How To Use Internet Marketing To Increase Your Real Estate Lead Generation

 

Generating Real Estate Leads

It’s important to mention if you are a real estate professional that wants more leads, then reinvesting earned commissions into marketing is imperative. You won’t experience much success though without a solid marketing plan.

All real estate agents experienced and new, know that competition for clients can be difficult. In the U.S. alone there are over 400,000 real estate agents. That is a ton of competition!

Some of those agents are part-time agents, but what if you are included in the part-time group?

This blog post is intended to help all agents generate more real estate leads through Internet marketing, no matter your experience in regards to marketing.

I would like to encourage you to not give up as a real estate agent who is trying to market online. I hope that you hang on with me so you can gain a few tips to help you succeed in your target area.

Real Estate Internet Marketing Challenges

When talking about Internet marketing, the real estate industry has some very unique challenges. The challenges can be subject to time, more competitive, and very localized, compared to other industries.

Chances are you compete with the same agents in the same areas. Your fellow agents are either learning Internet marketing better or hiring marketing specialists like me to help them get a competitive edge.

Your Internet marketing strategy must get your prospective clients' attention, and that is what this blog post is all about.

How To Generate Real Estate Leads Online

Ways to get your prospects' attention.

-You need a professional website.

-Discover and utilize the most effective ways to reach your potential clients in your area.

-Drive your potential clients to your website and convert them to leads.

-Continue following up with your leads and provide them with the information they will see as valuable.

-...get paid!

You will succeed as an online marketing Realtor if you know how to do those things. I will go over each of the points for you.

Why focus on generating real estate leads with Internet marketing?

 

You might be asking if it is worth the time and effort to learn Internet marketing and the answer is always yes. It is at least a good idea to get a general understanding of online marketing and then if you wish you can hire a professional marketer like myself to help you.

In this blog post, I will give you a good overview.

Here are three main benefits of Internet marketing your services:

-How To Build Your Brand

Your brand in real estate can be taken with you no matter the industry you are connected with. If you build your brand right in real estate, just imagine the impact it can have in other areas.

-Get New Customers and Clients

Traditionally real estate agents market themselves offline through networking events, workshops, and mailers but there is a better way to generate leads for real estate.

It is more effective to connect with potential clients online first. Almost 48% of buyers viewed 3-5 pieces of online content before speaking with a sales representative according to an online survey.

This does not mean that potential clients don’t want to talk to an agent. It just means that potential clients are familiar with educating themselves more online today. It is not your fault, it is just what the Internet has conditioned people to do. People love getting instant information online. This conditioning can be used to your benefit.

-Connect With With Existing Clients

It was many months ago that you sold the property, and did you forget to follow up with that buyer? It’s a bad idea to miss the opportunity to stay in touch with your clients. The previous clients are just as important as your new ones.

 

The National Association of Realtors (NAR), reports that 64% of real estate agents' business comes directly from people they already know.

This is why using social media to network with others is good for real estate agents. You can easily stay in contact with clients. Your contacts will recommend you to their friends and family because you are staying in touch through social media.

The Future of Internet Marketing Real Estate

Technology is changing the world and it is also changing real estate marketing. This fact should convince you that marketing yourself online is worth your time and money. 

A survey recently showed that over 92% of home buyers use the Internet in their search activity. 

Can I Succeed In Internet Marketing?

Keep pushing on with learning Internet marketing. You only need three things to succeed with Internet marketing:

-A marketing plan (investing in tools)

-General marketing understanding

-Don’t quit attitude

With those three things, you can generate leads for real estate at a very low investment.

The 3rd one is completely up to you but if you need help and can’t do everything you can call on professionals like us to carry some of that technical load.

Keep reading and I will help you with some marketing knowledge that will equip you to start towards real estate Internet marketing success.

 

Internet Marketing Channels For Real Estate

Content Marketing

Content is the king on the Internet and this content can be designed to inform home buyers. Your buyers want to learn as much as they can.

Most people looking for a home are constantly searching for information on...

-How to buy a home in their chosen area

-Where to buy a home in their chosen area

-Who are the best real estate professionals in their chosen area

Most buyers and sellers are attracted to big real estate websites when searching. Great content that you or a marketing professional can create will help you stand out from the big real estate websites.

Great content will help you build your brand and stand out as a premier expert real estate provider in your area.

 

You need to begin by creating high-value content. What is high-value content?

High-value content is content that a specific group of people will find a large amount of value in because the content is information specific.

A good example would be, if one of your website visitors who did a search “how to buy a home in Houston, Texas,” and your content answers that question thoroughly, then your visitor will find your content to be very valuable. Your content specifically answers the questions they have. 

To finish up on content, I would like to share several ways you can Internet market your valuable content.

-You can create area guides and pages that target keywords in your city.

-Make a blog, infographics, podcasts, and webinars.

-All of the mentioned can be found on search engines by those who are looking for housing information.

