How many of us are still scared to go in front of a camera and embrace the “video” world we are living in today? Video is so powerful that google bought Youtube the second biggest search engine machine on the internet just to keep the top 2 spots on the internet for searching. Whether we love it or hate it as real estate agents we need to embrace it so let’s dive into video topic ideas that are easy to make and will position your real estate brand for success in your marketplace. We’ll start with some listing attraction videos.
Video Idea No. 1: Selling in [Your City]? Avoid this $25,000 Mistake!
What’s the most costly mistake homeowners tend to make when selling a house? Surely you can think of something compelling. Then make a video about it and tailor it to your market. It doesn’t have to be long… Grab the viewer with an alarming stat or statement. Establish your local expertise. Explain the problem. Show the solution. Get in, get out… one video done!
Video Idea No. 2: How to Sell Your [Specific Property Type Here] Home for Top Dollar. Does your marketplace have properties that naturally differentiate themselves from other homes? Do you want to get more listings in those markets by positioning yourself as the expert? Then make these videos! Maybe it’s waterfront homes. Maybe it’s gated community homes. Maybe it’s mountain homes. Maybe it’s golf course homes. Maybe it’s equestrian properties. Maybe it’s all of those and more! Yes, you’ll need to invest some time researching what makes those properties different, but the vast majority of advice you provide can be suggestions that apply to selling a home anywhere. By segmenting them out individually, you’ll establish yourself as an expert for those product types and those homeowners will feel you have a stronger understanding of their needs.
Video Idea No. 3: How to Prepare Your Home to Sell for Top Dollar. Simple… I’m sure you give people tips on how to prepare their home for sale during every listing presentation. Or at least once you take a listing and are preparing for showings. Right?
Whether they’re major landscaping tips or quick and simple fixes, take that information and make a video from it!
Video Idea No. 4: Selling Your [Your City] Home for the Highest Price. What’s hot in your market today? What drives certain home sales higher than others? Share the market trends and your tips in an informative video tailored to wherever you work.
Video Idea No. 5: Downsizing Your [Your City] Home – 15 Tips You Should Know. Are you starting to see a pattern here? Take any customer type – in this case, people looking to downsize – and create a video specifically for them that ties to your local market. Pretty simple, right? Just imagine you’re sitting face to face with people who told you they’ve lived in their four-bedroom house for the past 22 years and they’re ready to sell it and find a condo or townhouse. What advice would you give them? What questions would you ask? Put it on video and get that advice out into your market!
Video Idea No. 6: Selling in [Your City] & Leaving the State or Province – A How-To Guide! Again, pretty simple. What do people who are moving out of the area need to do differently than those who are moving within town? Share your best tips in a video and – if you’re part of a powerful referral network like our coaching ecosystem – demonstrate how you can help them connect with a world-class agent in their new destination. You got this!
Video Idea No. 7: Do I Have to Sell My Home in [Your City] When I Move to [New Location]? Some cities traditionally have migration patterns with others. If that’s the case in your market, make a video specifically advising those who might be considering that exact move. For instance, I know I’m not the only one who’s recently left California for Texas, and I would’ve loved to watch a video preparing me for that move. And it would definitely make a positive impression when choosing my listing agent who understands my goals and where I’m headed.
Video Idea No. 8: Moving to [Your City]? 7 Local Insights You Should Know. Now let’s transition to a few buyer attraction video ideas, and this first one will unquestionably establish you as the local expert. What would you tell someone who was moving to your town from out of the area? I’m sure you could come up with 100 things, but whittle it down to 7 or 10 or whatever catchy number works for you, and then create a video. You might want to mix in some local flavor like your favorite parks or restaurants along with tactical advice for their move such as what part of town they might prefer, current home price range, etc.
Video Idea No. 9: Buying an Investment Property in [Your City]: 7 Mistakes to Avoid. Working with investor clients is a great way to add diversity to your lead pillars, and making a video like this will surely attract them. Show off your local expertise and showcase your area to connect with locals and potentially attract out of town investors looking to buy in new markets.
Video Idea No. 10: Buying a Second Home in [Your City]: 6 Things You Need to Know. If you live and work in an area with lots of retirees and/or vacation homes, this is a perfect video to create. Walk people through the highlights of your area, what they can expect from the home-buying process, the taxes and local fees they might need to know about, local Airbnb regulations (in case they’re interesting in renting the property when they’re not there), local recreation and more.
Video Idea No. 11: What $[Dollar Amount] Gets You in [Your Town] This one has endless possibilities. You could create videos at all different price points featuring homes currently on the market or recently sold properties to give people an idea how far their money will go in your area. Better yet, create this video starting at the airport, showing them potential places they could stay when visiting town, and then walk them through various properties inside the MLS. Because of market fluctuations, this video might have a shorter shelf life than some of my other suggestions, but it’s worth it because it’s uber-compelling to those who might be interested. Once you create this video, I’d suggest you revisit it every six months or so to see if it’s still relevant. (If not, don’t take it down but DO create an updated version.)
Video Idea No. 12: Driving Tours of Every Community You Work. Now we’re getting into some more generic video ideas not necessarily targeting buyers or sellers, but they’ll still get you known throughout your community. This first one is an idea championed by L.A. Rockstar Christophe Choo, who created driving tours of all the West L.A. neighborhoods and all their distinctive differences, noteworthy properties and his insights. Even if your communities aren’t as glamorous as the Beverly Hills-adjacent neighborhoods Christophe serves, this is a surefire way to establish yourself as a local expert. And the beauty of these videos is that they live online forever, meaning more and more people will find you through them as time goes by. Simply mount your camera on your windshield, describe the community while driving through it, make any minor edits, and then post it on your website and YouTube for eternity. Then do the same thing for the subdivision next to that one. And so on and so on. Soon you’ll be the talk of the town and widely considered the local market expert.
Video Idea No. 13: 30 Questions About Real Estate in 30 Days. Here’s another simple one that has legs. I’m sure you can think of 30 thought-provoking questions clients have asked you throughout your career. Answer them one by one in a video series split over a monthlong timespan. Post them on all your social channels and create a buzz.
Video Idea No. 14: 22 Real Estate Lessons I’ve Learned Helping [Number of Past Clients] Families Buy & Sell a Home in [Your City] Maybe your number isn’t 22. Make it whatever you want. But sit down and think about some of the valuable lessons you’ve learned throughout your experience in the industry. Then share them with your community. This video has a dual benefit – not only are you educating and informing people with valuable real estate advice, but in the process you’re also demonstrating your strong ties to the community and impressive years of experience. Be sure to work in local references – what part of town you were working, etc., to further build those community ties.
Video Idea No. 15: How’s the Market in [Your City]? While most of the other video suggestions I’ve provided here have a long shelf life, this is a topic you should be tackling on a weekly (or monthly at the very least) basis. During this recurring show, provide a glimpse at the national real estate landscape, then localize it and talk more in-depth about market trends, happenings, and your take on it. You can also tell your clients’ stories and show how you help people move on to the next stage of their lives by achieving their home buying and selling goals.
Video Idea No. 16: How To Buy A Home Before You Sell. This is one of the biggest fears and reasons why we have no inventory all over N. America. Educate the sellers on how they can still list and be able to buy and not end up selling and being left out in the cold. List their home with contingencies like renting back, longer closing time or time to negotiate on something to buy.
