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51 Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas To Take To The Bank

Written by Paul Esajian

The secret to obtaining success in real estate derives from lead generation. Although finding real estate lead generation ideas continues to be the bane of existence for many investors, the manufacturing of new sales leads serves as the key component in establishing a dominant real estate brand identity, as well as the catalyst for long-term success. In real estate, the practice of real estate lead generation is designed to stimulate interest for the purpose of developing a sales pipeline, which aims to turn leads into prospects, then clients, and finally closed clients.

While the ability to engage, entice and capture customers is the hallmark of successful real estate business marketing, it’s no walk in the park. In some cases, investors will need to experiment with an assortment of real estate lead generation ideas before uncovering what works best. In addition, the marketing approach investors implement to attract new clientele will depend on a series of factors, including an investor’s business and marketing plan. In the end, having an abundance of real estate lead generation ideas will only help investors — whether just starting out or a seasoned pro — to narrow down the best strategy moving forward.


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Marketing ideas for real estate investors

51 Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas For Investors

For those looking to take their real estate lead generation ideas from good to great, the following highlights 51 real estate lead generation ideas for investors.

Unique Real Estate Lead Generation Tips

  • Bandit signs: Although highly debated, bandit signs continue to serve as excellent tool for real estate investors. These marketing signs, which are similar in nature to a billboard, are useful in generating a wide array of exposure, as well as potential customers.
  • Start a partnership: A real estate business partner can provide an exceptional opportunity to generate real estate leads. In addition to providing a wider pool of knowledge, skills and contacts, a real estate partnership can also provide moral support, including tax benefits and access to more working capital.
  • Real estate auctions: Take control of distressed sellers by generating leads through a real estate auction. Along with networking benefits, real estate auctions provide the ultimate source for connecting buyers and sellers.
  • Make “self-help” videos: Buyers are always looking for new ways to improve their home. On the other hand, sellers are looking for lucrative strategies to better sell their home. Making a “self-help” video is a great way to not only assist in answering a question, but doing so in a way that will ultimately benefits you.
  • Partner with local handymen: In terms of real estate lead generation ideas, partnering with local handymen can provide an invaluable resource to investors. These individuals are generally the first to respond to home sellers, helping to make repairs and upgrades.
  • Advertise in the newspaper: A significant portion of traffic can be capture from a newspaper, whether local, regional or national. Lead generation through newspaper advertisement has the ability to induce a wildfire of attention.
  • Throw a party: What better way to garner attention than by throwing a lavish party? This strategy not only strives to network with like-minded individuals, but convince future buyers and sellers to work with you.
  • Speak at an event: Looking to build credibility? Speaking at a local real estate or investor event has the ability to not only propel one’s real estate reputation, but their online reputation as well.
  • Advertise in local newsletters: One of the more efficient ways to produce local interest is through the local newsletter. While not as glossy as, let’s say The New York Times, this real estate lead generation strategy continues to turn out positive results.
  • Form a partnership with an attorney: As I’m sure everyone is aware, an attorney has insight into special affairs. As a real estate investor, starting a business partnership with a local attorney has the ability to leverage that insight into finding potential deals that could be coming up.
  • Sponsor a local program: No marketing tactic is too small in the quest for leads. As a new real estate investor, be prepared to utilize a collection of marketing strategies.
  • Advertise on the radio: Think about it: a radio advertisement has the ability to sway the mindset of potential homebuyers and sellers on a daily basis. Why not use it?
  • Follow up on old leads: Hey — at one point these people were interested in your services. Shoot them an email and give it a whirl.

Direct Mail Real Estate Lead Generation Campaigns

  • Use leaflet drops or inserts: Leaflet distribution is another terrific real estate lead generation idea for investors. When getting started, investors should consider a few things: who they’re targeting (what is the demographics of your target audience?), where they will find their target audience, and what their target audience expects.
  • Start a direct mail campaign: This powerful and proven marketing technique continues to be a cornerstone of effective lead generation. Printed media is not dead, but rather the perfect compliment for a broader strategy.
  • Use business cards: As the signature of networking, the utilization of business cards remains a central component of generating leads in real estate.
  • Use door hangers: Lead generation through the use of door hangers reinstates that old school mentality: by any means necessary. In order to generate attention, it will take the willingness of an investor make a conversion. In hindsight, the simple introduction of door hangers can achieve surprising results.

