What are the Best Lead Generation Strategies for Real Estate Agents in 2024?

Lead generation is crucial for real estate agents. You want to have a pipeline that allows you to engage with potential clients at different stages of the marketing funnel. The real estate industry pivots depending on many factors:  interest rate fluctuations, housing market ups and downs, and even seasonality and the weather. Unexpected market changes and the winter lull can bring your sales to a halt. 

Lead generation is all about the actions you take to generate new sales leads by interacting with potential clients and other stakeholders. The more quality leads you generate, the more sales you can expect to make. Lead generation isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ strategy, and a multi-channel approach is crucial. 

The landscape of real estate lead generation is constantly evolving, with a greater emphasis on social media and leveraging the potential of real estate technology and automation. As a real estate professional, you need to be able to adapt to current trends, like virtual tours and video content, without forgetting about traditional lead generation methods. 

We’re taking an in-depth look at the best lead generation strategies for real estate agents and realtors in 2024 and how you can implement them to streamline your business growth and automate marketing functionality. 

Digital Marketing Strategies 

Digital marketing is the backbone of lead generation for real estate agents. You need to be where your target demographic is. Over 99% of home buyers, including real estate investors, between 23 and 56 years of age used the Internet as part of their property search. 

Digital marketing is a win-win. It boosts your brand awareness, generates leads, and expands your reach to clients you might not be able to engage with in person. Real estate is a highly competitive industry. Digital marketing can help you curate a niche and attract potential clients at different stages of the funnel. 

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a long-term marketing strategy and a more accessible type of lead generation. While it can take time to build your website ranking and requires research, it has unlimited potential to raise brand awareness and generate local and international leads for your brokerage.

When someone is considering buying or renting a property, the first place they’ll go is Google. Investing in SEO for your website and business means your brokerage will rank higher in search results, leading to higher click rates and more conversions. The more traffic you generate, the more qualified leads you’ll create.

Adding a Google My Business (GMB) listing is crucial for realtors looking to enhance their local SEO. It allows your brokerage to appear in local search results, including Google Maps, making it easier for potential clients to find you. A well-optimized GMB profile boosts your credibility and can drive more traffic to your website, further increasing your chances of converting leads into new clients.

2. Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

While SEO is a strategy for generating organic content, pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is paid advertising. You can advertise on Google or social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok to target your content directly at your potential clients. There are different models on each advertising platform, but most, you’ll pay a price for every click on your advert, regardless of whether it converts to a qualified lead. . 

It’s essential to consider your marketing budget, ideal client, and the different stages of the marketing funnel when creating PPC advertising. Tools like Google Adwords can help you research target keywords, while platforms like Facebook allow you to target specific audience demographics.

3. Social Media Marketing 

Branding matters. As a real estate agent, you and your properties are your brand. Social media marketing is essential whether you want to create content by talking directly to the camera or showcasing your properties. It’s important to have a presence across multiple platforms, such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, to connect with different types of buyers and sellers. 

Your social media profile gives potential buyers and sellers an insight into how you work and the type of property you sell. It adds an important human factor to your marketing and can form the foundation for your relationship by building trust. Your content should incorporate your style and brand assets, such as your logo, and highlight your unique selling point (USP). 

TikTok has massive lead generation potential for real estate agents, with over one billion active users. Create content that showcases your real estate niche, from advice for first-time buyers to property tours. Don’t feel restricted to traditional content. Viral trends can work in every industry, including real estate.—so get creative and have fun.

4. Email Marketing Campaigns 

Email marketing is an underappreciated strategy for real estate agents. Emails can drive traffic to your website and keep potential buyers and sellers engaged as they move through the funnel. Avoid sending too many emails and focus on content that adds value, such as offering free consultation or spotlighting your latest property listing.  

Mailchimp enables real estate agents to create and send personalized email campaigns for clients at different stages of the funnel. It’s an easy way to segment your leads, such as sending invites for an open house within a local area. Mailchimp offers extensive automation features to track campaigns and engage with new leads. 

With Privy, you can significantly enhance your email marketing efforts even further by allowing real estate agents to instantly share branded Deal Alerts and LiveCMAs™ tailored to your clients. With Privy’s email services and tools, you can efficiently manage and nurture your investor relationships, ensuring timely and relevant communication that increases the chances of converting leads into loyal clients. This targeted approach drives engagement and streamlines the lead generation process, helping you grow your real estate business more effectively.

