It’s a numbers game. If you have 1000 leads at the top of your funnel versus 10 leads, you will end up with more closures. Therefore, with the help of real estate lead generation ideas, you should strive to have as many real estate leads as you can at the top of your funnel, waiting to be qualified into prospects. And in practice, the leads section of your CRM should have a long list of names and contacts of people who are about to buy or sell their homes in the near future.
Timelines don’t matter much. If someone has the slightest potential to work with you, that’s a lead you should pursue. It could be in a week, a month, or a year. It may be a thought in their mind or an eventuality after life-changing events like graduating, first kid, moving in, divorce, etc.
No doubt you’ve picked up a couple of ideas regarding how to get leads, for instance, by networking within your inner circles, planting yard signs at listed properties, or distributing business cards. But there’s always room to grow your arsenal by adding more real estate lead generation ideas.
This article shares more ways you can use to generate real estate leads, touching on online sources, social media, and offline sources. Learn about ideas that have a unique twist!
Offline Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas
Offline lead generation is what you can do to get leads besides using online marketing techniques or cold calling. These real estate lead generation ideas don’t require even the slight use of the internet, maybe a phone here and there. They will rely on your ingenuity and your capacity to build in-person connections.
Build Local Connections
You’ve seen that guy—the famous resident who gets high-fives, handshakes, and hugs wherever he goes. Or, there is that one plumber that everyone knows, or the auto shop that everyone refers you to.
Star agents cultivate the same familiarity and friendliness with everyone they meet. They introduce themselves and what they do, leaving a good impression and their contacts behind. So, every time a stranger or friend comes around asking for an agent who can help list or buy a new home, the good old agent earns referrals without breaking a sweat.
P.S. You don’t need to be an extrovert to build a strong local presence. Venture out and find more avenues to interact meaningfully with people in your town or borough. Build a lasting personal connection with everyone you meet.
Make Personal Outbound Calls
In the afternoon, when things are a little bit less busy—or during off-work hours, given that it’s not too late—go through your contact list looking for that one person who you didn’t quite follow up with. These are not cold calling as you’ll be following up with someone you’ve previously met. Touch base with them, tell them about a few interesting projects that you’re working on, and see where the conversation goes.
Join Local Business Commerce and Union
Local business chambers are still relevant, and you should be in one for a couple of reasons. First, you can meet other agents, brokers, appraisers, and industry professionals in your area.
Attending signature events like award ceremonies, dinners, luncheons, and golf tournaments gives you a chance to network with the local business community, and some contacts can end up as your clients or a source of referrals. Many organizations will have in-house training and leadership programs. They can prove valuable when looking for a mentor who doesn’t have to be strictly in real estate.
Some networks offer marketing opportunities, allowing your real estate business to get featured in newsletters, member directories, and other external websites. Members will offer discounts to each other, allowing you to get deals on services like appraisals, and you can pass on savings to your customers. You can also discount your services to other members and, in turn, get referrals.
Start a Partnership
There is immense potential when you’re working with a partner rather than forging it alone. Your partner can be a fellow real estate agent, but you can similarly partner with other vendors.
The strongest partnerships thrive when people with different pain points come together, and each partner has certain strengths that can supplement their partner’s needs. For instance, your biggest challenge may be a lack of adequate leads. That said, your strong suit could be that you’re a great closer. When finding a partner, you need someone who is good at generating real estate leads and qualifying them, as this will supplement your weakest area.
Similarly, you could be good at using modern approaches like social media advertising to find leads, but weak at forging in-person connections. The ideal partner would then be someone who is a star at offline networking and building a strong local network.
Real Estate Auctions
You can keep your ear to the ground for upcoming real estate auctions. The most important details you need to find are the owner’s name, property address, APN, auction date and time, auction place, estimated retail value, and the opening bid.
Now, you can attend such auctions if they are open to everyone to network with potential buyers. You can research the auctioneer running the action and find out if you qualify as a buyer’s agent. You’ll represent potential buyers interested in the property. And if your buyer closes on the home, you may earn a referral fee.
Online Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas
Generating real estate leads online is becoming increasingly critical as people become more dependent on technology to find goods and services. As with traditional methods, you must build strong relationships, establish trust, and demonstrate expertise to stand out.
Focus on Brand Building
A brand is a powerful force, and it’s really the sum of things you do that easily distinguish you from other agents. Additionally, it’s what makes you memorable and the qualities that make you attractive to potential clients.
Jade Miles, the International Luxury Ambassador for Coldwell Banker, markets herself as the foremost expert in luxury real estate. She is the $8 billion woman, and all the A-list celebrities in LA want her in their corner. Look for qualities that set you apart and build your identity around them if you want more leads with this real estate lead generation idea.
Design an Attractive UX/UI Website
You may get your own template website with your name, portfolio, and contacts after signing up with a broker. But go the extra mile and build an attractive website for yourself. Keep it simple and easy to navigate. Make it functional by giving visitors the chance to see properties that you are currently listing and homes you have previously sold. You will need to have a lead capture form—where people can quickly leave their contacts—on the homepage and on the listing pages.
