Recently we created a survey for our clients in order to discover the number one area that agents and brokers needed more training on for their real estate marketing plans. Over 70% indicated that they wanted additional training within the area of online lead generation.
Due to the high number of participants, we felt it was also a strong gauge of what other real estate professionals may currently be struggling with across the board. Therefore, I wanted to take a little time today to outline some key principles and strategies that can help give you some further direction.
One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make with their real estate marketing efforts is to send traffic to a page that cannot properly convert. In other words, I can guarantee that if you spent 10-15 minutes scanning Craigslist postings in your area, you would discover that 90%+ do not have proper lead capture elements in place.
Instead most agents and brokers will commit one of the following blunders:
- Create a post that includes some “Contact Me” details at the bottom
- Send traffic to their real estate marketing blog or a listing service with no opt in form
- Or if the agent has a lead capture form, typically the visitor has to search for it
Here’s the major dilemma. First, most of us now have the attention span of a 7 year old when we’re searching for information online. Plus most buyers and sellers are not ready to act right now. Perhaps they will 3, 6, 12 or 24 months down the road, but not on the spot.
So expecting them to write down your contact information or take the initiative to call or email you using this strategy is wishful thinking. Sure 2-3% may do so (if you’re lucky), but you will have a much higher conversion rate by offering something of value in return for their information.
Step 1: Create Your Real Estate Marketing Teaser
What is your marketing niche? If you haven’t chosen one, then it’s time to get focused on 1 or 2 specific areas that you can become the expert in for your local area. Consider the following possibilities:
- Foreclosure & bank owned homes
- First time home buyers
- Townhomes and condos
- Investors properties, etc.
Then once you find that sweet spot, create an offer that they just can’t refuse (yeah Godfather!)…like a free report, weekly property lists, video tours, etc. Trust me, there’s something you know that they need or want. Place this on a simple and non-distracting page with some great text/video, an introduction to what they will receive, and an opt in form to get their name, email, etc. on the right.
Step 2: Drive Traffic to Your Real Estate Marketing Pages
Very simply, use every single strategy that you have been learning along the way to get people to this page. One of our absolute favorites is to use paid ads, because this will give you super targeted and motivated leads.
Whether it’s Facebook ads, Google/Bing, LinkedIn or any other platform, this is a terrific way to attract new prospects. For those who don’t want to spend money up front, then you will need to focus your efforts on building organic traffic. Learn more about how to use video marketing, mobile marketing, search engine optimization and social media.
Step 3: Help & Serve Your Audience
Finally, once you have been able to get somebody to actually entrust you with their contact information, your next step will be to under promise and over deliver like crazy. You have now earned yourself a customer if you can nurture and build that relationship over time following these real estate marketing principles.
This is done by sending quality, original and interesting content their way on a regular basis so that you become a trusted expert and advisor. People love to receive information on best buys, updated lists, property tours, industry news and trends, videos, etc. So get creative.
Learn to harness the power of this 3 step formula and watch your conversions and listings soar! Additionally, if you need further training on how to implement each step and to become the online authority for your real estate marketing niche, then please take the time to check out all the free content on this site and sign up for our trainings by email above.
