Posted on 18/06/2021 by alex

As an Estate Agent, you will always be looking for ways to find more homeowner leads. So we’ve put together our top 6 savvy tips on how you can do just that.

1. Use Social Media – Organic and Paid

Let the statistics explain why Social Media is important:

• Social media has a 100% higher lead-to-close rate than outbound marketing. - HubSpot
• 71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend the brand to their friends and family. - Lyfe Marketing
• 66% of marketers that spend at least 6 hours on social media per week have gotten more leads. - Content Factory

We hope these statistics prove to you that the future of many of your leads is in Social Media. Let's move on to how to use social media to get leads.

Generating homeowner leads from organic Social Media

So what is organic social media? Organic social media is the free content you post on your profile. This may be a status update, where you ask your followers a question or post a picture. Or it could be sharing a recent article you have published on your website, or from another respectable website within the industry.

Utilising organic Social Media:

1. Keep everything up-to-date

Make sure your social media profiles are up-to-date and accurate. This includes adding a link to your website and including keywords that describe your business. Each social media platform offers different fields in which to fill out, some being optional, some being mandatory. The more detailed information you provide the better for customers and prospects.

2. Be engaging and consistent

Post interesting and engaging content regularly. This could be anything from blog posts to infographics to videos. Make sure it's relevant to your target audience and appeals to their interests. Knowing your audience is essential. Each age group's needs and likes will vary, including the format in which you provide your content.

3. Use relevant hashtags sparingly

While hashtags can be useful for attracting attention, overusing them can make your posts look spammy. Choose a couple of relevant hashtags and use them sparingly. Some of the common hashtags used by estate agents are:

#properties #realestate #property #realtor #forsale #investment #realestateagent #househunting #home #newhome #realty #dreamhome #listing #broker #luxury #homesforsale #housing #house #justlisted #mortgage #propertymanagement #homeforsale #luxuryrealestate #realtorlife #homesweethome #luxuryhomes #homes #propertyinvestment #homesale #bhfyp

4. Network with others

Connect with other businesses and individuals in your industry. Share their content, comment on their posts, and collaborate where possible. This will help you build relationships and attract new followers.

5. Monitor your analytics regularly

Keep an eye on how many people are engaging with your content and what type of content is most popular. This will help you fine-tune your strategy and ensure that you're reaching the right audience and getting the most out of your social media activity.

6. Speak to followers in a friendly manner

If people comment on your post, don’t come over too salesy. Talk to them as you would as someone you are just getting to know. Respond to their question, ask them what they do, or what interests they have.

By following these tips, you can generate homeowner leads using social media organically. Remember to be patient and keep experimenting until you find what works best for you and your business.

Generating homeowner leads from paid Social Media

Paid ads help display your services in front of the right target audience. Each platform provides specific targeting options, so your social ads show bespoke content based on their interest. Configured correctly, Social ads can offer a high ROI, playing a huge part in helping generate homeowner leads. If you were wondering, data shows, that 40% of marketers agreed that Facebook provides the highest ROI, closely followed by Instagram.

Utilising paid Social Media:

1. Choose the right platform

Not all social media platforms are created equal - some are better suited for generating leads than others. According to this digital marketing report, Facebook has the highest Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), with other platforms trailing behind. Always do your research and choose a platform that will reach your target audience, with the highest potential returns on your investment.

2. Create targeted ads

When creating your ads, make sure you target your specific audience with the right format and content, and be sure to include a strong call to action. Most social media platforms offer laser targeting options, which allow you to target potential customers based on demographics, interests, and even purchase behaviour. Utilise these options to reach your target market as accurately as possible.

3. Experiment with different types of ads

Some ads work better than others, so it's important to experiment until you find what works best for you. Try different formats (text, image, video), targeting options, and call to action to see what produces the best results. Once your ads have been running for a while, analyse the results to see what's working and what isn't, and use this information to plan and create future ad campaigns. Always review and improve.

4. Use conversion tracking

This will help you track how many leads your ads are generating and ensure that you're getting a good return on investment. Each social media platform that provides paid advertisement provides tools to track and analyse your conversions. However, for those that may be running multiple campaigns, organic or paid, across multiple platforms, social media management tools are recommended. From a single location, users can monitor their campaigns and how well they are performing.

Paid social media can be a great way to generate homeowner leads quickly and efficiently. By following these tips, you can create a successful campaign that will help you reach your target audience.