5. Video Marketing 

Video is king in the world of digital marketing. It’s a lead generation tool that ticks all the boxes. Video elevates your branding, creates a better client experience, and can double as property tours. This content can be incorporated into your website or to build your social media following. 

Video content can help potential clients learn more about a property before booking an in-person tour. Similarly, you can attract potential sellers by showing your experience. Throughout your videos, entice your audience to sign up for your newsletter or to book a consultation. 

Leveraging Real Estate Technology

Technology is the driving force behind lead generation. You want to create a tech stack and eco-system that nurtures leads throughout different stages of the funnel, keeping them engaged. It’s important to have the best online resources and tools to ensure you can stay competitive as a real estate agent.

CRM Systems and Lead Management Tools

Customer relationship management (CRM) software simplifies communication with clients, including buyers and sellers. CRM and lead management tools develop your relationships, allowing you to build trust and keep them consistently engaged. 

Staying on top of these relationships isn’t easy, especially as a real estate agent. Lead management tools and CRM systems streamline lead generation with automated marketing and tracking. You’ll never lose track of a lead and can easily identify your next steps. 

Automated Lead Nurturing and Follow-Up 

Real estate agents often find themselves running out of hours in the day. Automation is a crucial tool for saving time and maximizing your lead generation results. Just because you’re using automation, it doesn’t mean your messages don’t have to feel personal. 

Automation lead nurturing and follow-up can keep potential buyers and sellers engaged through the different stages of the funnel. Automated SMS messages and emails can be customized to the client and to align with your branding and messaging. It’s easy to incorporate content you’ve created elsewhere, such as for social media, in these automated messages. 

Easy follow-ups like congratulatory messages and special messages for birthdays can help build a relationship. You can use automation to follow up after a successful sale to ask for a client testimonial to add to reputation, listing, and directory pages like Google My Business.  

AI-Driven Lead Scoring

Not every lead has the same potential. AI-driven lead scoring uses machine learning to track and assess customer data to determine their potential. This scoring model uses data-driven insights to predict which leads are most likely to convert. 

AI-driven lead scoring can single out potential clients to prioritize and who may be worth going the extra mile for. You can leverage different lead scoring models to reflect various parts of the funnel. 

Content Marketing

Content creation goes hand-in-hand with lead generation. It allows you to engage with potential buyers and sellers while building brand awareness. Real estate easily lends itself to content creation. You don’t need to invest in expensive camera equipment to get started. Everything you need is already on your smartphone.

1. Blogging and Thought Leadership Articles

Blogging and thought leadership articles develop your brand and expertise. This type of educational content is a core pillar of SEO, helping to drive organic traffic to your website while building trust with potential clients and stakeholders. If you’re not a natural wordsmith, you can work with a freelance copywriter to create content that aligns with your messaging, brand, and lead generation strategy.

2. Virtual Tours and Webinars

Leverage the power of video technology to create an immersive experience with virtual tours and webinars. Virtual tours give potential renters and buyers a better understanding of the property before booking a viewing appointment. 

Clients are no longer just seeing properties in person. Competitive real estate agents leverage online resources to showcase their properties with presentation tools and virtual tools to offer an immersive experience to customers from anywhere in the world. 

If you’re operating in cities and highly desirable areas, these real estate tools will enable you to work with customers and close deals without needing an in-person viewing. 

3. Local Market Reports and Insights

Keep a local focus on our content. You’ll want to prioritize creating content that engages your target demographic. Create local market reports and insights that are highly sharable, including by other businesses. These reports and insights can help you land local press coverage and build relationships with other stakeholders.

With Privy, you can easily gather and analyze the most up-to-date real estate market data, making it simple to identify hot markets and share them with potential clients. Privy aggregates all necessary property information—both direct-to-MLS (from the Multiple Listing Services) and off-market—into one place, allowing you to conduct comprehensive market research efficiently. By leveraging Privy, agents can become market experts, providing valuable insights to your clients while eliminating the need for time-consuming tasks like cold calling and direct mail.

