Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting, you won't get far without leads. These leads will give you a greater chance at closing sales.
Remember the Pareto Principle. Based on this economic theory, you get 80 percent of your results from 20 percent of your efforts.
And if we apply that to real estate leads? You'll get 80 percent of your income from 20 percent of your leads. The more leads you nurture, the more revenue you can make.
Are you wondering how to generate real estate leads and nurture them? Read on to learn our best tips.
Reverse Engineer Your Process
Finding new leads is easier when you figure out where your existing clients came from. What do they have in common? Did they come to you from a referral, an ad, or social media?
This tells you where to put your focus for your real estate lead generation. If the majority of your leads came from your newsletter? Work on getting more signups.
Do your leads come via social media ads? Place your marketing emphasis there.
If you haven't had enough clients to work this out, don't worry. You can look at the demographic who typically buys property in your area. Where would you find them? Spend time there once you figure this out.
Start Networking
This leads us to the value of networking. We don't mean hanging out at real estate conferences with business cards. Instead, you need to network where potential buyers are, not colleagues.
Try community events that draw a lot of people. If you hate calling people, use social media for ‘social listening.' See who's talking about your community online. Start chatting to people interested in buying property there.
Get to know people through general posts or provide helpful answers to questions. When you later mention your services, people will be warmer about working with you.
Try working within your community because you know the area better than anyone. This is great if you specialize in something, like historic homes.
Invest in Local SEO
You're focused on a specific community. So, focusing on local web searches can bring you great leads. That means using local search engine optimization (SEO) to get local traffic. After all, you only want visitors from another country if they want to buy property in your area.
It also means you're not competing against global or national businesses. Google will change the search engine results if a user triggers ‘local intent.' This makes search engines a more even playing field at a local level.
Optimize your Google My Business listing, so it matches the business details on your website. Add your opening hours, your phone number, and your website.
Encourage happy clients to leave you a review. This helps you to build an online reputation and provide social proof for potential clients.
Create content for people in your community. Weave the locations you serve throughout your content to let the search engines know where you're based.
Get Real Estate Leads through Referrals
Cold leads are often a lot of work. Finding them takes time, and then you need to warm them up.
Using referrals adds a shortcut to your process because you start with warm leads.
Think about it this way. Who would you be more likely to work with—a person who called you out of the blue or someone who was recommended to you?
People rarely offer referrals without being asked—mostly because it doesn't occur to them to do so. You'll have to ask them for referrals once you make the sale.
Once you get referrals, find a way to thank the person who sent them. If they have a business, you may be able to send clients or customers to them too.
This helps to build a strong foundation for the future. They're more likely to send more referrals, giving you more warm leads.
Invest In a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
There's more emphasis on personal contact and relationship building for real estate leads. Once you've found them, you need to nurture them.
This is where a customer relationship management (CRM) system comes in. You can save all your leads in one place and follow up with them.
Classify leads as being cold, warm, or hot. Hot leads are those most likely to sign up now. Focus your follow-up efforts there first. Call them and make the connection personal.
Log calls with leads, both inbound and outbound. Add notes about the locations they like, the type of property they want, or other details. That way, when you speak to them, you can personalize the conversation.
This helps your leads to feel seen and heard by you. They feel that you remember them. Both of these things help you to build a relationship with the lead. Keep in regular contact to help nurture this connection.
Keep sending relevant content to your warm leads to move them into the ‘hot' category. You can call them and send personalized emails. Consistency is key for warm leads.
Put the least emphasis on cold leads. They'll take more time and effort to warm up. Regular newsletters are a good drip-fed form of contact. They take less action from you, but they still maintain a connection with these leads.
When they need your services, they're more likely to use you than a business they never hear from.
Automate Your Marketing
If website visitors sign up for your emails, they enter your sales funnel. Now you need to nurture these leads, so they become clients. These most refer to the cold leads in the previous section.
Email marketing automation is one of the best strategies you can use. 59 percent of marketers say email offers the best return on investment.
Craft a sequence of drip-fed emails that go to your leads over a period of time. Use this sequence to educate leads on anything they need to know.
This might include:
- Points of interest in the local area
- Community news
- The process of buying a home
- Case studies of homes you've sold in the past
- Home buying tips and tricks
- Advice about packing for Moving Day
Keep it relevant to them and their interests.
This regular contact helps establish you as an authority with the lead. You can stay in touch until they're ready to buy. Since it's automated, you craft a series of sequences, drop them into the right one, and then let it run on auto-pilot.
Look After Your Leads
Now you know how to generate—and nurture—your real estate leads. Bring them in with valuable content and keep them around with your expertise.
If you need help with lead generation or nurturing those leads, contact us today for reliable solutions tailored for your unique real estate business.
Need more local marketing tips? Check out The Essential Marketing Guide for Real Estate Professionals
