What are Real Estate Marketing Leads? They are a group of families that are planning to move within the next 6 months. These families will be looking for a new home in the very near future and they need to be marketed to right away. These leads are perfect for Real Estate Agents.
s not easy to make marketing work in real estate anymore, as most agents often follow the same strategies and techniques that make it harder to stand out.
But don’t let this discourage you — the Indian real estate industry is expected to reach US$ 180 billion by 2020. And, given the rising trend in short term rentals and global investment properties, real estate sales will also likely continue to increase. In truth, there’s never been a better time to enter the competitive real estate arena.
6 Easy Ways for Real Estate Marketing Lead
Start your career on the right foot with these six real estate marketing ideas you can start using today:
1. Add your property on Marketplaces
If you live in one of the metro cities in India, then I am sure you must have come across numerous groups like “Flats in Bangalore”. These groups are meant to advertise houses that are up for rent or lease. You can join these groups and post about your property.
Even better, Facebook has a marketplace that is specifically meant for you to put up listings. You can post about your property and get interested leads right into your inbox. This is pretty effective considering many people use the marketplace these days.
2. Expired listings
Listings expire or are withdrawn for a number of reasons, and savvy real estate agents should be ready to snatch up the renewal. In truth, many agents are afraid to reach out to homeowners whose listings have expired, but taking that brave step forward can give you an easy leg up.
To do this well, you’ll need to have a strategy in place to convince the homeowner that you’re better equipped to handle their listing than their last agent. Agents who use this real estate lead generation technique admit they get hung up on a lot, so keep in mind that not every attempt will be a yes.
3. Go to real estate events
There are a number of Expos and tradeshows in the country happening almost every month. You can attend these events on a regular basis as it is a wonderful place to get quality leads. You can even choose to exhibit at these events to attract potential buyers.
Many homebuyers do visit the local real estate expo to explore their options. You can walk up to them and try to pitch your property to them. Or, maybe even hand out a few flyers and exchange a few cards.
4. Advertise online
The first thing that any homebuyer does is search online to do their research. And, like you and me, Google will probably be their first stop. You should definitely consider having a paid listing there to ensure that they find you. But, not just Google, you can advertise on other search engines such as Bing.
Besides search engines, you should definitely look at advertising on social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.
5. Original Content
If you don’t have a blog or aren’t regularly posting unique content to your social media pages, you’re missing a huge opportunity to connect with buyers and sellers in your local market.
Publishing original content is one of the most direct ways to build your brand and increase your organic search rankings. Writing helpful blog posts, creating videos, or sharing a market analysis of your local area can build your authority as an expert and make you a go-to source for information and real estate services.
6. Open Houses
One of the most old-school real estate lead generation ideas, open houses are still powerful ways to connect with prospective clients. To be clear, open houses rarely sell homes. They’re most often used as a marketing tool for agents to get new clients, typically because the people who attend open houses usually don’t have an agent.
Also Read: How Automation Can Improve Real Estate Operations?
Get the Most from Real Estate Lead Generation with LeadSquared!
There are countless real estate lead generation ideas you could put to work in your marketing strategy. But without an easy way to track, manage, and work your leads, you’re putting all your hard work at risk.
It’s easy to forget to send a follow-up email or forget where your lead is in the sales funnel. When you can prevent details from falling through the cracks, you have a much better chance of building stronger connections with your leads and capitalizing on your best opportunities.
LeadSquared is changing how real estate agents handle the entire lead generation process. From the moment they enter your funnel until the time you close a deal, LeadSquared can help you automate lead nurturing, track your progress, and show you exactly who your best opportunities are.
Try LeadSquared free for 15 days and discover a better path to real estate lead generation!
Having worked with top real estate organizations like Shapoorji Palloni, Alliance Group, Rohan Builders, Adarsh Group, MGH Builders, Kolte Patil, and more, we have compiled our learning into a real estate sales E-Book.
What will you learn from the Ebook?
- increase agent productivity to boost digital sales
- Capture inquiries, track them and personalize communication-based on interest
- Manage multiple opportunities and ensure visibility into the pipeline
- Industry drift towards Zoom, Whatsapp, and other online modes of communication.
- Insights from Industry experts
Where to Get Real Estate Marketing Leads Post-2022
#1. Phone Duty – Great for Warm Buyer Leads
Sometimes old school is the best school.