4. User-Generated Content and Testimonials 

We live in a social media world and user-generated content (UGC) is something every real estate agent should be exploring. This type of content is posted and uploaded by other users. You can repost this content (with permission) to your website or social media as part of your testimonials. 

Think of posts with new homeowners proudly showing off their house keys or posing outside their front door. This aspirational content builds a connection and shows your success. 

While Google reviews are helpful, collecting more in-depth testimonials to add to your website builds trust and showcases your expertise. Research shows that 36% of buyers work with an agent based on a recommendation from a family member, friend, or neighbor. Over 70% of buyers would work with their real estate agent again, so follow-up and testimonials are vital to your marketing strategy and building trust.

Networking and Referrals 

Networking helps you build mutually beneficial relationships with industry stakeholders, such as mortgage providers and real estate attorneys. Gaining referrals is an important part of lead generation and can have the most impact. Anytime you meet a new person is an opportunity to network, even outside the real estate industry. The more networking you do, the more potential leads you can generate.

Building Relationships with Local Businesses

Local businesses can help you build your profile within your community. Engage with your local chamber of commerce and work with other businesses. If you’re sending flowers to a client, use a local provider. If you’re hosting a party for clients, work with a local venue. These relationships with local businesses expand your network and can generate more referrals. 

Partnering with Real Estate Attorneys and Mortgage Brokers

Real estate agents don’t always sit at the start of the funnel. In many cases, potential renters and buyers will start by working with a real estate attorney or mortgage broker before viewing potential properties. 

Partnering with these other stakeholders can allow you to refer different clients to each other services. If you have a good working relationship with an attorney or mortgage broker, this can help streamline the administrative work involved. 

Encouraging and Incentivizing Referrals from Past Clients

Your relationship with a client doesn’t end when you hand over the keys to their new property. Reach out to them in those early weeks of their tenancy to encourage and incentivize referrals. Use automated tools to follow up with clients, but don’t underestimate the power of putting pen to paper. A personalized thank you note and request to leave a testimonial can be more persuasive than an email. 

Offline Strategies 

Lead generation focuses largely on digital marketing and online tools, but your offline strategies are just as important. Old-school advertising techniques and in-person events may target fewer people, but they can have a higher conversion rate.

1. Hosting Open Houses and Local Events

An open house is a great way to make in-person connections and generate leads. Not everyone who attends an open house is ready to buy. You want to interact with each person individually, getting as much information about where they are in their journey while pointing them towards the next step. Don’t just provide your contact information. Think ahead and provide sign-up forms or use QR codes to gather contact information to follow-up with your open house attendees. 

Local events like buyers’ seminars can also help generate leads and build relationships. Just like with an open house, you’ll want to gather everyone’s information and follow up in an appropriate way.

2. Direct Mail Campaigns

Direct mail advertising is not dead. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to local property owners, especially if you’re new to the area. Direct mail is ideal for real estate agents by allowing you to showcase a property or promote an upcoming open house or event. Don’t forget to feature properties you’ve recently sold to attract potential sellers. 

3. Community Involvement and Sponsorships

Become part of your local community by getting involved. Sponsorships are an opportunity to boost your advertising and brand awareness. Consider sponsoring a local charity event or working with a sports club.

As a local real estate professional, your Chamber of Commerce allows realtors to connect with other local businesses, potential clients, and industry and government stakeholders. By participating in Chamber events and activities, you can build relationships that lead to referrals, partnerships, and increased visibility in the community.

4. Print Advertising in Local Magazines and Newspapers

Just like direct mail, real estate marketing lends itself well to traditional print advertising. Working with local magazines and newspapers can lead to higher conversion rates as you’ll be advertising directly to your target demographic. 

Tracking and Optimizing Lead Generation

Lead generation isn’t something you can achieve overnight. It’s a process you’ll want to continuously refine. Lead generation sits at the intersection between sales and marketing. Tracking and optimizing your lead generation is crucial to scaling your business as a real estate agent. 

Measuring your ROI for different strategies, particularly those that require up-front financing, is important. Set key performance indicators (KPIs) for paid advertising, open house events, and email campaigns. Analytics and data can help refine your content and strategy by spotlighting what works and what content isn’t performing. The real estate market is constantly changing. Keep your finger on the pulse and adapt your strategy and content to suit the current market position.