Video Idea No. 17: How To Find Off Market Listings To Buy. Another great topic for buyers and sellers and share how you go and find the off market properties for them to buy versus all the other agents who sit and wait for something to come on to the market that most of the time doesn’t happen. Buyers and sellers are looking for the creator agents and not the waiters!
Remember: If It’s Not on Your Schedule, It Doesn’t Exist. I’ve given you lots of ideas and you could easily get overwhelmed if you try to create too many of these too fast. My suggestion? Prioritize all 17 of these and slot them into your video shooting calendar, and then honor those commitments as sacred! Shoot one or two a week until you’re done.
15 Mile average between last home and new home purchased
Average price $372,500 and paid 99% of asking price
1,900 Square foot, 3 bed, 2 bath built in 1993
Expect to stay 12 years in their home
Home Purchase Process
43% Began looking online, 18% Began calling an agent
Looked 8 weeks and 8 homes
87% Property photos most important to them
64% Had a satisfactory experience
Home Purchase Agent
88% Used an agent to buy
6% Direct from builder
40% Agent referred by friend
91% Would use their agent again
Financing Purchase
87% Financed their purchase
88% typical loan to value ratio
58% Down payment from savings
46% saved down payment in 6 months or less
83% Purchased because it is a good investment
Home Sellers
56 Years of age
Median household income $107,100 annually
14% Home to small, 15% closer to family, 12% work reasons
Lived in home 10 years on average
89% sold with an agent
Sold 99% of their asking price
3 weeks on the market
44% offered incentives to buyers
Sold for $66,000 more than they paid on average
69% were happy with sales process
How Sellers & Agents
67% found their agent through a referral
77% only contacted one agent when selling
91% listed on MLS
77% paid the agent’s fees
Typical seller recommend their agent pnce since selling
88% would use agent again, 77% probably, 15% would not
Private By Owner
8% sold by owner
57 years of age
Average FSBO sale price $185,000
Average agents assisted sale price $245,000
66% sold in less than 2 weeks
70% sold to someone they knew 55% knew their buyer
COVID 19 Buying & Selling
#1 reason was to move closer to family
Urgency rose 7% when covid hit
27% increase virtual tour viewings
Home sellers years owned dropped from 16 years to 11 years in 2020
Average price jumped post covid to $300,000 average vs $270,100
Finding a property biggest challenge
So there we have it the road map of who we are looking for and what they are doing. Take the time to develop a strategic strategy with your business and stop aiming for nothing and hitting it with amazing accuracy. Instead be strategic and intentional with your marketing approach this year using this incredible resource and watch your business go to another level.
We are experiencing unprecedented low inventory levels across North America and it seems that we are going to see this for a while in 2021. Sellers don’t know here they are going next and worried that they would list and sell and then be without a home. So ask yourself what’s your goal in 2021? More buyer leads, more listing appointments, better brand recognition and market share? No matter which of these you’ve set your sights on, there’s one sure-fire way to help with each of these: listings. In addition to generating new real estate buyer and seller leads, listings also offer the opportunity to showcase your brand and expertise with valuable, relevant content. So if you believe that More Listings = More Leads and you want more of both, you’re in the right place. Read on for 19 strategies to generate listings from your past clients, sphere of influence, cold leads, and more.
1. Call your past clients and sphere to share some good news. – Let’s start with a big one: this tip can help you with every single person in your database (and ones who aren’t even in there yet). Bring value to the table right away with an interesting stat about the housing market. Here’s a great one to start, with a great angle built into it: The value of the US Housing Market increased by $1.9 trillion in 2020. That’s a 6.2% increase! Want to know how much your house’s value went up as part of it?
You know your market better than we do, so if you’ve got a more interesting or relevant stat about your area, lead with that. Regardless, find an appropriate angle to pair with your stat and you’ll start having better conversations that lead to more listings.
2. Send this email. – Here’s another stat for you to share with your past clients, sphere, and seller leads, and it’s a doozy and has generated a ton of interested replies and appointments. For the subject line: Zillow was WAY off! Or The Assessment Authority was WAY off!!! Here’s the message we wrote: Did you know that the CEO of Zillow sold his home for 40% less than the “Zestimate”? They actually have a disclaimer on their website where you can see exactly how INACCURATE they are. They just make it hard to find. With that in mind, if you are considering the sale of your home, (or the address of a home you want to buy), reply to this email right now with your home’s address and I would be happy to send you a “Zactimate.”
3. Post an Instagram Story poll. – This might be the easiest tip to act on – you can open your phone and do it right now. Add to your Instagram Story with a poll asking: “Are you planning on selling your home this year?” Obviously you’ll get more “No”s than “Yes”es but any Yes or more in-depth answer provides an easy opportunity to follow up via DM.
4. Go live on Facebook from a neighborhood entrance. – You’ve probably heard you should be investing in video. If you’re ready to take the plunge but haven’t figured out what to film, here’s a tried and true way to get yourself out there: Head to a local landmark or the entrance of a neighborhood in your area. Give the details about two properties that recently sold nearby. Add a CTA that lets your viewers know they can email or DM you to inquire about other sold homes or check their own home’s value. That’s it!
5. Start each day prospecting for sellers. – Generate more appointments and contracts with the 5-5-4 routine and it’s easy to duplicate. Every day, you should have:
5 conversations with people you don’t know, new potential prospects
5 conversations with your hottest prospects
4 conversations with your sphere of influence
What do you say on the phone with your sphere? Try “Have you had any thoughts of selling?” and “Do you know anybody that’s had thoughts of selling?” Tim’s sphere is so used to answering that now they start thinking about who might be selling any time Tim pauses in the conversation.
6. Search Zillow’s “Make Me Move” listings (and FSBOs) Here’s a strategy to help prospect seller leads that you can be sure want to sell their home. In fact, they’re already on Zillow. Head to Zillow.com and search for homes for sale in your area. Clear the “Listing Type” menu and only keep “Make Me Move” selected – now you have a list of seriously interested sellers to start some conversations with. Once you have the filters selected, not only will you see the current Make Me Moves but you can ALSO subscribe via email to get alerts any time more are added!
7. Use Realtor.com (or your MLS) to find upcoming expired listings. Just like the tip about Zillow above, this technique is available to anyone thanks to technology and public records. Use Realtor.com’s home search and sort by “Newest Listings.” But you’re not here for the most recent listings on the market, so scroll down and click on the last page of search results. Take a screengrab of the listings with a low photo count and a high number of days on the market – you can show the seller the difference between how their home was marketed before it expired and how you can help show it off now. Now you’ve got a list of some upcoming expireds and can start your prep work on how you’ll approach them.
8. Take advantage of the “instant offer” trend. – Instant Offers have, understandably, made some real estate agents worried. Open Door and Zillow Offers make a compelling argument to consumers who are motivated by convenience. But that’s not their only motivation… Instant Offers are all but guaranteed to be low-ball offers. If you’re in a market where homes are moving fast, you can turn an “Instant Offer” into a seller looking for a home value report. How? We like what the Wertz Group does by asking “Does your home qualify for an ‘instant’ offer?” Be prepared to respond quickly: many sellers want the most money they can get, but these companies are proving there is still a huge market for people who value speed.