Eric Bramlett, owner of Bramlett Residential knows a thing or two about using old-school methods in a new age. After trying out a Client Concierge and live call transfers with less than impressive results, one of his senior agents suggested they try good old-fashioned phone duty.
Eric had his doubts. “I’d never considered it because it seemed old school. I know that agents hate traditional phone duty because they have to sit in the office and answer the phone. One reason agents become agents is so that they’re not chained to a desk,” he explains.
But, the results were undeniable.
“We found that people that call in want to talk with an agent right now. They don’t want to talk to a receptionist, or a Client Concierge, they want to talk with a knowledgeable agent.”
“Since we’re immediately satisfying that need, we saw our conversions go through the roof. We were converting around 1/3 receptionist call-ins in the past. We’re now converting almost 100% of the qualified inbound calls. It’s been a massive success,” says Eric.
With an outcome like that, it’s not surprising Eric is building a system around this tried-and-tested lead gen tactic.
“We set up a virtual phone duty that our agents sign up for. We have simple rules like ‘don’t schedule an appointment’ and ‘pull over to talk if the call you take is a lead.’ We record all of the calls to identify opportunities for improvement,” he says.
#2. Video Content – Best Way to Consistently Generate Free Leads
Video is quickly becoming a winning formula for real estate marketing.
Christian Ross, Managing Broker at Engel & Völkers, has been a huge advocate for video content for a long time now.
In 2009, she shot a video titled Why You Should Move to Atlanta that introduced her to a host of international clients who have each bought two to five properties from her over the years.
“I know everyone is saying it, but creating videos has given me huge ROI. I am intently focused on video production. The videos I created over five and ten years ago still pay dividends and they have over 70,000 views.”
And Christian knows exactly how to leverage and repurpose that content for maximum results.
“I have already filmed over twenty videos with my videographer for me to put in my Follow Up Boss drip campaigns, channel, and throughout the client process. I am also filming Coffee with Christian with local businesses and interesting people,” she explains.
So, what’s her secret formula for creating irresistible video content?
“Everyone should have a YouTube channel and create playlists that focus on the community, sellers and buyers and quick tips. I create both professional and iPhone videos.”
Christian acknowledges that not everyone is comfortable with staring into the camera, but the way she sees it, we’ve already spent most of 2020 living through an uncomfortable reality.
Her mindset: “We have to get comfortable being uncomfortable, right?”https://www.youtube.com/embed/R_zSblw6fik
#3. Video Housewarming Parties – An Instant Source of Free Warm Leads
Dale Archdekin is a leading real estate coach and the founder of Smart Inside Sales. Basically, he’s the guy top producers go to when they need to 10X their lead conversions.
And like any genuine thought leader, you can always count on Dale for the latest cutting-edge lead gen tactics. Here’s Dale on how some of his coaching clients got creative during the pandemic.
“For clients concerned about having anyone in their home and maintaining social distancing protocols, their agent can plan and host a video‘housewarming party’ on Zoom. This obviously works well for those clients who are not as tech savvy or aren’t already regularly using video conferencing.”
A housewarming party you can attend in your pajamas? Who could say no to that?
“It’s a great way for the agent to bring additional value to their client and meet the client’s potential referrals for additional business,” Dale explains.
Dale was kind enough to share his running list of lead gen ideas that only work as a result of the 2020 paradigm shift:
- Branded face masks and hand sanitizer
- Connector of community support resources: who has senior shopping hours, who has opened a pop up food bank, what restaurants are delivering meals to high risk people, etc.
- Volunteering!
- Community good-will political debate station
- Virtual video open houses (marketed on social media)
- Concierge video home tours (marketed on social media)
- Hosting a socially distanced, mask-on, Halloween party for kids in your sphere.
It’s amazing how creative you can get when faced with a new challenge. Of course, there are also those classic, reliable sources of real estate leads you should always be working into your strategy.
#4. Smile, Dial, Email – Timeless Lead Gen for Unprecedented Times
“When Covid first hit I started calling and spoke to more people than I ever could have imagined because most everyone was at home at lockdown,” explains serial entrepreneur and Kelowna-based agent Brandon Grass.
“A lot of people were not listing their homes right away but eventually were going to do something. I have had the best month in my four year real estate career so far in October. And 2021 is going to be an absolutely massive year for me.”
We had to know: What’s Brandon’s secret sauce?
