A Step-by-Step Lead Generation Guide for Realtors

real estate

As a realtor, your job is to help buyers and sellers navigate their way through the not-so-simple process of buying and/or selling a home. From advising clients on pricing, mortgages and market conditions all the way through to submitting various contracts, your job involves a lot of different tasks.

But if you’re just starting out, your days may not be completely filled with taking care of your clients. And if they’re not then you should be doing more to find new clients.

Taking action to find clients is often called:

Lead Generation

Lead generation can take different forms:

Social Media
Advertisements
Direct Mail

But why is it important?

It’s important because lead generation is about your ability to generate new sales leads with the understanding that the more leads generated, the more business you’ll generate.

Each form of lead generation mentioned above is important and will be useful to you throughout your career as a realtor.

Social Media

Social media provides real estate agents with the opportunity to reach out and communicate daily with their target audience, on a personal basis.

According to Sprout Social’s Consumer Engagement Index, the real estate industry ranks second for incoming messages – meaning that people are looking to engage with realtors on social media. However according to the index, many of those messages are not getting answered, that is, many realtors are not taking advantage of the opportunity to engage via social platforms.

That’s a shame. Because it means many realtors are losing out on opportunities to become known.

Social media doesn’t have to be complicated and if you’re looking to build a successful realty business, then it’s really time for you to get on the social media bandwagon.

Here are a few super-easy steps you can take today:

For starters, make sure you have a Twitter account, LinkedIn account, Facebook page for your business, as well as a Trulia account and Homesnap profile.
Follow real estate agents who have something interesting to say (Twitter), join relevant groups (LinkedIn), start a Facebook Page for your business, promote your listings (Trulia) and select your area (Homesnap).
Start engaging. Even if you don’t have a website or blog, by sharing top-notch content you’ll create engagement with your prospects and clients by starting discussions and answering their questions.

Advertisments

Not the billboard type. If you want your advertising to succeed it has to be focused.

Google Adwords, Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads offer target advertising schemes that can suit the budgets of small businesses. Often they are based on a cost per click business model.

With Google Adwords you can target search words, geographic location and the language of your target audience while Facebook Ads can make sure you reach the right audience by targeting age, gender, and/or specific pages that your target audience liked. By advertising on LinkedIn Ads you’ll be able to tailor advertising to a specific job title, industry and company size, seniority, age, gender or by the particular LinkedIn groups your target audience belongs to.

Your advertising possibilities are endless. Think about your ideal client, your target prospects and your budget. Advertise.

Direct Mail

Direct mail is unsought for advertising sent to prospective customers via snail mail.

I know what you’re thinking. Snail mail? Who uses snail mail today?

But while direct mail may not be the best way to advertise every business, it’s actually an excellent form of advertising for realtors. With direct mail, you can showcase a property you’ve successfully sold and gain new leads without having to worry about an overwhelming response.

To create a direct mail campaign:

Know who your target prospects are.
Make a list of their names and addresses or buy a mailing list that will target your prospects.
Create a great mailing piece. Because you’re a real estate agent, your mailing piece doesn’t need to be more than a post card. One side should feature a picture of a property that you sold and a headline or question that that will make your prospect want to read about your offer. The other side of the postcard should feature the benefits of working with you, a call to action and your details.
Mail at the post office or hire a Task Rabbit and wait for the calls to roll in.

Action Plan:

Open a Twitter account, LinkedIn account and Facebook page for your business, a Trulia account and a Homesnap profile (also see Realtors: You Must Use These Sites).
Follow realtors on Twitter.
Join relevant LinkedIn groups.
Post listings on Facebook and follow relevante pages (see 10 Must Follow Facebook Pages for Realtors)
Promote listings on Trulia
Select your area on Homesnap
Follow great real estate blogs (see 5 Best Real Estate Blogs to Follow)
Start engaging by sharing top-notch content with prospects and clients.
Send out a direct mailing.
Make a list with your prospect’s names and addresses or buy a mailing list.
Create a great direct mail piece.
Mail.
Advertise with GoogleAdwords, Facebook Ads and LinkedIn Ads.

Suggested Services:

HootSuite is a social media management system that will help you keep track of and manage the networks you join.
Task Rabbit is a smart service to use to hire someone to deliver your direct mailing.
Act! is an easy to navigate customer management system designed to make you more efficient and profitable. It will help make following up on your new client relationships easy.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help build your business.