9. Refresh your listing presentation and process. Focus on current marketing strategies in today’s economy and offer the solutions to the challenges of the sellers. Add pre-emptive offers, multiple offers and coming soon strategies and information that we never had to have before.
10. Sell your services. – If you ask the average real estate agent what’s more important between buyers and sellers, they’ll typically say sellers. But when you look at their websites, the first thing highlighted is a home search. Stop sending the wrong signal, start selling your services. Every real estate website should have a page that sells its services to potential home sellers. Selling your home is a daunting process, so give your prospective clients the peace of mind that you have a tried and true plan to list, market, and sell their home.
11. Establish a Seller Success Series. – When you’ve used all the tips on this list, you’re going to have a lot of happy sellers. You can turn those into even more listings, by turning the corner on a common business practice and making something truly compelling. He’s leveled up his reviews by turning his wildly positive customer experiences into evergreen content that sells every new person who comes to his website. The stories are interesting, unique and are an authentic representation of his brand. The best part? People help support what they create. Feature your clients in a positive light and turn them into your brand ambassadors! We believe that if you tell more stories, you’ll sell more homes.
12. Find hidden sellers. – It’s no secret that generating buyer leads is much easier than attracting the ever elusive seller lead. The common mistake we see many savvy real estate agents miss is they forgot to ask their buyer leads one very simple question. “Do you need to sell your home before you buy a new one?” Buried in your database of thousands of buyer leads are hundreds of sellers. These homeowners need to sell their home before they buy a new one, they are just waiting for you ask the right question! Here’s the tip: Update your automated action plans that go out to include a question about their current living situation. “Do you own a home and do you need to sell it before you buy a new one?” You can tweak this script to your liking but whatever you do, don’t forget to ask!
13. Update your referral network. – This is actually a two-step tip: first up, it’s time to update your list of approved and recommended vendors. Finding reputable people that you trust is the hard part, so take this question to your email database and your followers on Facebook. “We’re updating our list of approved vendors. Who do you love and recommend?” Be sure to let them know you’ll be publishing your list publicly.
14. Re-earn their business. – One of the biggest mistakes we see people make is mistaking delivering a great experience for earning a customer’s business for life. For some, sure, a job well done means you’ll go back to the same agent the next time you have a real estate need. But some consumers treat transactions like exactly that: You do a service for them, they pay you for that service, end of transaction. That’s why it’s important to stay on your past clients’ minds, but not be intrusive or obnoxious about it. We’ve crafted an email for you to send that can help achieve both.
Subject Line: What’s your plan?
Here’s the message we wrote: Hi [name], It’s sometimes hard to imagine a day when you’re going to want to sell your home, but that day eventually comes. 1 year, 3 years, 5 years? It’s hard to say because life has a way about being unpredictable.
I wanted to make sure you knew I was here for you when that moment came. My job is to help develop a plan: There are things we can be doing now and in the future to help maximize your profit when you sell. This includes your mortgage payment schedule, what home improvements to make or avoid, and, of course, timing. All of these factors (and many more) have a dramatic impact on what you should do between now and when the time comes to sell.
15. Incentivize loyalty. – You’re probably familiar with loyalty cards and VIP programs. You probably even do some form of one, with the occasional gift and past client appreciation events. VIP experience enhances the whole process. Make past clients and referrers feel special with one-time perks like free movie tickets and dinner at local restaurants, but she also formalizes it with quarterly gifts, recurring coffee and tea, and more.
16. Speak to their pain points. – People have a hard time believing you can solve their problems if you haven’t made it clear you understand what those problems are. Many avoid writing discussing the potential pitfalls, not wanting to appear to be a fearmonger. But there’s a lot of space between “everything is awesome” and being a Negative Nelly – space that real people occupy and need guidance through. So don’t be afraid to acknowledge those pain points in your ads and emails. Speak to issues like not knowing whether it’s the right time to list, whether they’ll be able to afford a new home, the complications of the home selling process, and more. Then point them to the Seller Services page we recommended you build back in Tip #10 and stake your claim as the expert who can help through all the challenges.
17. Level up your just sold posts and home value ads. – There was a time when simply publishing a good looking Just Sold post on Facebook was enough to be a differentiator. That time has passed. It’s time to get back ahead of the curve. Everyone’s doing them now. So how do you make yours stand out? This data can be presented as the dry, public record that it is, or you can make it connect with your audience by framing it in a specific, timely way. Which of these are you more likely to click?
Just Sold ABOVE Listing Price: 2 bed, 2 bath condo in the North End or Another North End Condo Sells ABOVE Asking Price: Find out how this impacts your home’s value
The best opportunity you have now is to turn these “Just Sold” moments from general awareness campaigns that showcase your overall prowess into direct opportunities to help individuals who will do business with you.
18. Give away your secret sauce. There is a general fear in real estate that if we give away our information, our competition will steal our ideas or our consumers will realize that they don’t need us. But the truth is this: Consumers have proven time and time again they are willing to pay for convenience. Instacart, Dollar Shave Club, Quip Toothbrush — all charge a premium to remove the hassle from the process of buying or using the product. By giving away your trade secrets, you elevate your brand and become the authority. It’s counterintuitive but it’s true. Creating a well-designed, comprehensive, useful piece like “40 Top Tips for Selling Your Home is a big step in earning the trust of the consumer.”
19. Use your current bona fide buyers. – Ask for help and humanize the message by sharing first names of buyers and what they want to buy and spread the word. Email your database or post on your social media channels who is looking and what they need. If safe you can door knock or leave a door hanger, mail a flyer or postcard or just post a video asking for help for you buyers and see if that triggers a listing appointment response.
20. Mail or drop off unsolicited CMA packages to all your past clients. Just put together all the listings and sales in the last 6 months that are relative them and their home. Don’t give them your opinion of value and call them a few days later asking them if they got it? Any questions? See if this will trigger a listing appointment response for you as well.
So there you have some more creative of ways to be proactively generating appointments for listing opportunities in a market that we all need to be proactive versus reactive to get that product and inventory back up again. Feel free to reach out and share any other great listing appointment generators you may be having success with today!
Traditionally best source of free leads has been Cold calling and Door Knocking but let’s be real. In this day and age, those aren’t the only methods to choose from. (And honestly, they may not even work as well as they once did.) I want to share with you 20+ tried and tested low or no cost marketing ideas for generating free leads that actually result in revenue and work for many of my coaching clients today and even during a pandemic! Let’s start with a complete checklist of free lead gen ideas broken down by must-haves and nice-to-haves. How many of these are you already using? Which ones would be the easiest to integrate with your current lead management system?
The Must-Haves
Past clients
SOI
Referrals
Reviews
FSBOs
Partner with a lender and attorney
Open House
Use landing pages + Drip email sequence
The Nice-to-Haves
Phone duty
Video content
Virtual tours and open houses
Volunteer, speak at, or attend free community events
FRBOs
Moving companies
Marriage announcements
Start a blog
Contribute to articles, podcasts and publications
Connect on social media
Answer questions on Quora
Door knocking
Cold calling
Zoom housewarming party
So Where to Get Real Estate Leads Post-2020
#1. Office On Call Phone Duty – Great for Warm Buyer Leads. Sometimes old school is the best school. Most agents never considered it because it seemed old school. I know that agents hate traditional phone duty because they have to sit in the office and answer the phone. One reason agents become agents is so that they’re not chained to a desk But, the results are undeniable. Agents found that people that call in want to talk with an agent right now. They don’t want to talk to a receptionist, or a Client Concierge, they want to talk with a knowledgeable agent. Since you are immediately satisfying that need, your conversions go through the roof. We were converting around 1/3 receptionist call-ins in the past. We’re now converting almost 100% of the qualified inbound calls. It’s been a massive success. Set up a virtual phone duty with your broker. Follow simple rules like ‘don’t schedule an appointment’ and ‘pull over to talk if the call you take is a lead. Record all of the calls to identify opportunities for improvement.
