Ready to amplify your lead generation strategy? Welcome to our step-by-step guide. This blog will present a blend of tried and true tactics as well as cutting-edge approaches to generating leads. We’ve simplified the process with actionable steps to kickstart each tactic. 

At the end, we’ll share important aspects like ethical considerations, leveraging technology, and efficient follow-up methods to ensure those leads stay on track in your sales pipeline. Get ready to revamp your lead generation game!

What Is Lead Generation in Real Estate?

Before we get started, here’s a quick definition: in the real estate industry, lead generation is the process of attracting potential clients interested in buying or selling properties, with the goal of guiding them into an ultimate transaction or sale.

Consistent lead generation is key to keeping income flowing into your business. It involves various strategies like digital marketing, networking, direct mail, and hosting open houses.

How to Generate Leads for Real Estate

Here’s a step-by-step guide to generating high-quality leads for your real estate business.

Know your target audience. It’s the first step for a reason. If you don’t have a keen understanding of who your customers are, you can’t design an effective lead gen strategy. Consider creating a customer persona, a written snapshot of your ideal customer, which includes demographic info, location, and personal information relevant to your business.

Audit your online brand presence. You’re probably already aware of some of the digital marketing tactics for real estate agents, from web forms to social media. Before you can make an actionable lead generation plan, it’s wise to audit your existing digital marketing. Ask yourself the following questions:

• On which social media channels (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn) am I active and inactive?
• On which real estate platforms am I active? (Zillow, Trulia?)
• Which digital channels did my current customers use to find me, if any?
• Are my values and brand identity clearly defined?
• Is my language and visual identity consistent across digital marketing channels?
• How is my online reputation? In other words, what are customers saying about me on review sites or on social media?

Start with your website and work from there. Consider your brand website to be your central location for your total online presence. Even if you wind up having more conversations through Instagram DMs than you do through your web contact forms, it’s wise to have a corner of the internet that’s purely under your control — and where potential clients can learn everything they need to know about you.

At a minimum, your real estate agent website should include a home page that communicates your unique value proposition, an about page that goes into detail about your real estate experience and your specializations, and a contact page with key information like your phone number, email address, and social media links. You may also use a contact page form to capture leads in a more systematic way.

Real estate agents can also benefit from having a testimonials page or section that shares quotes from happy clients. Your potential leads want to know what it will really be like to work with you, and “social proof” is still a major deciding factor across all industries.

Target your lead generation campaigns with focused landing pages. Once you’ve established your website as your “home base” for all information about you and your services, consider creating highly targeted landing pages that resonate even deeper with specific demographics. For example, if you serve a particular neighborhood, you might have a landing page that focuses only on that area — describing its key features and benefits, along with photos of your listings from that area and testimonials from those clients. Every landing page should have a concrete call to action, usually a button, that prompts the lead to contact you.

Invest your time in content marketing. Content marketing is a long-term strategy that pays dividends to real estate agents looking to build trust with their prospects. You’ve likely already engaged with brands or other real estate agents who are using blogs, videos, email marketing, and short-form social media content to educate, inspire, and entertain prospective customers. 

There’s a reason content has been such a mainstay in lead generation for all industries: when executed well, it doesn’t “feel” like marketing. Strong content marketing starts from a place of genuine curiosity and care. For example, your ideal client might be a first-time homebuyer who wants to understand the closing process (or types of mortgages or how to save for a home). Identify your prospects’ key topics of interest and create content that’s relevant to them. 

And don’t shy away from the fun stuff, either! Your leads are people, too, and a series of on-brand real estate memes may be just as likely to catch their attention as a journalistic article about FHA loans.

Build and manage your email list. Many businesses, realtors included, are sitting on a goldmine of email addresses and doing nothing with them. Emailing your network is one of the most powerful, direct, and cost-effective ways to stay in touch with leads. As long as everyone on your list has “opted in” to communicate with you (and you honor those who unsubscribe), you can stay top-of-mind with weekly or monthly email newsletters. Remember to center your email campaigns on providing value rather than self-promotion: your leads are far more likely to stick around if they’re enjoying reading or watching the content you send their way.

Don’t neglect good old-fashioned in-person tactics. While non-digital marketing tactics can take more time and effort, they can also help you stand out. Professional networking groups or networking events, and direct mail campaigns are still solid strategies for lead generation in real estate.

Keep business cards (digital or physical) and marketing materials with you, and talk about what you do. Your next lead may turn up at your favorite lunch place, in your kid’s school car line, or at the gym.

Use lead gen tools and technology to multiply effectiveness. You can’t be everywhere at once, so consider employing CRM systems, lead management software, and contact management apps to help expand your reach and stay sane.

Final Notes on Lead Generation

Lead generation is more than just capturing contact info or blasting your message out into the digital realm: be prepared to follow up multiple times over the course of months and possibly years through respectful communication. Analyze and adjust your lead generation strategies regularly based on performance metrics and feedback, and conduct due diligence when it comes to legal and ethical considerations around lead generation. With the right combination of strategy and persistence, you’ll see leads start to flow into prospects and, ultimately, sales!