Lead generation for Real Estate Agents

Engaging in lead generation activities in real estate today is not a walk in the park. But thanks to the rapid pace of technology, it's no surprise agents and brokers alike are integrating modern methods into their marketing strategy.

A recent study revealed that over 45% of real estate agents use social media, videos, search engines, blogs, and other online channels to attract engage and nurture leads. Consequently, 80% of buyers found detailed information about a property they want online.

In this guide, we will discuss the best lead generation strategies that will give you the best tools to boost your real estate business.



Contents:

• High-Quality Content
• Local SEO
• Use Social Media
• Develop a YouTube Marketing Strategy
• Pay Per Click (PPC)

If you're a realtor who has little to no real estate leads, contact us today and discover why our real estate agents are the top producers in the industry. Before we delve into the best lead generation strategies, what exactly is lead generation in real estate?

Lead Generation for Real Estate

Lead generation is a process where a business attracts and converts potential buyers into leads. For real estate, it means someone who wishes to use your services to buy, sell or rent a home.

One of the major hurdles in generating real estate leads includes finding the best websites and software to use. There’s also the question of how to put in place different customer experience strategies. Inbound and outbound marketing offers the best methods of lead generation in real estate.

Inbound Marketing

This is the modern digital way of marketing to attract potential buyers to your business by creating and promoting related content and incentives. Inbound marketing activities include:

• Social media marketing
• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Advertising

Outbound Marketing

This is the digital way of marketing to attract potential buyers to your business by creating and promoting related content and incentives. Inbound marketing activities include:

• Telemarketing
• Direct mail
• Event marketing
• Email marketing

A successful lead generation system should use both inbound and outbound marketing to attract and convert prospects into leads before converting them into customers.

High-Quality Content

Besides targeting keywords, high-quality content will always triumph over content that lacks substance. But this alone isn't enough to increase search result visibility. Make use of local SEO enhancements and constantly update older posts that may have already dropped rank and decayed organically. Older posts could be generating some traffic, leads, and backlinks. Thus hitting your desired numbers is going to be easier as you're not starting from 0 to 1.

To create content that attracts traffic and increases search result visibility you first need to understand the intent behind search queries. Researching hot topics or the most-asked questions is the best starting point. Through the web, you can ask existing clients first-hand about their concerns, experiences, and any pertinent questions.

Local SEO

SEO is the best marketing strategy to use especially when joining a new market. However, it may take several months before a realtor or brokerage reaps the benefits. You can potentially generate thousands of dollars in commissions using SEO if you have the patience and resources to optimize your website long-term.

Local SEO plays a key role in increasing search result visibility. When a user is searching for help to buy or sell a property, local SEO will help your business show up in search engines. You can even optimize your site and your business page to increase visibility in Google Maps when people are searching your target keywords.

Improve your local SEO rankings by:

1. Optimizing on-page elements and images on your site
2. Using targeted keywords to create quality content
3. Use captivating headlines to increase click-through
4. Get listed in online directories
5. Create a mobile-friendly website

Use Social Media

With the increasing adoption of digitization, social media presence provides a crucial cog medium to increase traffic and awareness. With a positive approach, social media can offer a brilliant medium for fostering your connections. Some of the social media platforms worth investing in include Craigslists, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

LinkedIn is more suitable for professional networking, while Instagram and Twitter are geared towards creating awareness and attracting traffic. Meanwhile, Facebook makes it easy for your business to attract the right clientele fit for any property listings you may have.

Optimize Your Facebook Page

Facebook Ads can help you target the ideal audience by location, demographics, and interests. The Facebook Ads tool allows you to generate real estate leads to users on both mobile and desktop applications at a lower price. For example, we spent roughly$2,000 on our Facebook page in 2021 and managed to sell over 10 homes.

You can also incorporate savvy optimization techniques, regular status updates, and consistent engagement in your marketing. Generate more interest in your brand by featuring photos and videos of your listings and past clients. Another advantage of using Facebook Ads is that users fill out the form on the Facebook platform. This eliminates conversion friction common to landing pages.