#2. Video Content – Best Way to Consistently Generate Free Leads. Video is quickly becoming a winning formula for real estate marketing. Shoot a video titled Why You Should Move to (your town) that introduces you as your town’s ambassador and will bring you two to five property deals over time. So, what’s the secret formula for creating irresistible video content? Everyone should have a YouTube channel and create playlists that focus on the community, sellers and buyers and quick tips. create both professional and iPhone videos. I know that not everyone is comfortable with staring into the camera, but the way she sees it, we’ve already spent most of 2020 living through an uncomfortable reality. We have to get comfortable being uncomfortable, right?
#3. Video Housewarming Party – An Instant Source of Free Warm Leads. For clients concerned about having anyone in their home and maintaining social distancing protocols, their agent can plan and host a video ‘housewarming party’ on Zoom. This obviously works well for those clients who are not as tech savvy or aren’t already regularly using video conferencing. A housewarming party you can attend in your pajamas? Who could say no to that? It’s a great way for the agent to bring additional value to their client and meet the client’s potential referrals for additional business.
Bonus Pandemic Tips. Branded face masks and hand sanitizer. Connector of community support resources: who has senior shopping hours, who has opened a pop up food bank, what restaurants are delivering meals to high risk people, etc. Volunteering!
Community good-will political debate station. Virtual video open houses (marketed on social media) Concierge video home tours (marketed on social media) Hosting a socially distanced, mask-on, Halloween party for kids in your sphere.
It’s amazing how creative you can get when faced with a new challenge. Of course, there are also those classic, reliable sources of real estate leads you should always be working into your strategy.
#4. Smile, Dial, Email – Timeless Lead Gen for Unprecedented Times. When Covid first hit even I started calling and spoke to more people than I ever could have imagined because most everyone was at home at lockdown. No secret sauce, just consistently smiling and dialing. Your goal comes to get 5 nurtures a day minimum and to keep building my weekly email. One coaching client closed 10 transactions 30% of my business from a weekly email this year. 10 transactions from an email newsletter? There’s literally no reason not to do this.
#5. Client & Agent Referrals – Best Way to Get Quality Leads, Totally Free. According to the NAR, 64% of sellers found their agent through a referral from a friend, neighbor, or relative—or used an agent they had worked with before to buy or sell a home. Referrals cost you nothing—all you have to do is stay connected with the people you know and make sure that you’re top of mind when they or someone they know decide to transact. What could be easier (or cheaper!) than that, right? Repeat and no fee referrals are always the most profitable and reliable. All my coaching clients generate 50-85% of their business from this source.”
#6. The Property Neighbors’ Sphere of Influence – A Completely Original Source for Trusted Referrals. Everyone talks about taking advantage of your sphere of influence, but have you ever considered reverse engineering the sphere of influence of a neighborhood to get new listings? Here’s how you do it: When your buyer looks at a property in a neighborhood but doesn’t buy the property, statistically a new listing is going to come up in that neighborhood in the next 30 days and you’ve got what the potential seller wants…buyers. This is when you should send out a letter to the neighborhood and call the neighbors with the same message/dialogue.
Hi (neighbor),
My name is (Agent Name) and I work with (Brokerage Name) and I just wanted to let you know that I showed your neighbor’s property over at (Address) the other day.
Unfortunately it wasn’t a perfect match for them but as I’m sure you are not surprised, they absolutely loved the neighborhood!
What they are looking for is (describe just about every house in the neighborhood).
Can you do me a favor? If you or anyone you know is even considering selling, could you please let me know right away? I may be able to sell your house without it ever even hitting the market.”
Brilliant, right? Use the same template when they have a buyer looking for a house. The student records a video that lets their audience know what the buyer is looking for but with a specific ask – reach out if the audience or anyone they know is considering selling, because they may be able to sell their house without it ever hitting the market. Then the agent promotes that video to the target town/city so that everyone sees it and reaches out to them if they are thinking of selling or if they know anyone that is.
#7. Third Party Reviews – The New Word of Mouth for Real Estate Leads Targeting millennials or younger buyers? Reviews are the way to go. According to Consumerist, almost 70% of consumers check online reviews before making a purchase. But just like everything else, it’s all about your level of commitment. Millennials make up a third of the buying population. A millennial goes to 8 to 12 different sites before they pick up the phone and talk to an agent. What do they do when they get to 8 to 12 of those sites? They read the reviews. Watch people coming to your site in the analytics—they log in, and then they go to the review page and read every one of your reviews before they even pick up the phone and call. The conversation on getting reviews starts on day one when you meet the client.
#8. Blogging – Best Way to Attract Quality Leads. One of the best decisions I ever made in my real estate career was to start a real estate blog. Blogging is one of those free lead gen unicorns—when you’re blogging the leads seem to magically drop from the sky. But free doesn’t mean easy. It all comes down to intention and commitment. Provide a wealth of knowledge to buyers and sellers to help make sound business decisions. Buyers and sellers love working with knowledgeable real estate agents. By having a recognizable blog you are able to readily show off your expertise to those who are buying or selling a home. Over the years my blog has brought a substantial amount of yearly business. In fact it is one of my top lead generators.”
A blog as a top lead generator? Believe it. Real Estate blogging is certainly not for everyone. Like anything else, it takes time and dedication. It is not a magic bullet that will bring significant amounts of business unless you put in the effort. This means you need to have exceptionally good content combined with a strong grasp of both search engine optimization, as well as solid social media promotion. Without proper digital marketing your blog will be lost in the shuffle. Alternatively, you could try a tool like Keeping Current Matters or CityBlast that automatically publishes blog and email content, creates downloadable guides and posts personalized updates on your social media accounts for a set monthly fee. Another option is to hire a real estate VA with marketing or blogging experience or look for an affordable content writer and marketer on sites like Fiverr and Upwork. You’ll still need to set aside time to generate relevant content ideas, proofread and promote the work but a great freelancer can significantly cut down on the time you spend researching and writing, making it way easier to stick to a consistent publishing schedule. Last but definitely not least, if you’re determined to make a go of blogging, make sure you set up a drip campaign to capture and nurture any leads that come in via the blog.
#9. Niche Marketing Websites – An Amazing Organic Source for Ready-to-Convert Real Estate Leads. Thanks to various changes in Google’s search algorithm, building a niche website is now another surefire approach to rank higher on search engines than non-targeted sites. Best of all, it’s completely organic through and through. Buy the domain moveto (your town) .org .com .ca then hire a full-time content writer to write or write yourself to gain enough traction and generate leads and a robust pipeline. Create a local guide on all things (your town) and start attracting some seriously motivated leads. Agents are getting about 10-15 leads monthly. That’s not much but they are much more likely to convert. Target organic leads by targeting topics like ‘rent vs. buy (your town)’, ‘Master Planned Communities’, and ‘Reasons to Move to (your town). Then retarget to landing pages that have property listings or other information about choosing a Realtor.
