Those actively investing in the real estate industry are fully aware of the importance of a lead. They are literally, and figuratively, the essence of any successful real estate business. Quality leads, otherwise known as hot leads, may result in the acquisition of a property that yields significant monetary gains. Subsequently, the right lead may be the differentiation between a successful year and a poor year. Therefore, generating better leads should be a top priority for anyone involved in residential development.
However, as rudimentary as this process may seem, many individuals are unaware of the steps that must be taken. While lead generation can take place on multiple levels, a lot of time should be dedicated to generating online leads. Consider the following points that have already caused successful real estate investors to shift their thinking towards online lead generation:
- According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), “90 percent of homebuyers searched online during their homebuying process, and real estate-related searches on Google.com have grown 253 percent over the past four years.”
- According to the NAR, “52 percent of prospective buyers turn to the web as their first step in the homebuying process.”
If you, as an investor, are interested in generating better leads online, you must familiarize yourself with capabilities of Internet marketing.
Generating better leads requires three particular traits: awareness, consideration and action.
Awareness
The genesis of any relationship requires a large degree of awareness. Ultimately, for investors to receive a lead, they must first make a prospective seller aware of their presence. The Internet has a myriad of tools that streamline this particular process. Use the following strategies to announce yourself to the digital community:
- Pay-per click SEO
- Organic SEO
- Social media
- Blog
- Public relations
Implementing these techniques can exponentially grow your presence online. Remember, the more people that know about you, the better you will be at generating leads. It all starts with awareness.
Consideration
While growing awareness is critical, it is simply a cog in the machine of generating better leads. You can’t just wait for prospective sellers to contact you because they see your advertisements online. Companies have a very small window of opportunity to make a good first impression.
Make sure your site features the right information and offers a winsome user experience. Lead incubation success hinges on property search and detail pages. Assuming you have properly captured their attention, you must then obtain the appropriate information. It is essential to strategically place trigger events that allow users to voluntarily provide their names and emails (also known as a squeeze page). This creates the potential for lead incubation in the future.
Action
Speed of implementation is critical at this juncture. Immediately after receiving a client’s information, follow up with them. Your goal is to engage in a meaningful online relationship with them. Learn what you can with the limited information you have gained. The marketer’s real goal is to send targeted messages based on individual behavior and preferences.
The best way to make this happen is to implement an inbound marketing tool (such as Marketo, Eloqua and scores of others) that monitors online behavior and gives you the ability to engage strategically. For example, an online user that visits the same property five times within two weeks represents a unique lead incubation opportunity.
Online trends are only predicted to increase. It is up to you to take advantage of the tools online marketing offers. If you do, generating better leads will become second nature.
