What Is Real Estate Lead Generation?Let’s start with the basics. A real estate lead is simply someone who needs your services and is a potential client. They could have attended an open house or maybe they contacted you through your website. No matter how you received their information, you have it and now they’re they’re no longer a ‘cold prospect’, they’re a lead.
Real estate lead generation is the process of obtaining those leads: those names and that information. The lead generation process will be different for each agent, but at its core, the real estate lead generation is defined as the process by which you identify potential clients. It’s a specific set of tactics and strategies to build a list of potential clients.
Lead generation is NOT shoving information in front of someone; it isn’t about obtrusive emails or interrupting phone calls. A successful lead generation process is a way of introducing yourself to prospects in valuable way. Successful real estate lead generation is gradually showing that you are the best person for the job through a variety of informative and sincere tactics.
Let’s play a game of would you rather. Let’s say you’re new to town and at a social get together. You meet several people who you think you could be friends with.
Would you rather:
The real estate business is the same way. Real estate lead generation is important because real estate is about relationships. Having a strategic lead generation plan in place will generate more clients and in turn equate to a more successful overall business.
So you’re interested in learning more about real estate lead generation and know it’s important, but aren’t sure how to get started? Get started here.
Where to Find Real Estate LeadsProspective real estate leads are literally all around you. They’re on your social media platforms, looking at your website, viewing listings on real estate search engines, and in a number of other places; you can find a real estate lead anywhere.
The question should be, how do you attract strangers to your services and how do you secure them as your lead.
How can you most efficiently generate valuable real estate leads? That’s what many real estate agents strive to do: come up with a system that works for them to establish a database of potential clients. Here are a few of the tried, true, and practiced tactics for where to find real estate leads.
Just because you have a website, it doesn’t mean people are looking at it. You have to guide people there. The most fundamental way to get people to your site is to optimize your website for SEO. If you’re brand new to SEO, the first thing you should do is a little keyword research.
Keyword Research for Real Estate AgentsKeyword research sounds fancy, but it’s actually very simple. Keywords are those top words and phrases that your target audience are searching. Keyword research is the process of selecting the right keywords to target and bring qualified traffic from search engines to your website.
For a very basic idea of how to get started with a few keywords, you don’t need any special software.
Simply open up a web browser, head to a Google search bar, and start by typing in “Real Estate Agents Rochester, MN”. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to where it says “Searches related to “Real Estate Agents Rochester, MN”. This will give you an idea of related search words and phrases that people are using to search topics similar to your services.
Once you have those keywords, put them to work! Insert them into your site’s meta information, web pages, and strategically create valuable content around those topics. This content is what you’ll drive prospective leads to in order to educate and promote your services.
If you’re looking for something a little more advanced, explore our favorite tools: Moz and Google’s Keyword Planner. They are both great resources to get a complete keyword analysis and strategy for your business.
While you’re investing time into SEO, you’ll want to ensure you have a spot on your website for a blog or news section. If you don’t think you have enough time to dedicate to that type of effort, a resources page is also an option. These are pages designed to educate your potential leads. Each of these pages will include SEO-rich content and give you a place to send your visitors if they aren’t quite ready to make a commitment with you and your team.
Waiting for your pipeline to fill naturally with leads that come from website visitors can be difficult. It takes a while to establish yourself online and get a steady stream of visitors.
In the meantime, some real estate agents turn to generating leads through purchasing lists. Buying real estate leads is a quick, easy, and requires very little effort. While this is not the most efficient way to generate leads, buying leads online is an option. It fills your pipeline quickly and gives a group to start testing your marketing initiatives.
Here are a few sources to explore:
In order to take full advantage of these leads, have a plan for what you’re going to do with your list. In fact, you should have goals and a plan before you buy a list. Try to buy as specific lists as possible. From your lists, see if you can break them down even further: can you categorize them? Divide the list into more defined groups? The more specific of list you buy, the more targeted your messaging can be. From there, test out further communication and messaging.
Well advertised open houses work well to find new clients. In addition to discussing the house for sale, many real estate agents will also use the time to see if the visitors are already working with an agent. Use the time to get their information and then have a plan for follow up.
Seminars are also a good way to meet people face-to-face. Host a seminar on a specific topic such as, How to Stage Your House for Selling. You know your attendees are interested in selling, which make great leads.
Referrals are the most powerful lead generators. If your clients love you, don’t be afraid to ask them for a recommendation or a referral. Good business and customer service breeds client referrals. Focusing on your clients needs and truly seeing their goals will ultimately help you reach your goals.
The Lead2Deed process focuses on investing in quality customer service. Taking good care of your clients will continually generate free, long-lasting business. Referrals don’t cost a thing and they will sustain and grow your business time-after-time.
Next Steps: A Real Estate Marketing PlanYou can’t just stop at lead generation. While it’s a good first step, you need to develop a comprehensive marketing plan that includes goals and a plan of action for getting leads, nurturing those leads, and then ideas for how to turn them into lifelong clients.
Lead2Deed™