Free Real Estate Lead Generation Options

  • Attend REIA meetings: Referred to as Real Estate Investor Associations, REIA meetings can serve as an optimal resource for real estate lead generation ideas.
  • Cold call expired listing owners: One of the better ways to develop business in real estate is following up on expired listings. Contacting homeowners trying to sell their homes, or who have failed at doing so, is a fantastic way to take advantage of distressed sellers.
  • Share testimonials: Nothing benefits a real estate investor quite like an endorsement from a customer. Testimonials continues to be provide a large percentage of leads to investors, and there’s no reason it can’t work for you.
  • Join a homebuilder association: All the best ways to kick-start lead generation involve networking with like-minded individuals or groups. Attending a homebuilder association may introduce you to your next customer.
  • Garage sales: Get out in front of your competition by utilizing garage sales. Not only will this strategy bring in interested buyers, but it could lead to future opportunities.
  • Ask for referrals: Don’t beat around the bush; ask your customers to recommend your services to their friends, family, and coworkers.
  • Attend networking events: One of the more popular real estate lead generation ideas is networking. While it may appear overrated, attending networking events remains an invaluable source for generating, leads, partnerships, and funding.
  • Contact Sale By Owner listings: One of the primary signs of an opportunity in real estate is a Sale By Owner listing.
  • Join a local landlord association: From homeowners to handymen, landlords are equipped with a wealth of contacts, which represent opportunities for real estate investors. Joining a local landlord association can provide a leg-up for investors, no or later.
  • Optimize your website: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the most powerful marketing tools an investor can have. The funny part is, the majority of people don’t understand the basic mechanics of optimizing their website for search results, which will ultimately lead to a goldmine of leads.
  • Start a referral program: The best form of real estate marketing is word-of-mouth, and starting a referral program can help to motivate current clients with incentives to promote your services, with the effort of generating new ones.
  • World-class customer service: Lastly, the final real estate lead generation idea is the simple concept of providing the best customer service possible. This is truly the only way to generate long-term, committed customers, and it has ability to unlock a treasure chest of investment opportunities.

Online Real Estate Generation Ideas And Strategies

  • Launch an email campaign: Email has become an invaluable resource for generating leads in real estate. For those who use it correctly, an email campaign can serve as a powerful marketing tool with tremendous potential to generate and capture customers.
  • PPC advertising: One of the best ways to generate leads via the Internet is PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising. With a small budget, PPC can produce a wealth of real estate leads to satisfy a small army.
  • Start a podcast: Get ahead of your competition, and ignite your lead generation campaign by commencing a weekly podcast. As a relatively easy way to differentiate yourself from the competition, starting a podcast has the potential to produce an endless array of real estate leads.
  • Affiliate marketing: Another form of advertising, affiliate marketing is comprised of earning a commission by recommending other people’s products or services. Investors can take advantage of affiliate marketing by having others promote their services, contributing to both trust and credibility.
  • Create a brand website: Every real estate investor looking to take their business to the next level should create a brand website.
  • Use online ads to target local homeowners: Taking advantage of your local market is a traditional strategy to generating real estate leads. Using online ads to target homeowners in your area is a great option for those looking for real estate lead generation ideas.
  • Create a quiz: Sometimes the best way to stimulate interest is by asking a question. One of the more unique ways of drumming up real estate leads is implementing a quiz. As simple as it sounds, a quiz can help investors to not only engage users, but develop credibility.
  • Answer online questions: Surprisingly, a number of real estate-related questions are asked online. This presents a prime opportunity to not only build upon your credibility, but reel in a future customer.
  • Implement a pop-up ad: Don’t delicately ask your audience for their business, implement a pop-up ad and grab it! As one of the more efficient real estate lead generation ideas, utilizing pop-up ads can be very advantageous for investors.
  • Start a blog: One of the most underrated ways to generate real estate leads is through content marketing. Starting a blog early will help investors to gain an upper-hand in their quest to earning leads.
  • Take advantage of Craigslist: For those looking to reach a larger audience, look no further than Craigslist. The site generates more than 50 billion page view per month, with more than 60 million users each month, in the U.S. alone. As mentioned earlier, go where the people are.
  • Create a virtual tour: Although videos have become all the rage in recent times, real estate investors have failed to take full advantage of this marketing trend. Selling a property can be greatly enhanced with the addition of a virtual tour of the property.
  • Submit a PR release: Writing and submitting a press release has the potential to not only provide brand recognition, but residual lead generation. Thanks to the Internet, an online press release has the potential to be see by millions of people for years to come.
  • Sponsor a web post: Investors looking to take content marketing a step further, look no further: this real estate lead generation idea combines both content and paid advertising to generate a blend of credibility, brand awareness, and exposure.

Real estate marketing

Social Media Real Estate Lead Generation Methods

    • Start a contest: Garner excitement in your services (and hopefully leads) by starting a contest.
    • Utilize Facebook ads: It’s important to go where the people are, and Facebook is where they’re at. The social media site garners roughly 1.71 billion monthly users, an astounding number even by today’s standards.
    • Recruit brand ambassadors via social media: Whether past clients or brand ambassadors, investors should take full advantages of second-hand applause, especially via social media.
    • Add to a guest blog: While your audience may not be fully curated, investors can take advantage of guest blogging to get their message across.
    • Publicize customer reviews: Why not? If customers enjoy your services enough to leave a positive review, it’s important information for future customers to know about. Tell them.
    • Create a LinkedIn brand page: Whether you want to admit it or not, LinkedIn has become the front-runner for social business. Although it won’t happen overnight, creating a LinkedIn page can assist in gradually building a dominant online presence.
    • Utilize Twitter ads: Similar to Facebook, advertising on Twitter has the power to generate a substantial amount of traffic to your brand. However, like all advertising, it requires an understanding of both your target audience and their behavior.
    • Implement text message marketing: One of the most efficient ways to get in contact with potential leads is via text message.

Whether just getting started or a seasoned pro, the importance of having a surplus of real estate lead generation ideas is second to none. And by developing your real estate lead generation, you’ll be developing your career.