend local sports games, as well as the team sponsors, coaches and connections. Go to happy hours and learn the names of the people who work there, and make sure that you connect with as many people as possible. Local community events are often the best way to do this, purely because you can reach out to a lot of people in a very short period.
Try and Help
You also need to try and find ways to help. At the end of the day, you need to learn about zoning, design trends, developments,m interest rates and more. You probably have specialist training, so using it to your advantage is one of the real estate lead generation ideas you could hope to use to your advantage. You understand your local community and its future more than anyone. This puts you in a very unique position and it also allows you to be helpful. Don’t see networking as being a way to offer help. Instead, be helpful in general. Carry groceries for someone, host an informational meeting to educate people on local development and volunteer at the local school. Take the time to sponsor a team, and help someone with their career search. Take on an apprentice if you know someone is struggling, and forge connections that go beyond your role.
If you can do this, you will build a level of loyalty that cannot be taken away. If you live in an area that has a lot of flooding then you can easily give advice here, by pinpointing the areas that are most prone based on previous data. You can also demonstrate how you can solve the issue. Things like this are very useful in real-life situations and they can make a monumental difference to how you are perceived by the local community. Believe it or not, this is one of the best ways for you to generate solid, hot leads as people will come immediately to you when they need someone who they can trust to sell their home.
Be Prepared
If you happen to treat every interaction as an opportunity to connect then this is great, but you still have to pitch. You do need to make sure that you have a pitch that suits you for children’s sports events, for luxury real estate clients or even when you are at the grocery store. Make sure that you explain what you do in regards to your work, but at the same time, the value that you bring. You will gain bonus points if you practice your pitches in front of your friends. They can then give you pointers on how to get the best result out of your pitch overall.
Set Expectations
Chances are you probably aren’t going to sell your home today, to someone who you meet at the grocery store. Sometimes, it is a good idea for you to focus on the long-term goals you have. Add them to your email list and ask them if they’d be okay receiving your newsletter. From there, you may find that a year or two down the line, they want to sell their home and because you’ve been on their radar for quite some time they choose you. Not every person you meet will be a client and you can’t focus on converting eerie leads either. If you focus on your target demographic and if you focus on understanding their needs however then this will give you the chance to learn something new while also focusing on your core needs.
Leveraging Social Media
It’s so important that you leverage social media where you can. Find some of the most popular platforms below.
Facebook has billions of users, and it is a brilliant choice for real estate agents who want to try and attract leads. It also has a very robust system which is great at targeting specific demographics.
LinkedIn is one of the best platforms for you to connect with other service providers. It is also good if you want to connect with service providers or potential clients. You can take advantage of targeted advertising here, and you can also generate B2B leads.
When you think about Instagram, you might not think of it as being a good platform for lead generation but it is. This social media platform takes advantage of visual cues and images. This is one of the best ways for you to engage your audience.
How to Use Social Media to Leverage Lead Generation
There are many ways that you can use social media to leverage lead generation. One of the things you can do would be for you to use it to showcase your listings. Whether you choose to host a virtual tour or whether you post content there to promote your listings, you do have a lot of options. This can increase your chances of being able to attract a great lead and it also gives you the chance to sell properties. This kills two birds with one stone.
Engage with your Audience
Avoid posting content and just take a step back for a moment. Make sure that you are engaging your audience by answering questions and by also providing them with advice. You need to try and build a relationship where possible while demonstrating that you are friendly, open and willing to help.
Targeted Advertising
Targeted advertising is a huge benefit. It ensures that your content appears before those who have a genuine interest, which is so important when you are trying to generate leads. You may want to create a targeted campaign so you can target people who live in a particular area. You can then ask them to visit your site for extra info.
Social Proof
Consumers are not as likely to trust companies if they can’t offer any social proof. They want to see reviews, ratings and also positive recommendations. Encourage people to leave a review after they have used your services as you can then display this on your page as a trust signal.
Exclusive Promotions
One of the best ways for you to create some level of hype about your real estate company would be for you to offer promotions as well as competitions. You also need to try and build trust. You may want to give free home valuations or you may want to give a discount on your service, Helpful eBooks are also great. If you do this then you will soon find that you can get the leads you’re looking for.