Advertising on Facebook

You can have an effective Facebook advertising campaign by exploiting granular targeting options that ensure your Facebook Ad reaches your target audience. “New Listings” and “Already Sold” are two types of advertising campaigns to consider.

New Listings

Attract new leads by advertising new listings to your target audience on Facebook. Whether you use photos or video, of importance is to make the advert visually attractive. Make your listings stand out by using the best professional images for each property. This way, users can view them as they scroll down their Facebook feed.

Already Sold

Another great way to promote your brand and attract new leads within your location is to run a Facebook Ad that showcases previous successful sales. Such an ad can help you attract leads that are ready to act immediately as well as promote your credentials to people planning to move to a new location.

Other ways to make your Facebook Business Page a success is by having:

• 5-star ratings
• Positive reviews
• A cover photo that doubles up as social proof
• Consistent status updates

Develop a YouTube Marketing Strategy

A recent study revealed that over 70% of homeowners are more likely to list with a real estate agent that offers to create a video walkthrough. Another 36% use video as an informative source during a home search.

When a huge chunk of brands sees a high ROI with their video marketing strategies than any other tactic, then its obvious video is a viable resource. Videos also tend to attract twice the number of visitors to a realtor’s site, whilst doubling the time users spend on the site.

You can produce different types of videos for your real estate business including:

1. Listing videos
2. Client interviews
3. Live-stream Q/A
4. Homebuyer/ seller advice videos
5. Neighborhood highlights/community videos

You don't need a huge budget outlay to use professional equipment. With a smartphone, you can create informative videos that capture the prospects’ interests. Add basic editing software and quality voice-over narration and you’re good to go.

ROI and Branding

Creating videos on our YouTube channel has had a huge ROI for us. With over 1 million views, the videos on our YouTube Channel are already paying dividends over a short period. If we had paid a TV or radio station to get YouTube type of exposure, we would probably have spent thousands of dollars every month.

Another benefit of using YouTube is the free branding your business gets. Great branding allows your business to generate leads while you sleep. With that in mind, every realtor and real estate agent should have a YouTube channel with playlists that add value to their target audience.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

Instead of attracting visitors organically or through SEO, pay-per-click (PPC) offers an alternative method of buying visits to your site. When buyers search online for a property, 60% of users are likely to click on the top three results on Google. PPC is when advertisers pay a fee every time a visitor clicks or views an ad. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most rewarding methods of lead generation for real estate today.

For example, say you bid on the keyword "commercial real estate." Your ad will appear at the top spot of the Google results page every time someone searches for that specific keyword. Every time the ad is clicked, the visitor will be re-directed to your website, where you have more control over how you can convert a prospect.

How much Does PPC Cost?

If you’re managing your PPC, the cost of real estate PPC ads will vary depending on the keywords you want to target. The cost can range anywhere between $0.50 and $5.00. The longer the keyword (long-tail) the less expensive PPC will cost. For example, "Dallas condos for sale" will cost less PPC than “real estate" because the latter is going to be more competitive. Better yet, if you choose to name a specific condo tower in Dallas, it would cost even less per click.

PPC Placement

Once you've chosen a keyword, you'll need to set a maximum bid for the amount you're willing to pay per click. At the top of the results is where the best ad with the highest bid will appear. Popular keywords will cost more while less competitive keywords might cost only a few cents.

The outcome of your bid will depend on your competitors' bids, as well as a Quality Score (QS) awarded by Google. The QS is determined by the click-through rate of the ad, your keyword of choice, and the quality of the landing page the ad directs the user.

From experience, it's more rewarding to have a PPC campaign than buying Zillow leads or realtor.com leads. The reason why you might find negative commentary from real estate professionals about PPC advertising is because many people don’t understand PPC. 

The Wrap Up

Before we conclude, it’s important to note that you cannot use all four lead generation methods collectively. If you won’t collapse from burnout, you’ll probably have little time left for other important tasks. If you're a realtor looking to attract and cultivate leads, contact us today and we will help become a top realtor in the industry.