#10. Thank You Card & Hand Written Notes. Most Beautifully Simple Source of Free Leads. You know, as a new agent you’re blindsided by a million other things. You just need to talk to a lot of people and get over the fear of cold calling. After talking go drop off a simple thank you card and that changes everything. In the age of automated everything, Brandon’s all about keeping the personal touch. And at $1 per card, the ROI on this lead source can’t be beat. Just write a handwritten thank you card like, ‘Hey Jill, great talking to you. Thank you so much for your time. I look forward to the opportunity to work with you. And then I put your business card in there and seal it up. Easy!
#11. Craigslist, Kijiji, Classifieds – Great for Free Diamond-in-the-rough Leads. Never take a lead for granted and that includes leads from Craigslist. Some of my coaching clients most reliable source of free leads has been another source that most agents or people sometimes no longer feel is relevant or also frowned upon or thought of not to be the savviest… Craigslist.
#12. Open House – Golden Opportunity to Get Buyer & Seller Leads. Most agents have been programmed to think that it’s a waste of time. Like all marketing, if they do one and don’t get much out of it, they generally fall into that bucket. To me, it’s the easiest and least expensive way to get people in front of you. However, you need to have a system like everything else to make it profitable. Systems = profits. The best tip for bringing in free leads via open houses is don’t advertise open houses and use lots of signs. This way if someone walks into your open house and they would like to look at property, I just close the door. You need to make sure you have every possible cross street covered with an open house sign. The more signs the better. But what if you can’t meet for an in-person open house? Agents have sold houses with digital open houses and virtual tours and use Calendly to actually capture the lead info, then plug them into your CRM for focused follow up.
#13. Internet Community Pages – Perfect Source of Free Buyer and Relocating Leads. There’s a little known content marketing tip that only the best of real estate marketers typically take advantage of: Community Pages. More often than not, any buyer looking to move into a new area is going to do some fairly extensive research. By setting up community pages on your website YOU become the local go to expert. Here’s what makes a great community page:
Community pages are filled with information buyers would love to know about. Things like the quality of the schools, area attractions such as lakes and parks. Where people do their shopping, etc. They can be filled with an endless amount of information. The best community pages are crazy detailed! These kinds of pages should be optimized so they come up in search for things like “Realtors (your town)” and “Top Real Estate agents (your town)”. Consumers who are searching in Google with terms like these may be looking to hire an agent immediately!
#14. Quora – Most Untapped Source of Leads. A huge untapped online community like Quora is one of the top respondents for all things real estate, for getting you name, face and web link in front of thousands of online buyers every day. With over 200 million monthly unique visitors, Quora’s Q&A entries regularly show up on Google’s page 1, and some are re-published by major sites like Forbes and Inc. Plus, it’s completely free. All you need is an email address and you’re in. Start by looking for questions that have been asked repeatedly. If a question has been asked more than once, chances are the answers (both on Quora and Google) aren’t that great.
#15. Wear Your Company Name Badge – Easiest Way to Get Free Leads. Ever take every cushion off your couch hunting for your glasses, only to realize they’re right on top of your head? Sometimes the most obvious things are hidden in plain sight. The simple name badge is one of those things. Here’s a great tip… An often overlooked way to generate leads is to wear your name badge or company wear such as a hat or polo shirt. When people ask, ‘Oh, you’re in real estate—how’s the market? Be prepared with a concise answer about how much inventory is on the market, how much prices are increasing or declining, and offer to send them a free report on their property. Agents can use a Realtors Property Resource (RPR) to gather this data quickly and of course, you need their contact information to send them the report. Name badges have long been used by maintenance service companies to establish a connection with the client and develop trust. So, why not real estate?
#16. For Sale By Owner (FSBOs) – Excellent Lead Source for Agents with the Right Approach. There are those who shake their fists at FSBOs and there are those who go out and convert them into free sources of multiple millions in revenue. FSBOs are one of the best and most reliable sources of free leads out there. “Literally millions in commissions!” can be made. The trick as usual is to start the conversation by listening and offering value. Remember, there is a good chance this seller has been burned by an agent before, and that’s why they’re attempting to go it alone. Start the conversation by asking why they’re selling. Take time to listen, get to know their motivations and build a personal connection. Offer advice or insight on the market wherever relevant. Once you feel like you’ve truly heard them and offered them some genuinely helpful info, ask if they want any help finding a buyer. They might turn you down flat the first time. That’s ok. Ask if you can check back in on them in a few weeks then add them to your CRM for simple, friendly follow up. Sometimes it can take a few quiet weeks (or months) in the market before they come around to the idea of working with you.
#17. Ask Engaging Power Questions – Most Powerful Way to Get Free Listings. Leveraging for rent by owners and FSBOs, calling expired listings and nurturing your SOI are all classic (and classically overlooked!) ways to bring in tons of free leads. But sometimes what matters most isn’t which lead source you choose, but how you choose to approach those leads. The best way to bring in more free leads is to simply ask questions: Ask questions – How can I help your business? What does your perfect client look like? Focus on providing service and coming from a spirit of contribution – the leads will come.
#18. Farmers Markets, Swap Meets and Flea Markets – Don’t be afraid to take free leads where he can find them. That includes local swap meets, flea markets and farmers markets. The craziest ideas for lead generation are sometimes the least wanted or the most frowned upon or things that people might think don’t work. If you do frequent swap meets, flea markets and farmers markets. It totally works even though many agents feel it’s an undesirable type of method. There’s something to be said for getting out there and networking with real people. Remember, when it comes to free lead gen, it doesn’t matter what’s popular. All that matters is that it works for your unique real estate business.
#19. Social Media (Evidence Of Success) – Great Way to Get Real Estate Leads Who Already Like You. You didn’t think we were going to leave social media off the list, did you? Depending on how you approach it, social media can either be a major time drain or a brilliant way of nurturing your connections. Here’s his awesome advice for using your social media to nurture your SOI without feeling salesy or sleazy: Your sphere of influence is still an extremely overlooked source of business. The key is to not bombard your network with boring, worthless “asks” for business. Instead, you should simply be reminding your network that you’re a real estate agent, and that you’re a local expert. Posting on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat is a great way to do that, as long as you’re providing something of value to your network (education, humor, etc), along with the occasional humblebrag if you receive an award, or some recognition for something. Even a sincere humbled, gratitude post for helping a buyer or seller buyer or sell versus bragging I just sold or I just listed. I’m talking maybe once a month, or less. But if done tactfully, those humblebrags help your network see that you’re good at what you do. You heard it from the pro. Relax and have fun on social media. It can lead to some great free leads.
#20. Instagram – Easiest Source for Warm Organic Leads. It’s all organic, with posts that are more lifestyle posts and less about sales. We want people to follow us because they like our post then reach out to us for help because they like our brand and how we do things. It’s been working well and that’s exactly what happens. Leads come in from the posts and stories. From there, you follow up via DM to connect and convert. It’s easy, organic and extremely cost-effective.