Real Estate Follow-Up
This involves you reaching out to individuals and nurturing the relationships you have worked so hard to build. The goal here is for you to provide the relevant information for you to turn those leads into clients. Take a look below if you want some help following up on leads.
Invest in Software
You need to have some good software to help you track, segment and store your needs. As an agent, you may have leads that come from various sources, whether it is online platforms or referrals. You may even have them from attending conferences and events. Regardless of where your leads are coming from, you have to make sure that you have a solid CRM system. This gives you a holistic view of how each lead is going as well as your communication history with that client. You can also store any notes regarding them so you can provide a more personalized experience moving forward. Having a scoring system will help you to evaluate the quality and the potential of each lead too.
Timing is Everything
Timing is everything. The importance of speed cannot be overstated. Studies have shown that if you reply to a lead within the first hour, this increases the chances of conversion by 700%. The need for speed is important from other perspectives too. You are working in a competitive market at the end of the day. If you can showcase yourself as being quick, you will be seen as an attentive agent who is proactive, which is exactly what most people look for. By reaching out promptly, you can also show that you are dedicated to providing exceptional service.
Personalisation and Relevance
One of the main goals of following up is for you to get a response. Make sure you put a focus on personalisation here. If a lead is trying to sell their home then follow up with the homes you have sold in the past and then list other comparable properties on the market. If you can offer valuable information up-front, this will make you competitive.
Creative Lead Ideas
Want to get creative with your leads? Here’s what you can do.
Open Houses
Open house invites can be sent to thousands, and if you enable RSVP then you will soon find that you can measure the effectiveness of your campaign. You can also see who is interacting with the listing while setting rules so you can show different parts of the house to different buyers. You can even add a poll that helps you to find out if someone is looking for a home, or did they have already bought one, so you can eliminate them from your campaign. You probably have hot buyers in your back pocket, so enticing them is the best way for you to capitalize on that. Remember that personalized content is up to 84% more effective than having a static document, such as a PDF, so it’s not hard to see how things like this can be beneficial. Digital brochures also allow you to see who is the most interested before they step foot on your property. The young couple from Idaho who you didn’t think were interested might have looked at the layout of the home 8 times. The divorcee from Oregon who you didn’t think was interested in the area, might have shared the invite to four other people. By taking this data, you can then proceed to provide a personalized experience. Ask your viewers if they want to be picked up from the airport if they are traveling across a long distance and give them a service that will blow their minds. By doing this, you will see your leads rocket, while promoting your business in a positive light.
Innovation is key in real estate and strategies like this will propel you miles ahead of your competition, who may be still working with static PDF documents.
Live Virtual Tours on Social Media
We live in a digital age, and property tours have become very popular over the last few years. They are ideal for buyers who want to explore homes on their own devices. You can use tools such as Zoom or even Facebook Live if you want to capitalize on this. You can also use a prerecorded video tour if you want here. This will help you to connect with potential clients and it will also help you to interact with them. Just make sure that you promote virtual events across your channels so you can maximize the amount of people you have attending. Either way, virtual open houses are a fantastic way to generate buzz and the interactive features give you additional insight into your users and what they are looking for.
Leads for New Agents
Getting leads as a new agent may be difficult, especially when you consider the fact that a lot of lead generation revolves around networking, and you probably don’t have any connections yet.
Start with Who You Know
The first thing you need to do is start with who you know. When you have sent out emails to people who you might have connected with. Learning how to get leads as a real estate agent, especially when you’re new to the business, isn’t easy but starting with who you know can lead to further opportunities down the line.
Attend Events
The second thing you need to do is build your network. Attend events and get to know people who may work in the business. Move on to people who you don’t know, and send out feelers. Get creative and ask neighbors, as well as business owners. Don’t invest in cold calling just yet, as it probably won’t yield the results you’re looking for.
Build your Process
Having a process will give you a clear roadmap. You will need to learn how to find real estate leads and then how to follow them up. Having a clear process helps you to do this with consistency, so you can work toward establishing a business that thrives.
So, generating leads is easy when you look at the sheer amount of ways you can do it. If you want to help yourself, try numerous strategies for a few weeks, measure the results and then go back to the drawing board. When something yields positive results, stick with it. You can then rinse and repeat until business is booming.