Where to Find the Best Real Estate Leads for Your Business

There are lots of ways through which leads can be generated in the real estate business. Some of these methods include referrals from friends, previous clients, billboards, display marketing techniques like bench marketing (e.g. at bus stops), paper fliers and direct meetings (e.g. open houses), digital marketing techniques (e.g. Google, Facebook), online marketplaces such as Zillow in the United States and Wowa in Canada.     

To be the best real estate agent, it is pertinent to know which of these lead generation methods is best. As well, it is important to note what the recent trends in real estate lead generation are, and how to effectively utilize them.

A couple of these lead generation methods are discussed below: 

Lead Generation Through Old Clients

For most real estate agents, the best leads are gotten from old clients. Here’s why: when a client is happy with your work, they are often motivated to refer you to more potential clients (perhaps friends or family). Additionally, AZ Flat Fee recommends you ask past clients you liked working with to write a short review of their experience with you – this way, you can continue attracting ideal clients. However, the trend is changing, as fluidity in living situations for most people increases. As people increasingly change locations, they are more likely to need agents for newer, unfamiliar locations which they might be moving to. 

As well, these days, a lot of people like to have several options to compare and choose from, even for simple purchases like T-shirts; hence for more important purchases like a house, there’s a lot of interest in who the real estate agent, mortgage lender and so on, will be.

Lead Generation Through Display Marketing Methods

How about display marketing techniques? Are they of any importance? Billboards and other display marketing techniques can help make your brand famous if you are a popular agent, however, for the average agent, it’s not advisable to spend your money on such. If no one has heard of you or seen you before, it wouldn’t make much difference if they see you being promoted on an ad, but for an already successful agent, it reinforces the impression of them being successful in the minds of clients.  

Lead Generation Through Online Marketing Methods

Online marketing methods are gradually becoming the go-to methods for lead generation. For this to be effective however, real estate agents have to understand what potential leads are searching for. One common question which buyers ask is this: “how much mortgage can I afford?”    

Sellers on the other hand, often want to know how much their homes are worth.

Armed with this information, real estate agents can then project themselves via online marketing strategies, with the aim of getting the attention of both potential buyers and sellers. A good example of how to get a buyer’s attention, especially one who’s concerned about mortgage plans would be to introduce such a buyer to a monthly mortgage payment calculator, which would help them in figuring out how much mortgage would cost every month. 

What is the Future of Lead Generation?

What is the actual future of lead generation? The future is leaning more towards digitalization. Digital Flyer from Pro Agent Solutions texts an interested buyer property information while simultaneously informing the listing agent by text and email they have a lead.

As for other things, people like to cross-check smart transparent marketplaces so as to compare realtor options, with this comparison done online. These platforms have features of both online shopping and dating platforms so potential buyers and sellers can find out about both the skills and the character of the agents. Some of these smart marketplaces include Wowa in Canada, which helps with digital real estate lead generation and Zillow in the United States. While comparing both marketplaces, note that Zillow doesn’t provide the feature which Wowa provides for potential buyers and sellers to compare their options. Nonetheless, the smart real estate agent knows that his/her lead generation potential is massively increased when they make strong efforts to be seen and known online. 

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.