Create a steady stream of qualified leads through strategic digital marketing.
Once you’ve got your luxury real estate website up and running and you’re ready to start working with clients, your next task is to create systems and strategies for generating qualified real estate leads for your business. Although engaging with your community, networking, and reaching out in person is incredibly important for business growth, many realtors also establish a healthy stream of leads for themselves online. Combine some of these lead generation strategies explained below and watch your luxury real estate business grow.
Build an Email List
One of the most reliable and affordable methods for creating and nurturing leads online is email marketing. While social media algorithms can change and accounts can be shut down unexpectedly, your email list is a marketing asset you truly own and can control. Building your email list is a way to keep in touch with your current network while also establishing your credibility and widening your online reach. You can even automate your email marketing to save yourself time and energy while still enjoying the great results this strategy can bring.
There are countless different ways to begin developing your list depending on your marketing strategy and branding style.
One approach is to start by compiling a list of contacts you already have. Many people enter their real estate careers later in life, and your network from past experiences and careers can be extremely valuable as you get your real estate career started. You can ask people you already correspond with if you can add them to your email list so they can receive helpful and relevant real estate updates for your area. Each time you make a new connection or receive a referral, make an effort to add them to your growing email list as well!
Another approach is to create a small, free guide to give away to your ideal clients in exchange for their email addresses. For example, if your niche is first-time buyers, you might create a pdf guide about the top five mistakes to avoid when buying your first home or a first-time homebuyer preparation checklist. You can prompt visitors on your website or social media pages to input their email addresses, and then email them the promised resource through an automated campaign. To take it a step further and get in front of brand new eyes, try running social media campaigns to promote your free resource to help your list grow even more!
It’s also important to spend time strategizing what additional information you should send to your developing email list. Many real estate agents send out monthly real estate updates that help them stay visible to potential clients and establish their expertise about the current real estate landscape of their area.
You can also send out reminders for any events you’re hosting or attending, poll your recipients, and notify your list if you’re featured in a big magazine or podcast. The opportunities are endless! As long as you are communicating regularly with your list and adding value through education or entertainment, you’re on the right track. That way, even if it’s been months since they joined your list when they find themselves in need of a realtor, you’ll be at the forefront of their minds!
Create Helpful Content
In addition to developing newsletters and pdf guides to grow and nurture your email list, you can also establish leads through other helpful content shared on your website, blog, and social media pages.
Great content marketing comes in many different forms. For example, creating videos to share on Youtube, your website, and your social channels allows anyone who finds you online to get a feel for who you are and your brand. The personal nature of video allows you to establish trust very quickly, and you can share relevant information using added graphics and effects as well. Video content also pairs well with social media ads, which we’ll discuss later on.
Blogs and infographics are also great ways to share your insights and expertise online. Set up a regular content calendar for when you post and promote a blog so that your followers know what to expect. Tailor your topics around common questions and pain points from your ideal clients.
When developing content, the most important thing is to make sure your communication with your audience and potential leads feels authentic and sustainable for you. For example, if you despise being on camera and know you’ll procrastinate making a video to be posted on your social media, it might be best not to include that in your content plan! On the other hand, if you’ve never enjoyed writing or it isn’t your strong suit, a daily blog probably isn’t the best content strategy plan unless you can outsource the writing itself. What matters most is that you consistently share your unique insights with your audience.
Every new follower and every person who visits your website is a potential lead. In order to convert them, use your content to illustrate your strengths: your knowledge, your expertise, your skills, and your desire to help.
Tend to Your Website and SEO
Since every person who stumbles across your website is a potential lead, you want as many people to find your website as possible! Taking the time to implement strategies to increase your website’s SEO will help you get more new eyes on your site — and more people considering your services — for free!
Make sure your luxury real estate web design is top of the line. This is likely the first impression many future leads will have of you. Make it a good one by utilizing high-quality design and visuals that align with your brand.
Your website’s SEO depends on a wide variety of details on your site, from technical, backend information to the keywords and headings you use on your pages and blog posts. Because the details of SEO can be so involved, sometimes the best course of action is to hire outside real estate SEO services to help ensure your site is set up for success. The best part is, once you make the tweaks and learn the basics of great SEO, drawing traffic to your site can be accomplished organically and free!
Run Online Ads
While some real estate professionals have mixed feelings about online ads, they can go a long way in drawing new interest to your business. Marketing within your network and gaining referrals is extremely powerful, but there may come a time when it’s time to fish in a bigger lake. Once you’ve established a budget and a content strategy plan to sustain more aggressive marketing methods, it might be time to consider online ads.
Businesses most commonly run ads through Google and Facebook. Google Ads allows you to choose broad locations to target when you set up your ad, so you can be sure your information is getting in front of the eyes of those in the location you are best equipped to serve. You can choose specific neighborhoods, cities, and counties, but avoid specifying zip codes in your ads as this would violate the Fair Housing Act. You can also set up Google Ads that will target people who have already shown interest in your business by visiting your website, reading a blog post, or through other online behavior. This feature allows you to virtually “circle back” with leads that may have been starting to warm up!
On Facebook, Lead Ads can be an extremely powerful tool for reaching new people. Lead Ads helps you directly connect with leads by allowing people to fill in their contact information in the lead form itself. This is a great place to advertise your educational pdf or video resource in order to prompt people to enter their email addresses.
Request Reviews
The first thing most of us do when we search for a service provider or receive a referral for one is to search for their reviews online! In order to maintain a healthy flow of online leads, make sure your future clients can easily find testimonials and reviews about you.
As you wrap up your work with a client, follow up with them a week or two after the sale or purchase of their home. At this time, you can request that they write you a testimonial to post on your website and you can provide them with the links to copy and paste that review onto key sites like Google My Business and Facebook. Make it as easy as possible for them to spread the word about your excellent service! This way, all the other hard work you put into marketing yourself online will pair perfectly with firsthand reviews singing your praises. Reviews are often the best way to earn the trust of new leads!
Regardless of which methods you choose to focus on as you set out to optimize your online lead generation strategy, make sure you have a solid system in place for following up! Keep nurturing new contacts and providing helpful content, and the results will follow.
Work With Us
Luxury Presence is one of the fastest-growing digital platforms for real estate professionals. Our team specializes in the type of strategic, thoughtful content marketing that will help you build your brand, close more deals, and expand your network. Get in touch with us today!