“No secret sauce, just consistently smiling and dialling. My goal comes from Tim Heyl in Austin Texas to get 5 nurtures a day minimum and to keep building my weekly email. I have closed 10 transactions 30% of my business from my weekly email this year.”
10 transactions from an email newsletter? There’s literally no reason not to do this.
The Most Reliable Sources of Free Leads
#5. Referrals – Best Way to Get Quality Leads, Totally Free
According to the NAR, 64% of sellers found their agent through a referral from a friend, neighbor, or relative—or used an agent they had worked with before to buy or sell a home.
We asked Bernice Ross, CEO of BrokerageUP!, and Inman top 25 real estate coach what the #1 most reliable source of free leads for her clients is, and sure enough, referrals were at the top of her list.
Here’s what Bernice had to say about it:
“Referrals cost you nothing—all you have to do is stay connected with the people you know and make sure that you’re top of mind when they or someone they know decide to transact.”
What could be easier (or cheaper!) than that, right?
Donna Stott of Your Coaching Matters agrees, adding “Repeat and no fee referrals are always the most profitable and reliable. All our clients generate 50-85% of their business from this source.”
#6. The Neighbors’ Sphere of Influence – A Completely Original Source for Trusted Referrals
Everyone talks about taking advantage of your sphere of influence, but have you ever considered reverse engineering the sphere of influence of a neighborhood to get new listings?
Well, our pal Jared, coach and founder of Jared James Enterprises has got that process completely nailed down. Here’s how he does it:
“When your buyer looks at a property in a neighborhood but doesn’t buy the property, statistically a new listing is going to come up in that neighborhood in the next 30 days and you’ve got what the potential seller wants…buyers.
According to Jared, this is when you should send out a letter to the neighborhood and call the neighbors with the same message/dialogue.
Hi (neighbor),
My name is (Agent Name) and I work with (Brokerage Name) and I just wanted to let you know that I showed your neighbor’s property over at (Address) the other day.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a perfect match for them but as I’m sure you are not surprised, they absolutely loved the neighborhood!
What they are looking for is (describe just about every house in the neighborhood).
Can you do me a favor? If you or anyone you know is even considering selling, could you please let me know right away? I may be able to sell your house without it ever even hitting the market.”
Brilliant, right? Jared encourages his real estate students to use the same template when they have a buyer looking for a house.
“The student records a video that lets their audience know what the buyer is looking for but with a specific ask – reach out if the audience or anyone they know is considering selling, because they may be able to sell their house without it ever hitting the market,” Jared explains.
“Then we have the student promote that video to the target town/city so that everyone sees it and reaches out to them if they are thinking of selling or if they know anyone that is.”
#7. Reviews – The New Word of Mouth for Real Estate Leads
Targeting millennials or younger buyers? Reviews are the way to go. According to Consumerist, almost 70% of consumers check online reviews before making a purchase and real estate experts like Justin Seeby of The Seeby Group have experienced the power of reviews firsthand.
The Seeby Group’s review strategy resulted in 100 transactions in 2016, and countless free leads. But just like everything else, it’s all about your level of commitment. Here’s Justin on how and why reviews work for them.
“Millennials make up a third of the buying population. A millennial goes to 8 to 12 different sites before they pick up the phone and talk to an agent. What do they do when they get to 8 to 12 of those sites? They read the reviews.”
“I watch people coming to my site in the analytics—they log in, and then they go to the review page and read every one of my agents’ reviews before they even pick up the phone and call. We start by educating agents that this is something that has to be forefront of their minds. The conversation on getting reviews starts on day one when you meet the client,” he says.
If you’re targeting millennial buyers, or if you just want to set up a truly future-proof system for generating free leads, check out our timeless 2017 interview with Justin and his former partner Ryan Graham of Community & Council Realty.
#8. Blogging – Best Way to Attract Quality Leads
“One of the best decisions I ever made in my real estate career was to start a real estate blog,” says Bill Gassett of RE/MAX Executive Realty.
Blogging is one of those free lead gen unicorns—when you’re blogging the leads seem to magically drop from the sky. But free doesn’t mean easy. It all comes down to intention and commitment.
Here’s Bill on how and why he started his blog, Maximum Real Estate Exposure.