#21. Shock & Awe Marketing – Funniest Way to Get Free Real Estate Leads. Every so often, it pays to go a little rogue with your marketing. The most innovative idea I ever heard of was an agent had a house that was zoned for commercial use that was located in an area where there were a lot of attorneys. She created a marketing piece that looked as if the attorney she was sending it to was being served in a lawsuit. The strategy generated leads and she sold the property. I love the expired listing paper towel tube in the mail that looks like a stick of red dynamite with the expired letter inside. Sometimes it pays to think outside the box (or, zone in this case) and do what you’ve got to do to grab the attention of your local market. Don’t be afraid to get creative.
#22. Knock on Doors – Most Classic Way to Get Real Estate Leads The level of “craziness” of this free lead gen idea is debatable. Some die-hards in Facebook groups will claim this is the best way to get free leads, but you have to wonder, do they actually get out there and do it? Tip! Knock on doors in a neighborhood where you have a qualified buyer that wants to buy and say ‘Quick question: do you want to sell your house? My buyer wants to buy here. Not sure? Talk to the Family and call me tomorrow.’ Yes. It worked. If nobody is home then leave a door hanger with the same written message and they will call as well off the door hanger! Sometimes you just never get, until you ask. While it may seem old school, knocking on doors is still a proven way to get free leads. If you’ve got the guts, go for it.
#23. Serving & Give Back – Most Fulfilling Way to Get Buyer and Seller Leads. If you focus on service like some agents do the business will come simply by connecting with the community. Serving the community and throwing great social events creates an amazing amount of people that want to reciprocate by working with you. Get involved in at least one non-profit and build your spheres through acts of charity and service. You’re meeting people in your community who want to do good. It’s not really service to transaction, it’s service to relationship. We want to build a network that people actually want to be a part of.
#24. Become a Community Catalyst – Crazy Simple Way to Get a Long-lasting Source of Leads. Your commitment to becoming THE go-to expert in your community. As real estate develops, knowledge is what makes agents more valuable to buyers. Buyers don’t want to spend time learning. As an agent, you’re the catalyst—the connector between the buyer and their new community. It’s your job to open that door and make it as easy as possible for them to walk through it.
So there you have it, a ton of great ideas for generating free real estate leads. Before you run off, we want to give you one last piece of advice. When done right, free lead gen can bring in a ton of revenue for your real estate business, but if you go into it with the wrong intention, it can backfire horribly. Don’t do this: Go to a friend’s wedding, and “sponsor” the gift bags for guests… and put your business cards, branded pens, and other absurd, unimpressive swag in the gift bags! Do not put out signs around the gift bag table promoting you and your business. Why not? Well, how would you like it if you went to a wedding and were bombarded with advertisements from some random business? You’re hijacking your friend’s wedding in an effort to get more business. But what you’re really doing is pissing people off and ensuring that they’d never hire you in a million years. How tacky and inappropriate. Next time maybe you should sponsor the punch bowl at a funeral! Leads can get pricey and real estate is a high pressure business, but the moral of this story is to ALWAYS check the situation and environment before attempting to grab leads. Leads might not cost money, but you’d better be giving something meaningful and valuable in return– and prospecting ethically! The most reliable source [of free leads] for our clients is giving great service and then implementing a great Database/CRM Value Add Plan with regular contact in a variety of ways. Feel free to share with me ways that you are generating legit leads without spending any money, would love to add them to 2022 list.
Are you the first agent your leads think of when they want to buy or sell a home? I talk to agents ALL the time who are driving down the street and see a house they know sold by another agent or someone an agent knows bought a house from another agent. You CAN stand out among the competition when you follow the 4 Step Lead plan!
What is the 4 Step Lead plan?
It is a simple 4 step plan you can do to stay top of mind with all your leads…
The Top of Mind 4 Step Lead Plan for More Referrals is:
1. Call or Text
You want to connect with your clients every 90 days. Don’t just call to talk about real estate. Bring relevant news, check in, and have it be to the point your database expects your call! Stats say you get a 23% chance of response with email, 43% chance of contact with a call and 97% chance of response with a text! Do you have your leads and databases cell phone numbers?!
2. Weekly Email
Send weekly emails for open house invitations, events, and other updates. Emails need to contain value add and focus on content that offers insight to the challenges in today’s market or something every consumer has questions about. Email is not about spamming but enhancing, pulling and adding value to the leads and thinking that was really great and helpful content you sent.
3. Two Direct Mail Pieces
Send out two direct mail pieces every month. One of them should be a “just listed/just sold” or “we have a buyer”. If you’re new to real estate you can use your company’s stats, listings, sales, buyers (just be sure it says that on the mailer or get permission from the agents. Your other mailer can be: “Curious about the value of your home?” This makes you the expert they think of and you provide them with the information they are looking for.
4. Activate Your Base, the Secret Weapon
Do a Facebook Live video and your instantly connecting with your leads. I even had a client who did a live mention which lead to a listing! He got a response from an old friend who said his mom was looking to sell her house. Show your base you are the local market expert.
4.1 Know Your Unique Selling Factors
There are four things you should know to boost your confidence and swagger. You may not use all of these stats, but you should have them ready when you talk to customers.
1. We sell (x) times more…
2. We sell our homes (X) times faster…
3. We sell our homes for (X%) more on average…
4. We have (X) more five star reviews than any other agent in the marketplace.
When you use these unique selling points you can use a script like this….
“Clients work with us because we have the experience, we sell homes faster, and get our customers more money. We pride ourselves on customer experience and relationships, and we have 7x times more five star reviews than any agent in our marketplace. Our number one aim is to make sure you are our next five-star review and we want to deliver that experience to you. These are my competitive advantages (mention points above) that you can hold me accountable to.”
Remember if you are a new agent, you can use the stats from your office/team. You can leverage their numbers to support more customers.
Are you following the 4 Steps Lead plan? Or are you comfortable having $15 billion being spent from really large companies who want to take your clients and have them go somewhere else? Remember your strategy matters, and now more than ever, your ability to stay top of mind absolutely rules!
So what do they want that I have? That is the magic question in real estate lead generation. This week we have what I feel are the some of the top offerings in real estate that create the most amount of leads for agents. It’s best to have a range of offers that appeal to your different customer types so that no matter who hits your website there’s an offer that appeals to them.
12 Different Types of Offers to Generate Real Estate Leads:
1. Free Samples: Offer a free sample or a free consultation as a way for your prospects to experience your product or service.
2. Tip or Fact Sheet: Create a tip sheet that outlines how your prospects can do their job better. For example, you could create a Tips Sheet on “10 Things to Consider Before Selling Your Property.”
3. How-To Guides: Create simple guides for your prospects to download that help them do their jobs better. For example, create a guide to preparing for an initial sales meeting.
4. Checklist: Create a checklist of steps your customers can take to address a need your product or service addresses. For example, a due diligence checklist for real estate property.
5. Top 10 Industry Trends: Document the ten latest trends impacting your industry or marketplace this year. Write a short summary on new industry developments or write what you think will be the ten biggest changes to the industry during next year.
6. Infographics: Create an infographic to visually represent industry trends, marketplace competition, or other sets of information your prospect may find useful and valuable.
7. Common Questions: Write down the ten or 20 questions (or more) you most commonly hear from your prospects and then create a tip sheet or guide that answers each question. (Tip: these questions and answers also become excellent topics for your blog posts.
