Generating leads is essential for any business, but it’s even more critical for real estate agents. Without prospective buyers or sellers, how can they make any money? Luckily, there are quite a few ways to generate leads that don’t require expensive marketing campaigns or advertising blitzes.
Geographic Farming
Geographic farming, also known as geo farming, involves targeting communities and neighborhoods that align with the demographics of your buyers and sellers. By only focusing your marketing efforts in the right places, you can work more efficiently (and save money). Rather than spending your time marketing to the whole city, you can focus your efforts on one neighborhood at a time.
To start your geographic farming campaign, you’ll need demographic information about the neighborhood. You can find this information by contacting the local chamber of commerce or doing some exploring on Google Maps.
This strategy works great for more prominent neighborhoods, so include enough demographic information to narrow down the area. So what exactly is your target demographic?
Take a look at the real estate marketing survey. There are quite a few questions you need to think about before starting any campaign. Even so, the survey is a great place to begin your geographic farming campaign.
By browsing through responses and taking note of the demographics, you can start developing your marketing strategy around these numbers and targeting specific areas within your city. Of course, every market is different and will require you to create unique designs to be successful.
Reach out to your Sphere of Influence
We’re often asked this question: “How many people do I need on my sphere of influence?” The answer is simple, 100. While large markets will have more buying and selling power, you can still work with fewer buyers and sellers.
Sphere of influence refers to the number of people you know in your local area. This could include friends, family members, neighbors, co-workers, and other acquaintances that live within a specific area.
Your sphere of influence will depend entirely on your situation and how close or far away you live from where you want to do business.
If you live down the street from where you want to operate, your sphere of influence will be pretty small. If you live 30 miles away, your sphere of influence will probably be a lot bigger.
When it comes to reaching out to your sphere of influence, you’ll want to use various strategies. For instance, you can send out postcards and flyers to all your friends and family members in the area. Or you could use email advertising campaigns that take advantage of the mass quantity of emails sent every day.
This may seem like a very large number, but remember that your sphere of influence is dependent on where you live, so it may not be as large as it seems. It will also depend on your level of activity and the effectiveness of your efforts.
It’s also important to note that your sphere of influence might not be as substantial as you think. It might be pretty small compared to the buyers and sellers in a larger market. For instance, if you live in a small town with just a few surrounding communities, your sphere of influence will probably be minimal.
Alternatively, suppose you live in a big city with hundreds of communities surrounding it. In that case, your sphere of influence may still seem small due to how far away from real estate agents typically have to travel for business.
Use Social Media Marketing
Social media is a great way to connect with potential buyers and sellers online. It’s also a great way to keep up with the latest news and trends in your market. While social media for marketing purposes can be effective, sometimes, it can be challenging to navigate your way through all the different available tools.
The best thing about social media is that you can choose how you want to interact with people and then let them know precisely how you want them to engage with you. For instance, if you’re a real estate agent, you could choose an active approach or a passive one.
If you select a dynamic method, you could actively use social media to communicate with your sphere of influence and receive messages in return. On the other hand, if you choose a passive approach, you could regularly send out automated messages to your sphere of influence. Then you could monitor their responses until someone reaches out.
Start an Email Newsletter
There are a lot of real estate agents that are accustomed to just sending out emails with offers and suggestions to buyers and sellers. However, there’s also a benefit to being more proactive in your marketing strategy. Email newsletters can be a great way to build your sphere of influence.
By targeting specific prospects and promoting your latest news, you’ll speed up the process of generating leads for yourself. If you’ve done some research on email marketing, you already know how important it is for real estate agents to get started quickly. This is especially true if your business is beginning to generate income. And one of the best ways to do this is by creating an email newsletter related to your area and includes valuable content, tips, and information for buyers and sellers. The key here is to offer helpful information to build trust.
Make sure you show your sphere of influence that you’re willing to help them out, even if it takes time. The last thing you want to do is send out a mass email, only to be ignored by potential clients.
When you follow up with a customer, tell them precisely what you can do for them and then offer up something they’re interested in.
It’s also essential to add some personalization to this campaign. For instance, you could tell buyers and sellers exactly how to contact you if they want to talk more about a particular property in your area.
Blogging
Blogs are another great way to reach out to your sphere of influence and get them interested in what you’re doing. By setting up a blog on your website and providing them with valuable information about home decor or depending on your niche, you’ll be able to generate more leads for your business.
Remember that people will return the favor, so if you’re posting about the latest news in your real estate area, then others will do the same in return.
Using this strategy is also a great way to stay in touch with your sphere of influence and allow them to know what you’re up to. For instance, if you set up a blog about buying or selling a home, others will offer some helpful advice for these scenarios. When writing blog posts, try to keep them as long as possible so that you’re able to provide your readers with a lot of valuable information.
Conclusion
Real estate agents have a lot of opportunities to generate leads and make deal even without removing the broken screws because they know what is more important. The five strategies listed above can all be used to reach out to your sphere of influence, whether it’s through emails, social media platforms, or blogs. You must find a strategy that suits you and your particular needs.
