Lead generation is tough because nothing is guaranteed. A golden lead might evaporate into nothing. A less-than-solid lead might result in a sale. However, as subjective as a lead can be, it is the backbone of the real estate industry. Without leads, you cannot sell houses. Without selling houses, you cannot make money. So, even though the value of a lead may look worth little, there are ways to increase the likelihood that your leads increase in value.
You need a marketing strategy that is tailored to the needs of your real estate agency. This marketing strategy needs to focus on what is important to a real estate agency, especially when it is generating leads to disperse among its agency and brokers.
You need to focus on improving search ranking, increasing the value of the leads that are submitted to you, helping potential leads find your business, and increasing your visibility so that you can do all of the above.
As real estate professionals, you know how important leads are. However, what you might not know is how to generate leads quicker via the use of a real estate marketing strategy, especially a strategy specifically focused on lead generation. Some things within such a strategy are done differently than other types of marketing strategies, so it is always useful to tailor your strategy to your industry needs and wants.
Here are four facets to keep in mind for your strategy to generate more leads.
1. Real Estate Search Ranking
Search ranking refers to the ranking your website gets on various search engines. A high search ranking means that your website will be closer to the top of the first page of results for relevant keywords. A low search ranking means that your website will be further down on the list.
Of course, it is every company’s goal to at least have a high enough search ranking to hit the top page on all the various search engines. However, unless you are in a new market, with a revolutionary product, instantaneously producing a high search ranking will take time and effort. And real estate is no new market.
This is where lead generation comes in. Every minute or so, search engines that you have submitted your website to will “crawl” your website. The search engines will analyze the information on your website, evaluate its originality, evaluate the sheer amount of information in terms of web pages, and then either increase or decrease your search ranking depending on the search engines secret algorithm.
While the exact algorithm is unknown, you can generate a high search ranking by adding new information to your site that is well-sourced, original, and uploaded consistently. A higher search ranking will help you with lead generation as long as a potential customer uses the search engine you are ranked on in order to find a real estate agency.
2. The Value of a Real Estate Lead
Leads are everywhere. As an agency, and as individual agents, you need to quickly evaluate the leads you are given, and prioritize the most probable ones that will end in sales and commissions.
The best way to strengthen the value of a lead is to increasingly personalize the relationship that you have with a client, as long as professional standards are adhered to. This means being in contact with a client to answer all of their questions when questions arise, taking them out for coffee or lunch to talk about their home selling plans, becoming “friends” on social media and following each other, keeping them up to date on any changes in the selling process so that they can remain informed, and so on.
However, until the ink is dry on that contract, a lead is just a lead.
While you should invest in your relationships with your clients, you should also acknowledge the fact that a lead is just a lead and, until that contract is signed, it has as much value as we are willing to give it. We valuate it. We do not let others evaluate it.
If you think a lead is valuable, pursue it. If not, hand the lead off to someone else at the agency who wants it or drop it. The time and effort that goes into securing a bad lead can easily go into securing a good lead.
3. How Real Estate Leads Find Your Business
In simple terms, leads find your business when the people behind the leads find your business. Your real estate agency could be the best in the world, but all that potential success could mean null if no one with leads can find you. You need to be visible in this day and age, especially online.
Social media accounts can positively affect your search ranking on search engines. Every social media account allows you to link back to your professional website. If your professional website is a subdomain of your agency’s website, you are helping push their search ranking up while doing the same for yourself.
Social media accounts also help you get in touch with your local community faster. There is no more worrying about whether you blew the sale because your prospect is out of the office, or if you have the time to drive over and talk about real estate matters. You can now fire off a tweet at any time of the day and know that your prospect received it.
Social media done right can strengthen your business and it should be a cornerstone of your real estate marketing strategy if you want to generate more leads by strengthening and expanding your local and virtual network.
4. Why Being Visible is Important
Being visible is everything. If no one knows you exist, no one will approach you with leads. Visibility also provides you with credibility. Being a real estate agent is similar to being a pundit on television.
The more well-known you make yourself the more people will trust you, even if they know little about you. You need to plaster your face, and your agency, everywhere, all the while making good contributions to social issues that affect real estate, like the death tax, and outline difficult processes in simple ways, like explaining the importance behind home inspection.
Starting a blog, not only as a professional, but as an agency, is a quick way to boost your credibility. The higher the credibility, the more potential leads you can generate. Real estate, like any other type of business that thrives on social interaction, is all about the trust between the buyer and the seller.
These four facets will help you generate more leads. However, in order to do so, simply implementing these features is not enough. You have to dedicate some time every day to improving your lead generation. This may mean writing a blog post on your professional website, and then linking it to your social media profiles and agency website. It may mean performing customer service for clients and answering all their questions over Twitter. It may mean reaching out to new clients over social media. There are many things you can do. This is just a short list. However, you must commit to engaging with this strategy as it cannot do it alone.
Over time, you will see your search ranking rise, your authority and credibility rise, and the generation of leads will arise for you and your agency. Put yourself out there and start winning by utilizing the power of social media and the web; you can increase your ability to generate leads.
For more information about Real Estate Lead Generation, check out InCom’s online marketing and lead generation solutions page! Click here.
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