How to Generate Real Estate Leads Online
It is apparent that in order to ensure maximum exposure to properties and realize their full potential, Real Estate Agents must have a professionally designed website that focuses on online marketing. Such a website can certainly generate real estate leads online (potential buyers and sellers), and increase the circulation of information on the properties they are trying to sell. Marketing Websites has taken this opportunity to guide Real Estate Agents and show them how to generate real estate leads online through their own specialized website.
Social Media
1- Social media marketing provides advertisers with the tools and options to target users, both geographically and demographically, as well as by interest. Social media marketing campaigns –when designed and implemented properly– can result in a large number of leads, at an affordable cost.
2- Facebook is one of the best online resources for real estate lead generation. There are several social media strategies designed to engage and encourage the user to provide his/her contact information through a simple form. To give them an incentive, this may be completed in exchange for a free home evaluation or a list of foreclosed homes in a particular area.
3- Listing properties on social media is very easy. Simply copy the URL of the property listing that you are trying to sell, then paste and post it on your various Facebook pages. This will result in displaying your property to everyone who liked those pages. Then every time your post gets shared, the exposure reaches beyond your existing network.
4- Posting regular articles and updates about your business and industry will position you as a reputable Real Estate Agent with great knowledge and authority. We recommend a real estate social media content marketing strategy that includes an 80/20 ratio. This implies 80% of the content you post will cover lifestyle, homes of the week, local events, home maintenance tips or and other client interests. The other 20% will be content designed to promote yourself and your listings.
5- Twitter is another great option for social media marketing. Among many other benefits, it also doesn’t carry some of the costs that Facebook does.
6- LinkedIn is the best social media platform for business networking. Building a network on LinkedIn can help you generate solid leads. As they say, “Your network is your net worth”.
Videos
1- Creating and posting videos on your website and social media channels can have a tremendous positive impact on the chances of visitors reaching out, or referring others to you. Some of the videos you can make are:
- Client testimonials describing the wonderful experience they had with you.
- Achievements you have earned.
- Reasons people should do business with you rather than your competitors.
- Informative real estate tips.
- Real estate market conditions reports.
2- Once you have created a few videos, you can use them to advertise on Google’s display network (including YouTube). You can also use them for Facebook video ads, as well as a variety of other great social media channels.
3- Video is more appealing, and can more evoke emotion. Something pictures and text descriptions cannot do as well. Emotion is a big reason why people buy real estate. Adding real estate virtual tours to your listings will increase the likelihood of buyers reaching out to request information.
Blogging
1- Nowadays, knowing how to write a good blog has become a very important part of any online marketing strategy, and real estate lead generation. It is very important to create and maintain a blog section on your site. Posting at least one new blog entry per month is a must to ensure its effectiveness. Blogs provide you with the opportunity to appear under more relevant real estate search terms, and provide your current and potential clients with helpful information. This will ultimately increase their loyalty and trust.
Real Estate SEO
1- SEO is the ability to optimize a real estate website to appear on the top ten search results for relevant real estate keywords, such as “Real Estate Agent in Montreal” and “Homes for Sale in Laval”. Make sure that the title, headlines, alt tag, and content of your website include relevant real estate keywords.
2- A good SEO practice is to constantly build links to your website. You can do this by hiring an SEO agency, or make time every week to work on getting quality websites (preferably related to the industry) to link to yours.
Real Estate Web Design Layout and Features
- When you give your business card to potential clients, they are more likely to visit your website before they even consider calling or sending an email. Therefore it is crucial that your real estate web design is professional and clearly presents the properties being advertised for sale, as well as the value proposition you provide to your clients. Your Real Estate Agent website should be easy to use with a visible menu to help users navigate the site.
- It should have several lead capture forms, on most (if not all) pages, preferably with different calls to action.
- Let your potential clients know that you have tremendous experience selling real estate properties in their cities or areas.
- Write an interesting “Meet the Team” page consisting of a fun and creative paragraph about each member of your team. Make sure to deliver a strong message that you and your team are capable of helping your clients buy or sell real estate, while making the entire experience easy and enjoyable.
- If the majority of your business comes from certain communities, make sure you list any work you have done in these communities.
Pay Per Click
- Google AdWords and Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising provide Real Estate Agents and agencies with the opportunity to display ads on any relevant search term, providing exposure for your properties while keeping you front and center for significant prospects. A daily ad budget can be set for each campaign and targeted to cities, boroughs, or postal codes of your choice.
- Support your PPC campaigns with optimized PPC landing pages. These landing pages can be focused on generating buyer or seller leads.
- Setup re-marketing tags to re-target those who visited your properties without submitting the request-for-information form.
Podcasts
1- Create a podcast to connect with your clients on a personal level. Audio and video content is far more engaging than email.
2- Offer weekly or monthly podcasts regarding subjects such as real estate market conditions in the area you operate. Providing valuable information will quickly increase your popularity, and earn you a huge advantage over all other Real Estate Agents, since there are very few who are taking advantage of podcasts to generate real estate leads online.
Lead Generating CMS
Content Management Systems make it easy to generate real estate leads online and build a pipeline of prospects quickly and stress-free. There are several lead generating CMS platforms on the market. However, we recommend PowerUp Leads for its user friendly interface that generates real estate leads at an affordable price.
Conclusion
Not taking full advantage of generating leads online will undeniably give the edge to those who are: your competition. If you are already busy and find it hard to manage your online marketing initiatives to their full potential, we suggest that you delegate those tasks to a digital marketing agency with the expertise to generate real estate leads online. Take action today and grow your business!