Create a Virtual Tour
Do you want to quickly generate interest and lots of inquiries for property listings? Why not create a virtual tour for it? You can find a photographer in your local area by quickly searching, “360 virtual tour photographer in [your area].” You can then make the virtual tour easily accessible on your website or from the app that you’re using.
The use of virtual tours has had a significant influence on bringing a sense of reality to the representation of environments seen online. You may obtain a genuine impression of a location without really needing to go there by utilizing this technology rather than looking at a collection of still images in a gallery.
SEO Backlinking
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It encompasses everything that you do for your content and website pages to rank on the first pages of Google or Bing for a relevant search term.
One of the best techniques to get search engines to trust you is generating backlinks for something you wrote. For instance, if you’re well acquainted with your local area, you can publish an original piece about “10 of the Best Places to Visit.” If it’s authoritative, other websites will pick it up and reference it, earning your real estate business plenty of backlinks.
Online Local Ads
Running online localized ads can be a great way to connect with residents searching for referrals online. If you have a website, you can run search ads. Your website will be promoted to the top of search results for target keywords such as “real estate agent near me.” You can run display or banner ads, where people see your ads as they navigate through local websites belonging to local magazines, blogs, or news stations.
Rank Articles on Google
Getting your articles to rank on Google is one of the best online real estate lead generation ideas. You attract eyeballs to your website, and at the end of the article, you can have a call to action encouraging readers to get in touch with you. When it comes to choosing the right topics, put yourself in your potential lead’s shoes and think about all the problems they may encounter in their buyer’s journey. For instance, sellers may question whether it’s wise to work with an agent or sell their house solo.
A potential article to address this question may touch on “10 Reasons Why You Should Never Sell Your House Without a Realtor.” You will research and write the 10 points. If the reader agrees with what you have to say, you can encourage them to call you if they need representation. So what does it take for an article to rank well on Google? Key best practices according to Google Webmaster Guidelines include:
- Create people-first content, not content designed for search engines;
- Provide original information, research, analysis, or reporting;
- Sufficiently cover a topic with all the necessary details;
- Provide substantive value, not just copy what other people have written;
- Write content that other people will find so helpful that their first thought will be sharing it with your friends;
- Create the sort of content that you will want to see referenced in a book, encyclopedia, or printed magazine.
Additionally, optimize your content with the right keywords, and enrich it by adding diagrams, illustrations, videos, photos, infographics, and other visual content.
Submit a PR release
A PR release is simply an official statement you deliver to journalists to provide information. You write PR releases to report on something newsworthy you did. For instance, have you broken the record for the highest-ever listing in a particular neighborhood? Or, has your agency surmounted a big milestone like the first one hundred million in sales? These are all newsworthy items that will capture the attention of readers.
Find something interesting to report. Research the general format for writing a PR release. After authoring the piece, submit it to the local news media, as they are always hungry for news. Make sure that you can be properly cited, and leave your contact details.
Your phone number may not make it into the final piece, but your name and where you work might. To generate leads, work on your website and social media pages so that people who Google you can easily find your real estate business.
Unique Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas
When generating leads, you need out-of-the-box thinking. Here are more real estate lead generation ideas that you can implement to add more leads to your pipeline and build a successful real estate business.
Help Buyers Find an Investment, Not Only a Home
The uniqueness of this real estate lead generation idea is that it entails distinguishing yourself as a real estate agent who helps buyers find a good investment, not just a home to live in or an office. You’ll focus on properties with the highest potential to appreciate.
A powerful appraisal is when your clients say that not only did you help them find a good place for their family, but the property appreciated enormously, leaving them with a healthy profit when they sold it later.
P.S. You can take real estate investing courses as part of your continuing education or from accredited providers. Some broker universities have them as well. Furthermore, on your personal blog, you can publish fact-based articles on investing and share tips on what real estate investors should consider when determining whether a property is a great investment.
Advertise in Local Email Newsletters
Email newsletters are a growing trend in the world of digital media. So how do they work? Well, a newsletter such as The New Tropic will curate new stories about the local community and include them as part of an email newsletter sent to their subscribers on a daily basis.
Subscriptions are free, and the newsletters will have subscriber bases in the thousands. The newsletter will generate money by offering advertisement opportunities, whether it’s running a featured story or placing a banner ad.
This is one of the unique real estate lead generation ideas that can translate to direct inquiries from locals looking to sell their homes or new members wanting to move into the community. You can find such newsletters by searching for “email newsletter for [city or town name].”
Advertise on the Radio
If you listen to local radio, you may know of businesses that take advantage of this advertisement channel. For instance, you can’t miss ads from local restaurants during the morning hours. The restaurants recognize that most listeners are listening in their cars as they drive away from their homes, headed toward the central business district. As lunchtime approaches, they’ll be looking for somewhere to eat.
Like dentists and lawyers, real estate agents can take advantage of the engagement that advertising on the radio offers. Your ads can run during the daytime parts from 10.00 am. Why this time? Well, it may be when a potential buyer is on the road checking out potential properties.
Additionally, look into the possibility of getting featured on shows. For instance, many radio shows and podcasts may invite an expert to weigh in on real estate matters following news releases touching on the housing market’s performance.