 

Social Media Marketing

You can grow your brand awareness with a social media presence and best of all, it’s free! This is called “social selling.” When you are interacting with potential clients on social media that is called “social selling.” This form of selling is very effective. Feedback Systems put out a report in 2015 detailing 61% of businesses that implemented social selling recorded an increase in revenue.

As a real estate agent, you can use new social media tactics besides interacting with prospective clients. You can use panoramic images, online videos, and even 306-degree images.

You may be able to think of several online shows that feature a new video often and many even live stream their shows. This type of online show will further your brand and provide valuable content. It will also help you reach out to larger audiences of prospective clients.

Another great feature and benefit of using social media to market your real estate services are your followers can refer you to friends and family very easily. You will agree that social media is not traditional marketing for real estate but it does work very well because referral to others is the number one strategy for generating real estate leads. Not to mention referrals will increase your social media following.

Social media marketing is one of the main marketing services we offer to help our clients get more leads. Set up a free consultation with us to see if our social media campaign is a good fit.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO helps online searchers find your website and connect with you. It is an important factor in your online marketing and we can help you with that. As a real estate professional, it is important to understand that search traffic volume isn’t the most important SEO factor. One of the most important things is getting relevant, local traffic to your site.

Relevant, local traffic will help build your branding and position you as your area expert. Your local traffic that is generated will more than likely be prospective clients. 

What other SEO factors are important for generating real estate leads?

CTR or click-through rate: You want a high click-through rate. A high click-through rate proves your content is relevant and engaging. Use Google Analytics to check your CTR. Google Analytics is also a great way to get data on who is visiting your website.

Engagement: The more engagement you can produce with your potential clients, the more referral traffic will come your way. 

Social Proof: Likes, comments, shares, and testimonials are social proof. These build your website’s authority and will help you rank higher in the search engines. Social proof can influence potential clients to decide to work with you. It is also important to mention that social proof is not meant to be actual leads, but as mentioned they are very important.

 

Now that I am mentioning search engines, what is the first search engine that comes to mind? That’s right! Google.

There are other search engines as you know, and SEO doesn’t just apply to Google. There’s Bing, Yahoo, and many others. Of all the search engines, Google makes up more than 65% of all online searches. It’s important to optimize your website for as many search engines as possible to maximize your traffic flow through search technology. 

You want to make sure your site is visible to your potential clients as well as search engines. We can help with this by giving you a free consultation. Contact us to help you generate more leads.

Website Design

The design of your website will play an important part in visitors converting into leads. If you want to generate leads from your website your site’s design must be professional and appealing. Potential clients are wanting to buy a beautiful home so you might as well have a nice looking website. Your website can reflect the desired feelings home buyers are looking for in a home. It’s a bit of a psychological idea but it does work.

You will also want your website to be optimized for mobile technology. In my opinion, you don’t have a choice on this. It is a must! Over 73% of home buyers use a mobile device when searching for a home, according to NAR’s 2016 home buyers and sellers report. 

Internet Marketing Automation

After implementing automation technology to your website, you will more than likely see an increase in engagement. Most businesses report positive results within six months of implementing automation. Bots are a good example of automation technology that can help your Internet marketing. Bots will engage with your site visitors as soon as they visit. Bots can also send targeted messages based on your visitors' browsing history. It’s a great technology that will immediately relate to your visitors.

Paid Advertising

Paid search advertising is not the least expensive option for Internet marketing, but it will most definitely generate high quality leads for real estate. Because of the exposure of paid search, your existing listing will get more exposure. You know how important that is.

When it comes to membership gatekeeping, real estate portal websites won't always get the exposure that is desired. To see the listing, visitors have to log in, which can hinder search technology. 

If you put up your advertisements, like social media ads or paid search ads, this can eliminate the inconvenience.

Knowing your target audience is key with paid advertisements and with social media ads, you will need to know the buying/selling process your visitors are in. 

A good example would be most of the people on LinkedIn. They are mostly young professionals that are shopping for their first home. Instagram is full of younger people browsing through homes for entertainment. Many of those are in the first stages of home buying.

While paid search is cheaper than print advertising, you shouldn’t rely on it only. The conversion rate for AdWords is almost 3% and the display network is around 0.89%. That’s about a 2:1 general return on your investment dollar. 

 

If you rely solely on paid ads only it can be very costly. Make sure you are using a large Internet marketing strategy to help you generate leads for real estate. There are many things you can do on your own to help.

Are You Ready to Generate More Leads?

Begin to create your Internet content to help drive organic traffic and leads. There are many strategies with Internet marketing that real estate agents can use to connect with prospects. The more methods you use the greater the odds. Connect with your clients by using what resonates with your target clients. 

If you are a Realtor who is fairly new to Internet marketing, then you will probably need some extra guidance. Feel free to contact us for a free consultation. Robert West Media Agency will help you with a sound marketing strategy for generating more real estate leads.

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Internet Marketing Agency For Realtors & Teams