What are the Strengths of each Social Media platform?

Every platform has its strengths and it is important to know them so you can make an informed decision on which platform to focus your marketing activities.

Facebook Strengths

• Large user base - 2 billion monthly active users
• Targeted advertising - Micro-target specific audiences based on demographics, interests, locations
• Easily scale content -paid ads help increase audience reach
• Robust Analytics - Detailed analytics for businesses

Instagram Strengths

• Visual platform - Posts with images receive more engagement
• Engaging Stories - Instagram Stories are seen as more engaging than other social media platforms
• Location-based features - Geotags and filters can help businesses target specific areas

LinkedIn Strengths

• Very professional platform - LinkedIn is seen as a more professional social media platform
• Targeting options - LinkedIn allows businesses to target specific job titles, industries, and company size
• Professional networking - LinkedIn is great for business networking

Twitter Strengths

• Real-time news -Twitter is great for following current events and getting real-time updates
• Variety of content - Tweeters post a variety of content, from news to jokes to memes
• Conversational tone -Twitter has a conversational tone that can be engaging
• Appear in Google Search Results - Public tweets are indexed by Google and can be displayed if your tweet is relevant to the user's query

It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that on some online property listings, you can also include your social media links. The double benefit here is that potential homebuyers can also share your properties with their networks.

If you want more juicy tips on how to make social media work for you, our blog on 6 Reasons Estate Agents Should Use Social Media To Get More Leads is a must-read.

2. E-newsletter and Email nurture

Email is still very much alive and kicking around with 80% of small to medium-sized businesses using it to generate new leads.

Do you have a quality list of potential clients to email?

By quality, I mean recent homeowners who have told you that they are planning to move house.

Let me explain why the word “recent” is important.

How does it make you feel when you receive an email from a service provider about something you enquired about many moons ago that is of no interest to you now?

Yep, exactly, ensure that the people on your list have been contacted in the last few months and are still motivated to move. Only then have you got yourself a quality list.

Once you have a list that is squeaky clean (and this will keep growing if you follow all the other top tips that I am sharing with you in this and all my other blogs) you’re ready to start contacting them.

Create an e-newsletter

Whether it’s monthly or weekly, newsletters are an important way of keeping in the mindsets of potential customers whilst also appealing to new ones.

You can use newsletters to alert people to new properties on your books. It’s a great way to promote your blog content (more of that below), useful property news, industry trends, tips, and even funny news related to property.

Be the helpful Estate Agent and your e-newsletter will be read every time.

Email nurture

Email what? I hear you say. Okay, it’s a bit of a jargonistic and buzzword at the moment. Let me explain why it’s so important.

As an Estate Agent, you can have lots of success converting your social media leads through your email nurture.

Email nurture means taking leads and keeping in contact by offering relevant information to help them to make the decision in your favour.

Email nurture is much more sophisticated than a standard e-newsletter

Email nurture or email journey is a series of pre-written emails that are often a lot shorter than your standard e-newsletter because you’re sharing one key piece of information in each email..

You can send these weekly, fortnightly, or less frequently.

The more frequent the emails, the easier it is for potential customers to get to know you, and your brand and start to build trust with what you are offering.

Don’t wait more than 3 weeks between emails otherwise, you may get forgotten about.

The lead is being “nurtured” as they are drip-fed information so they can make a decision based on knowledge, and trust in you, as opposed to being hurried along with a sales pitch.

3. Pick up the Phone

Are you asking your former customers to help you to generate more leads?

By talking to your customers, you can find out what they loved about your service and even where you can improve.

This doesn’t have to be a long questionnaire but just a general chat after the sale.

When any client gives you an inkling that they have had a great experience with you, pick up the phone and ask for a testimonial. Check out our article that provides tips for prospecting by phone.

Share testimonials from your formal clients

You can pop these on the website (or a separate page for testimonials) on your social media pages and in that e-newsletter.

Show that real people are endorsing your services and people are going to trust your business.

If possible, place a picture of the person along with the testimonial. This helps to build credibility.

4. Be a Blogger

As a blogger, it isn’t going to come as a huge surprise that I’m going to suggest that you blog about your Estate Agency.

If you’re not yet convinced that blogging is for you, here are some hard facts on why you’ll want to give it a go;

• A blog that contains a mixture of helpful tips and statistics will give you credibility as an Estate Agent - in other words, it will look like you know what you are talking about.
• You will have something to post on those social media accounts that you’ve set up.
• You will have content for your website, which in turn will increase your Google ranking (and isn’t that what we’re all chasing?) to bring more potential customers to your website.
• You will have content for your e-newsletters and email nurture.

