Real Estate Lead Nurturing Tips

It is undeniable that real estate is one of the most competitive industries to work in. When it comes to marketing, costs often run much higher because there are so many professionals who sell real estate, thereby driving up the cost of advertising.

The big players who have deep pockets to spend can dominate, so it is crucial that when we think of the leads we generate we don’t only think of them at the time we generate them – but instead continue to think of them moving forward.

Lead nurturing is critical.

The cost of acquisition is high and not every person who responds to your advertising is necessarily ready to buy or list their property. Homeowners seek out information at different stages in the buying cycle, which in the case of real estate would begin with thinking about buying or selling a home.

Just because a prospect provides their email address or, in the case of representing a buyer, goes out to see properties with you, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are ready to buy.

It is imperative to stay on top of your client, remaining fresh and relevant in their mind. You can do this by ensuring that when you do reach out to them you are providing some value so they want to hear from you and receive your email – whether or not they are ready to engage you at this moment.

This can be done through the production of content that matters. A great example of this is leveraging features in your tools like ViMO. The Market Intelligence Report is customizable and leverages land registry data to keep prospects informed about recent sales activities and neighbourhood trends. This is an example of something you can generate and send to clients that provides them with information they are interested in and keeps you fresh in their mind.

You may also choose to offer something like this as a secondary call to action on your website. A client who is not yet ready to buy may be interested in subscribing to receive a Market Intelligence Report in their particular neighbourhood or another neighbourhood that they are interested in.

When you have content that offers value – the sky is the limit and there are so many ways that you can leverage it.

Lead nurturing means making the most out of new leads generated but we should never forget about the value of your existing client base. Ensure that all leads are entered into your CRM and that you have a plan for nurturing them. These should include not only prospects whose emails are new acquisitions but also existing customers. Your existing client base represents your promotors and should be considered a free sales team - never mind the fact that they may need to buy or sell a home in the future – they also can refer friends and family to you. The beauty of this referral business is that there is no cost of acquisition and the client comes in recommended to you already.

To summarize – good lead nurturing means:

1.    Having a secondary point of contact on your website to convert clients who may not be ready to engage you and including an offer of some form of content of value

2.    Having a plan to nurture leads that features more value content. What are you going to send them on an ongoing basis to keep you fresh in their minds?

3.    Don’t forget about the existing client base – they are still leads too!

ViMO can help you when it comes to lead nurturing. Find out more at www.myvimo.ca.