“Maximum Real Estate Exposure was designed to provide a wealth of knowledge to buyers and sellers to help make sound business decisions. Buyers and sellers love working with knowledgeable real estate agents. By having a recognizable blog you are able to readily show off your expertise to those who are buying or selling a home. Over the years my blog has brought a substantial amount of yearly business. In fact it is one of my top lead generators.”
A blog as a top lead generator? Believe it.
But as Bill himself will tell you, “Real Estate blogging is certainly not for everyone.”
“Like anything else, it takes time and dedication. It is not a magic bullet that will bring significant amounts of business unless you put in the effort. This means you need to have exceptionally good content combined with a strong grasp of both search engine optimization, as well as solid social media promotion. Without proper digital marketing your blog will be lost in the shuffle,” says Bill.
Alternatively, you could try a tool like Keeping Current Matters or CityBlast that automatically publishes blog and email content, creates downloadable guides and posts personalized updates on your social media accounts for a set monthly fee.
Another option is to hire a real estate VA with marketing or blogging experience or look for an affordable content writer and marketer on sites like Fiverr and Upwork. You’ll still need to set aside time to generate relevant content ideas, proofread and promote the work but a great freelancer can significantly cut down on the time you spend researching and writing, making it way easier to stick to a consistent publishing schedule.
Last but definitely not least, if you’re determined to make a go of blogging, make sure you set up a drip campaign to capture and nurture any leads that come in via the blog.
#9. Niche Sites – An Awesomely Organic Source for Ready-to-Convert Real Estate Leads
Thanks to various changes in Google’s search algorithm, building a niche website is now another surefire approach to rank higher on search engines than non-targeted sites. Best of all, it’s completely organic through and through.
Ryan Rodenbeck, broker and owner of Spyglass Realty, is one real estate pro that’s all for transitioning from a general site to a niche site for lead generation. Here’s Ryan on using a niche site as a local guide:
“I bought the movetoaustin.org domain a couple of years ago. However, we started working on our organic channels last year. So, I hired a full-time content writer to write for Spyglass Realty, and as we started to gain enough traction and generate leads and a robust pipeline to Follow Up Boss, I decided to make the domain her side project.”
By creating a local guide on all things Austin, Ryan’s little “side project” started attracting some seriously motivated leads.
“For our Spyglass Realty SEO leads, we’re getting about 10-15 leads monthly. That’s not much but they are much more likely to convert.”
For anyone looking to move or relocate to Austin, Ryan’s new micro-site is a crucial resource.
“I’m working on getting organic leads by targeting topics like ‘rent vs.buy Austin’, ‘Master Planned Communities’, and ‘Reasons to Move to Austin.’ These are terms we rank for on the Spyglass website. We’ll then retarget to landing pages that have property listings or other information about choosing a Realtor.”
Between his epic knack for choosing the right marketing and systems, and his steadfast dedication to team culture, Ryan now has 20 agents doing $4.2 million each.Need helping tying it all together? Try Follow Up Boss for free today and get 100% human customer support.
#10. Thank You Card – Most Beautifully Simple Source of Free Leads
The thing you might not know about Brandon Grass is that he’s a cold-calling machine.
With only two-and-a-half years of real estate experience, he’s already called over 25,000 leads—resulting in 80 listings appointments in 6 months.
His secret?
Back up cold outreach with one of the warmest and most personal forms of marketing out there: the Thank You Card.
“You know, as a new agent you’re blindsided by a million other things. You just need to talk to a lot of people and get over the fear of cold calling. I’ve had over 25,000 calls so far this year and only one guy told me where to go, and not a very nice way. You move on. Because you also get so many people that love that you called and genuinely want or need something. My biggest listing this year came from a cold cold I made on January 23rd. She initially said, ‘No, we’re not interested.’ I went by and dropped off a simple thank you card and that changed everything.”
In the age of automated everything, Brandon’s all about keeping the personal touch. And at $1 per card, the ROI on this lead source can’t be beat.
“I just write a handwritten thank you card like, ‘Hey Jill, great talking to you. Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you.’ And then I put my business card in there and seal it up,” says Brandon
CONCLUSION
Do you want more real estate marketing leads? Do you want to know how real estate agents get real estate marketing leads? Did you know that your competitors are getting real estate referrals from their clients? Let me tell you how you can get more of them, too.
The real estate marketing leads market is packed with competition. There are many companies supplying lead generation for real estate agents. It can be overwhelming trying to decide which one to choose – after all, it’s a decision which could literally make or break your business.