Generating Inbound Real Estate Leads – Get more transactions for less money

 

How do you market in 2012 to get transactions and take advantage of a growing market?

Over the past 8 years at BIRDVIEW I have seen every marketing tactics in an effort to help real estate professionals get more leads.  The problem is leads do not always equal sales and vendors sometimes believe generating leads is enough.  Real Estate professionals and vendors, like BIRDVIEW, have seen this first hand.  What it boils down to is generating leads can be like get rich schemes that is you will have a minority of people succeed and a majority people fail.  To generate the volume of leads that most people want requires a great deal of investment that small businesses currently do not have.  The problem is not always just generating opportunities ,it is about generating quality opportunities.  So let’s take a look at some best practices for generating quality opportunities.

Get more targeted in your keywords and phrases

For years real estate professionals have concerned themselves to getting to the top of search engines, like Google rather the real goal about will this lead to more transactions? I used to get questions like “Tom, I need to be at the top of keywords like ‘Chicago Real Estate’.  How can I do that?  My answer would normally be you can either 1) Buy Ad Space on Google, Yahoo etc. (Pay Per Click) which is the fastest way to get to the top of Google, 2) We can build your web site with unique content, and search engine friendly terms to get their naturally (Search Engine Optimization), 3) You can come up in local geographic search like ‘realtors in Chicago’ (Local Search Marketing).

This is wrong, and not consulting!

The following problems would arise?

1.       Pay Per Click Marketing (PPC)

a.       PPC ads drive visitors but not leads – because terms are so generic

b.      Clients do not respond to leads for days

c.       There are no immediate calls to action when visitors click on the ad – they are driven to a web site that is not ready to secure leads.

2.       Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

a.       Takes too long

b.      Is too expensive

c.       Difficult to understand

d.      Web site drives visitors but does not convert visitors into leads because of limited calls to action

3.       Local Search Marketing (LSM)

a.       Generates interest or visitors but not leads

b.      Limited in its reach

Answer:  The more targeted your keywords and phrases on 1) PPC the less expensive it is and the higher quality leads you get, 2) SEO the quicker you get to the top of search engines the more quality exposure you get. 3) LSM the more defined your terms the better the results.

Regardless of generating quality visitors what you want to do is generate quality leads and that leads us to the next important element.

Effective Calls to Action, effect response times, effect conversions  

Effective calls to action are the most over looked component in marketing.  This is where most real estate professionals confuse ineffective marketing with ineffective lead conversion.  At BIRDVIEW, I always would tell clients your VISITS are going up, and the client would say but I am not getting leads.  So what can you do?  Look for ways to automate the lead flow processes so you can convert more leads.

For example, on all of your web pages, blogs, emails and social media you need to try to incorporate as many of the following:

1. Install Simple Contact forms
2. Contact forms need to Email, Text, and/or Call You
3. Use tech solutions like CLICK TO CALL, SPEAK2LEADS, and/or  INSTANT CHAT programs to FORCE you to talk to leads immediately.

Grow an Maintain Your Audience

People are creatures of habit, and one bad habit that most real estate professionals and sales professionals still have is they throw away 90 to 95% of their leads every year.  You may be like “what are you talking about?”.  So let me explain…………………………..

Much like the get rich scheme reference earlier that is how we ALL have treated our leads and relationships.  Don't just be there when you need them, be there all the time because you never know when they need you.  We work the leads that are looking to do something now and often negate the leads that are further out,  The reason is we use excuses like....

1. I’m only going to spend time with people looking to buy
2. They are a waste of my time, 
3. I have other things better to do.

Well in some cases I would agree with theses excuses, I even told my own sales people this ;0), but times have changed – Social Media (like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook), Email Marketing (Drip Marketing and Newsletter Marketing), and Blogging have changed all that.

Let me use numbers to bring more clarity

If I talk to a client and they want to close one transaction a month, and they close 1% of their leads, then they will have to generate 100 leads a month, right?  WRONG!!!!!!  This use to be the case and that is why people keep thinking lead generation costs so much.

100 leads = 1 Close is the algorithm for the first month.

My question is what happens to the other 99 leads you did not sell in month one when month two roles around?   Usually there is a small percentage that you are still somewhat working, let's say 5%.  Ok then what happens to the other 95 leads, they get neglected for the most part.

With an effective cultivation and follow up program using Social Media, Email and Blogging you will retain 100% of your prospects every month by communicating with them and cultivating them to take them through the sales cycle and become an authority in your business.

That means by adding another 100 new leads in month two you should close 2 deals not one the next month.  It saves you time, money and energy.   

We are talking about using technology to work smarter, not harder.

Quality Content and Quality Activity is Key         

In order to effectively take all leads you generate and have them opt into your Social Media, Email and Blogging network you need to have quality content and you need to post consistently.

Don’t talk about yourself.  Give prospective and current clients information they can use.  Instead of saying we sell real estate in Chicago on a post you will show an article that shows how there is a boom in the Chicago real estate market.  It gets the point across and offers validation.

Social Proof is Key

How many real estate professionals talk about how referrals are the back bone of their business?  Well leverage that on the Internet by showcasing referrals and recommendations on your site, social media, email etc.  Also, it is easy to preach but your words carry a lot more weight when you can show articles and information that supports your position.

Come to our webinar to see how all these elements work together and can help you convert more transactions and spend less money!