8. Whitepaper or eBook: Compile three to five blog posts that discuss similar topics and combine them into a whitepaper or eBook. You can also write a whitepaper or eBook from a previous research study or data set. Or, go to LinkedIn Answers and find every question and answer that relates to your industry. Compile them together in an eBook format.
9. Kits of Material: Once you have a bunch of content and offers, compile some of your related eBooks, guides, tip sheets and blog articles into a compelling Downloadable Kit offer. Another example is to compile your sales material and package this material into a toolkit visitors can download.
10. Case Studies: Show off your leading customers and share their experience with future customers. Video record their testimonials for even more content and to build credibility. Offer the case studies as free downloads at the conclusion of the video.
11. Videos: Create a video that shows off your product or service features and benefits. At the end of the video, give the lead an option to download a case study.
12. Contests: Create a contest with a prize in order to compel prospects to provide their information in exchange for being entered into the contest.
You’ll want to create offers that appeal to new visitors to the site (those whose contact information you do not currently have) as well as existing qualified leads in your system.
The nature of these offers will differ slightly, depending on your area, focus and your customer or prospect base, but the way offers work is the same no matter what: create content that is relevant and helpful to your prospect – content they will actually want to download and use – which is the best way to generate qualified leads.
So there you have it. Now get at it and create some content and offerings for your website and see the leads increase your business and income today. I dare ya!
We all know in real estate communication is everything and how we feel on the inside is what is coming out to people on the outside through your words, tone and energy. We all want the client to feel good when we communicate with them so it starts by us feeling good ourselves! You can’t be a lean mean appointment setting machine if you are someone who is sad, angry, depressed or totally stressed out on the inside because that is coming out in some way on the outside to the people you are communicating with.
So get right on the inside so you can be right on the outside and really attract, engage and make people feel good and feel like you are someone they really need to get together with! Let’s give you some more tips on becoming that appointment setting machine.
1. Know your customers pain and know their problems.
Examples: market conditions, past purchasing experiences. There are only two things in our lives that “move” people to take action and that is the avoidance of pain and the desire of pleasure. What are the buyers and sellers challenges? Fears? Frustrations? When you begin to share with the client about their pain they feel you really understand them and feel like you are in tune with them and want to connect with you and hear the solutions you can offer them.
2. Know your dialogues.
If you want to be good then you have to practice! The most in demand type of training in our industry today is role playing but it is the kind of training that is avoided the most and not practiced at all in our industry. I hear so many agents say “I hate scripts” “I don’t want to sound canned” Sorry but these are the same agents who don’t do high volume and are not great communicators in the industry and this just makes it easier on the rest of us. When you know what to say and how to say it, you can be more in tune to your customers’ needs.
3. Get to the point!
Example “I’m calling today to schedule an appointment…” I love the line “Why sell with blah blah blah when you can sell with blah?” or “If you don’t ask and get to the point then you don’t get!” So many times we find ourselves talking too much about “nothing” and actually forget to ask for the order or get to the point of the conversation. Have the courage to ask for the appointment and get to the point sooner than later. My favorite technique is the alternate choice close when you give the client two options for setting a time. “Would tomorrow at 2 pm be good or Friday at 1pm be better for you?”
4. Stand up when you are making appointments and keep your hands free of objects including when you are on the phone (use a head set). Your body controls your tonality and your emotional state. It is amazing when you stand and your hands are free and open what it does for you and your energy levels. People are engaged by your energy, passion and excitement and want to connect with you when you have that kind of enthusiasm. Standing keeps your body, breathing and mental state at a peak level and has a huge impact on your conversion rate for appointments.
5. On the phone = 20% effective sensory communication. You need to remember when you talk you are only engaging in one sense out of five. It is critical you speak clearly and slowly and be on point throughout the discussion. This is so important because you don’t have the non-verbal communication components now which make up the majority of communicating. They can’t see your body language, facial expressions, eye contact and hand gestures over the phone. All you have is your voice, tone and inflections to get the message across when trying to convert the appointment.
6. Get the fear out of the way with these 3 questions: For a lot of us it is uncomfortable talking to someone we just met so knowing what to ask and let them do the majority of the talking makes this part so much easier. Here are three excellent and engaging more dialog questions to get you past the fear and awkwardness of converting sales appointments.
1) What’s the worst case scenario?
2) What’s the most likely scenario?
3) What’s the best case scenario?
In addition to getting better at sales appointment conversion you also have to make sure you have the best environment possible for making those appointment calls so here are some great tips for creating the right environment for converting more appointments.
1. Appointment Tracker – Visual. Make it visual; think big appointment calendar.
2. Appointment Setting Shrine. Use a foam presentation board. Put pictures of your family, how much money you want to make, and even a mirror.
3. Eliminate All Distractions. Things like the voicemail light, messy desk, or having the Internet open in front of you can be distracting.
4. Stand Up Vs. Sit. You sound more confident on the phone when you are standing up versus sitting down.
5. Music. I like Van Morrison, but find something that works best for you.
6. Plant. Having a plant in your office can help improve your mood.
7. Get a good headset! I use a wireless Plantronics headset.
When you put together all these steps you can’t help but get better on appointment setting and remember, by removing the client’s fear it is easier for them to take action and for you to set appointments.
Here are some action steps for you to put this into reality.
1. Review this content daily.
2. Get your environment set for making appointments.
3. Practice the communication tips above.
4. Set those appointments!
Are you ready to take your appointment setting to the next level?
Over the past few years I have implemented online lead generation systems for our brokerage and have become a big fan of lead generation using landing pages. This week we are hearing some great strategies for agents using landing pages from some experts in the business.
Let’s hear what Peter from Top5Agent has for us on landing pages for REALTORS.
At this point you know that being a player on the web is the right call for agents in virtually any area, but what happens when potential homebuyers actually end up on your site? Do you offer up a reason for these visitors to stay on your website, or do they simply arrive on your general home page without any direction or information on how to proceed? If you’re firmly in the latter category, it’s time to take a moment and talk about why having a unique and engaging take on landing pages can help you capture even more leads.
The Real Scoop on the Power of Landing Pages
To start off the discussion the right way, let’s talk about what a landing page is, as well as why making the switch to strong offerings on this front is more important than ever before. Essentially, a landing page is a unique website page that helps boost your conversion rate with potential customers by offering a clear call-to-action message (CTA), as well as something of value to the person on the other side of the screen. After filling out a few details and submitting this information, the user then makes his or her way to the other areas of interest on your site.
So just how beneficial can well-crafted landing pages be as you welcome prospective homebuyers to your site? When compared to average offerings, optimized and refined landing pages can generate up to five times as many conversions or leads. The moral of the story here is clear; if you’re a realtor who isn’t directing consumers to the right portions of your site via specific landing pages as part of each ad or promotion, you’re leaving a ton of business on the table.
Making a Great Digital First Impression
Now that you understand the true value of a proper landing page, it’s time to talk about how best to capture the huge lead generation potential – in some cases up to a 60 percent increase – found within these offerings. A good place to start auditing your landing pages is with the “5 Second Test.”