Direct Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas
Direct lead generation strategies involve communicating directly with your target audience. The techniques can generate very high-quality leads.
Approaching Old or Expired Listings
Looking to generate quality seller leads for your real estate business? A great technique that still works is mining for leads in old or expired listings. Typically, listings expire after 12 months, but not always, as rural properties may take a longer time to sell.
Once you find the listings, assess the factors that prevented the property from selling. Create a strategy and real estate marketing plan that will convince the owner or their listing real estate agent why you’re uniquely suited to help the property sell.
Use Door Hangers
According to Stateside Marketing, door hangers have a return on investment of up to 5%, which is considerably higher than the response rate of flyers which ranges from 1 to 3%.
Door hangers will be suitable for hyperlocal marketing. But you need to implement this real estate lead generation idea with moderation, as some homeowners can see them as junk or invasive. Also, don’t disrupt somebody’s day just to leave your door hanger on their front door. Another tip is to have a unique URL on your door hanger to track high quality leads from this source.
Use Leaflets
Distributing leaflets is one of the best real estate lead generation ideas that doesn’t require a big budget. You can experiment with different leaflet distribution methods, like going door-to-door or leaving them at other local businesses. In fact, think of places around town where likely buyers or sellers may stop to ask for information. You can also look for bulletin boards in malls and other places where you can pin your leaflets.
Remember all the great design tips for creating effective leaflets for your real estate business:
- Keep them small and simple;
- Use attractive photos;
- Include contact information;
- Add social proof like reviews
- Showcase your track record, like the number of properties you have listed or sold.
The branding should also be consistent with your website and social media pages so that you can be easily recognizable.
Social Media Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas
Social media platforms offer online spaces for people to interact and find information, products, and services. You should start by having an active profile and regularly posting updates. Other social media lead-generation tactics you can implement include:
Build Credibility in Facebook Groups
Another idea is joining relevant Facebook groups, where you can meet with potential clients. For instance, if you’re in the Chicago area, one of the most promising groups you can join is “Moving to/Living in Chicago.” The group has regular updates from people selling used items, and there are posts from real estate agents advertising different properties for rent and sale.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of similar groups that you can find and join. You don’t have to explicitly market your services every time, which comes off as spammy. Instead, you can be a valuable contributor by responding to original posts and comments. Some groups will be strict and may not allow any advertising.
Some quick search terms you can use when searching on Facebook for such groups include:
- Moving to/Living in {city or town}
- {City or town} Apartments & Houses for Rent & Sale
- Real estate investment network
- Fix and flip
- {City or town} Real estate investment group
- Real estate wholesale deals
- Real estate brokers/agents {City or town}
Filter the results for groups when using the search filter on Facebook. Also, check the groups beforehand for spam. If they are over-spammed, they are not worth your time.
Utilize Facebook Ads
The good thing about Facebook ads is that they are quite affordable for the ordinary person, particularly if you’re running targeted ads covering a restricted geographic region.
Because Facebook and Instagram are part of the same company, Meta, it’s quite easy to create an ad on Facebook and run it on Instagram. There will be a wide range of ad formats and placements. The effectiveness of the placements and formats keeps changing. Not all are suitable for the real estate industry. For instance, the carousel ad format is well-suited for real estate, as one ad can showcase multiple images of the property.
Another real estate lead generation idea you can try is showcasing a live tour of a property. Because the video is live, users will explore the house with you as if they were on an actual tour.
You don’t need to produce ads marketing a property that your real estate business is listing. Try to offer helpful content by posting an infographic that may go into the pros and cons of renting and buying, and then you can promote these posts so that they can reach more people. If you want to run your ad on Instagram, you can take advantage of some clever transitions or create an Instagram Stories ad.
Share Your Customer Reviews
Social proof is a powerful aspect of generating new leads. People are inclined to trust and work with real estate professionals who have positive reviews from their past clients. There are different ways you can approach the task of sharing customer reviews on social media. You can reshare reviews people leave on your main website.
If clients are so inclined to shoot quick videos explaining what you did for them, you can repost these videos on social media. They will have awesome engagement rates as people will see the person you served, giving the review more meaning as someone is willing to go on video to vouch for you.
Tip: Did you know people can leave reviews directly on your Facebook page? You just have to turn recommendations on and off.
Final Thoughts on Real Estate Lead Generation
All the real estate lead generation ideas outlined here are only a drop in the bucket. There are plenty more that you can find and use in your business. But be careful about jumping from one real estate lead generation idea to the next without really implementing anything well. For instance, you may decide to print flyers only to fail in the distribution. Or you may create an attractive website with a couple of pages, forgetting to publish and optimize articles with keywords.
In our capacity, we can help with performing local search engine optimization for real estate brands, as that’s our forte. You can get help creating a beautiful website fully optimized with keywords. Once you publish articles, our expertise will be invaluable in building links from related websites.
The good thing about SEO is that the benefits last for a long time, as you don’t have to keep spending money as with online advertisements. Once you invest in an article that ranks among the top 10 results, it can retain its position for many months, continuously generating new leads.
Get in touch with Real Estate SEO for all your SEO needs.