There’s a common theme here; all your marketing across social media, email, and website can be linked up.

So you’re not having to think up new content but your sharing (some or all of the content) across the different channels.

Be a guest - blogger

You can even contact businesses that you think share common ground with your Estate Agency, such as mortgage advisers, and see if you can feature on one of their blogs. Again you’ll be recycling what you have already written.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

In its simplest (although it isn’t so simple otherwise we will all be doing it!) form, to optimize your website for SEO. The goal is to gain the top rankings on the first page of Google, Yahoo or Bing because this will bring more visits to your website.

SEO for your business is something that you will want and need to invest in if you decide you want to go down this route.

Keywords: The foundation on which SEO is built

SEO is built on keywords: the words that people type into search engines when looking for an ‘an estate agent in Manchester.

The same words that must appear on your website, in the right places, in order for your pages to be matched for those searches.

What happens if you use the wrong keywords? Well, you won’t be matched up with the prospects, who are searching for an Estate Agent in your area. .

How to dominate the search results

The search results are a complex mix of different types of content.

If you focus purely on the keywords and not building links from other sites back to yours, you may do very well in the regular, web page organic search results, but still, miss other great opportunities.

I did say it wasn’t that simple!

Make your content SEO friendly

When writing copy for your website and your listings, think about keywords that resonate within the property market.

If you’re based in Manchester, you’ll be writing content based around ‘the best places to live in Manchester’ or ‘Manchester properties close to primary schools’.

This will help with search engine ranking and make it easier to find your website through Google searches.

Make your site mobile friendly

Whether it’s during lunchtime or a quick search after work, your prospective customers are most likely going to be looking at your website on a mobile device.

Don’t be left behind with an outdated website. Make sure that your website works on Android and Apple devices and across all web browsers.

I’m certainly not suggesting that you need to do a complete redesign but updating pages on your website fortnightly is a happy medium. If you need inspiration on website design, check out the top estate agent websites as voted by Awwwards.

If you plan on implementing the suggestions I’ve made in this blog, you’ll be adding new property listings, testimonials and your own blog to your website. And Google and the web browsers will reward you for it.

There are lots of services available out there to help you to increase the number of homeowner leads.

6. Don't forget Print Advertising

There's no doubt that estate agents have a lot of competition out there. With the internet making it easier for people to search for property, estate agents need to find ways to stand out from the pack and attract potential clients. And while online advertisement is certainly becoming more popular, print advertisement is still worth it for estate agents.

Let the statistics explain why Social Media is important:

• Brand recall was 70% higher for those exposed to direct mail piece, than a digital ad - Forbes
• 82% of consumers trust print ads the most when making a purchase decision – Finances Online
• Print and direct mail marketing receive 9% customer response rate compared to other digital marketing channels – R.C. Brayshaw & Company

Newspapers and magazines

Advertising in newspapers and magazines is a great way to target homeowners who are interested in buying or selling a property. 70% of households with an income of approximately £75,000 or more are newspaper readers. If the majority of people with a high income are reading the newspaper, then get your print advert in front of them.

Billboards

Billboards are a great way to reach many people in a short amount of time. However, Estate Agents need to do research as to whether creating and maintaining a billboard is worth their time and money.

Things to consider:

• Location – location is key and depends on the type of Estate Agency you run. Is it close to your office? Is it within the area you service?
• Visibility – You found the area you wish the billboard to be placed, and now you need to make sure it is easy to notice and read
• Traffic – This goes for both pedestrians and vehicles. With billboards converting an estimated 1% of viewers, ensuring there is sufficient traffic to cover costs is important.
• Cost - With the average cost of a billboard in the UK costing £200-500 for two weeks, you need to combine all your research to decide whether billboards are worth it

Want to know more?

If you provide letting services and want to know how to find landlords, read our article on 40 ways to find landlords. It provides an extensive list of ways to find landlords to present your services to.

Because we are super helpful here, at Agent Extra, do get in touch if you would like more information, support or guidance on how you can start to attract more customers. We are experts on generating motivated leads for UK Estate Agents, using Social Media Ads, Google Ads, and Telemarketing. Every single one of the campaigns is tailored to our client's needs.