Essentially, this test aims to answer three questions: What is this page about? What do you, as a digitally savvy realtor, offer a potential homebuyer? And how can this prospective client take you up on the offer? If it takes more than five seconds to answer this group of questions, then something needs to change. However, if you pass this test, and work with someone who can put the rest of what you’ve learned here to good use, there’s no reason why you can’t capitalize on the increase in leads that come with a stellar set of landing pages.
Additionally, optimized landing pages also offer a variety of search engine optimization (SEO) benefits. It might just be a pleasant side effect, but having a boost in terms of your page rankings via this practice is a nice way to help buyers and sellers in your area find your site and generate even more leads and conversions.
Going a Step Farther with Real-World Examples
Of course, talking over the particulars of landing page best practices is only part of the learning process. To truly show you how these assets work on behalf of your digital persona, let’s look at some real-world successes and failures. First up is the winning end of the spectrum.
After taking a look at the landing page associated with the River City development in Toronto, you’ll notice a few distinct features. First, this page has a clearly present and focused CTA and message that grabs the reader’s attention. Additionally, the response form is easily accessed and well-placed. Finally, the aesthetically pleasing imagery helps wrap up the “complete package” offered by this landing page.
On the other side of the spectrum is the less than stellar example offered up by My Condo Pro. On this landing page, there’s no clear CTA or message, and the sign-up form is located near the bottom of the page. These issues might not seem like much at first glance, but when it comes to your impact with potential clients and conversions, these stumbling points can end up being catastrophic.
The “Dos and Don’ts” of Winning Landing Pages
As far as “game changing” additions to your landing page and common mistakes go, there’s a few things you need to keep your eye out for as you start exploring this digital territory. Let’s start with the “dos” side of this discussion.
First, winning landing pages have attractive imagery and video content that can help boost conversions and engage the viewer. Additionally, offering up eye-catching headlines that focus on building curiosity and intrigue around your value proposition – all while skipping the overt “buy this now!” language – also play a major role in the process.
From here, breaking down the benefits of your offer in bullet points, or some other easily digestible format, continues the process of enticing the reader to take the plunge and convert. Utilizing clear, straightforward CTAs that only take up about a sentence or two of on-screen real estate also goes a long way with your landing page audience. Finally, having a lead capture form that helps track these sign-ups and bolsters your user information database ensures that you harvest all the data needed to continue to refine and optimize this process.
In terms of the “don’ts” that can turn viewers off in a hurry, putting too much text on your landing page, or having too many fields and questions for these clients to fill out, can undo all of the progress you’ve made on this front. Fortunately, if you’re able to make good use of this information and present a page that helps viewers find the right home, discover their purchasing power, evaluate home-worth, or delve into some other important topic or niche, there’s no reason why your landing page can’t join the ranks of the highest converting members of this field.
Putting the Right Foot Forward
From realtors just entering the business to established names in markets far and wide, Top5Agent has helped many real estate professionals boost their leads significantly, all by implementing smart online presence tactics and industry-leading custom landing pages. Top5agent provides a variety of innovative web solutions for the real estate industry, including modern agent’s websites, integrated CRM, customizable easy-to-use landing pages, and social media and blogging content management. Top5Agent also offers custom web development and design, web hosting, branding, and various pay-per-click lead generation programs.
The experts here at Top5 Agent help brokerages and agents alike create and utilize their online presence properly, all while increasing lead capturing potential by 40 to 50 percent. All of our customizable websites are sleek, modern, and possess a variety of tools to engage visitors, capture leads, and convert these potential consumers into satisfied clients. Top5Agent also conducts free educational sessions for real estate agents and brokers that cover a wide range of topics, such as social media, lead generation and capturing, pre-construction landing pages, and branding best practices. If you’re looking for customer-oriented services that deliver creative and effective results, look no farther than Top5Agent.
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I hope you have gained some value from our guest post this week.
As always when we bring in a guest who offers their product or services from AgentsBoost we NEVER take a cut or make a dime. We believe in what they have to offer PERIOD!
Strength and Courage,
Wade
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The National Association of Realtors research shows the average buyer searches for 2 weeks on their own prior to contacting a real estate agent.
For this reason agents now need a strategy designed for internet lead conversion that can be completed over a 10 – 14 day time period.
Prior to contacting a real estate agent, potential buyers and sellers can be reluctant to releasing valid contact information. Although the ideal internet lead has email, mailing address, phone number and search criteria, the majority of internet leads we follow up are missing part or most of this information.
One of my top producing agents in Canada Ralph Wiber couldn’t help but hear agents time and time again saying “web leads suck” or “internet leads are a waste of time” and was kind enough to share this amazing and proven web lead strategy with us all and help others with the ongoing challenge of not knowing how to convert an internet lead.
This method is a combination of persistence and marketing offers that are designed to create motivation for the buyer and seller to give us more information. The formula is a combination of:
Once you make contact you must adjust your message and plan to fit the client’s needs and timelines.
Once you schedule the appointment, determine their timeline or verify their contact information then stop the system. If you have not scheduled an appointment and have missing information then the lead goes into the 10 day follow up system.
Be sure to fill in the form at the bottom of this post to get your FREE
copy of the “Lead Conversion Package” containing:
Phone and email scripts
10 Day checklist
Facebook and Video sample messages
How to avoid spam filters and more…
Hint: Most failure comes from not working the lead for long enough or skipping parts of the system.
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Day 1
Send introduction email.
Make introduction phone call.
Send follow up email thanking them for speaking with you if they answered.
Mail a notecard with 2 business cards in it.
Day 2
Send foreclosure email or list of properties that fit client criteria if you captured that with whatever source generated this lead.
Search for lead on Facebook and send a short message.
Day 3
Email message that you are available this weekend.
Make follow up call and leave voicemail if no answer.
Send first video email (if video mentions that you are available it can be combined with step 1).
Day 4
Send email with a free CMA offer or relocation package.
Attach a Just Listed Property list to email.
Day 5
Send a “how am I doing” email.
Attach a Recently Reduced Prices Property list to email.
Conversion Tactics
Day 6
Take one day off during the plan. This can be put any day between Day 3 and Day 9.
Day 7
Send Special Services Email.
Make another follow up phone call and leave a voicemail if nobody answers.
Send a text message if you are confident in the phone number you have.
Day 8
Send specific property email.
Search other social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter and direct message them otherwise send another Facebook message if possible.
Research their listing search activity.
Day 9
Email “Long Shot CMA” message.
Make another follow up phone call and leave a voicemail if nobody answers.
Research their listing search activity.
Day 10
Send Contest or Trivia email or video email.
Attempt contact once again via social media platform.
Research recent listing search activity.
Phone call for final call and leave a voicemail if nobody answers.
Day 11+
Discard contact if not valid.
Place contact into drip program if you have valid information for long term continued follow up.
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I hope you find huge success in this lead conversion program and that you never feel that internet leads are a waste of time again. Here is to your success online.
How many of us are still scared to go in front of a camera and embrace the “video” world we are living in today? Video is so powerful that google bought Youtube the second biggest search engine machine on the internet just to keep the top 2 spots on the internet for searching. Whether we love it or hate it as real estate agents we need to embrace it so let’s dive into video topic ideas that are easy to make and will position your real estate brand for success in your marketplace. We’ll start with some listing attraction videos.
The National Association of Realtors research shows the average buyer searches for 2 weeks on their own prior to