Ways to stay engaged with your real estate leads during COVID-19

How are you engaging real estate leads during COVID-19? The best agents are going to come out of this crisis with a strong system in place - Here's how you can be ready.

I somehow ended up on a number of agent email lists. Most of what I receive is “garbage marketing” – boring newsletters, mass emails that have nothing of value to offer.

Yesterday I received one from an agent in Montana that was brilliant.

“I wanted to write to you to let you know (if you don’t know already) I’m still selling real estate,” it begins. She then goes on to let me know that real estate isn’t dead in Billings.

In fact, she says “… 37 homes sold, 57 accepted an offer on their property and 37 new homes were listed in the Billings area just this week.”

She assures the reader that “Homes can still be sold safely, virtually, and with minimal person-to-person contact.”

The rest of the email dives deeper into local market conditions, including prices, mortgage rates and more.

She ends her email by letting the reader know that “I’m here if you need any help,” and promises to keep us updated.

Email marketing is alive and well during the pandemic. Some agents just do it better than others.

Of course, it’s easier to stay engaged with your SOI than it is with leads. The latter aren’t as warm – you may not have ever met them in person. They are most likely in the pre-know, like and trust you stage.

We’ve spoken with a number of agents, picking their brains with how they are engaging real estate leads during COVID-19 and have found some are using tried-and-true tactics while others have become a bit more creative.

Engaging real estate leads during COVID-19 by answering questions

One of the agents I spoke with pointed me to a page on the Domain site in Australia. It’s located in their “Advice” section, unfortunately.

It’s such an amazingly valuable page, yet few will find it since there’s no mention of an advice section in the site’s nav bar (other than in a dropdown on the home page).

In fact, I would use this piece of content to replace my current home page (at least until the crisis is over) – that’s how amazing it is.

Come up with a similar page and share it with your leads on Facebook and whatever other social media platforms you use. Now’s the time to be working on your website.

Meet them at their mailbox

Sure, some agents will make their first financial cut to their marketing budgets And, that’s good news for the rest of you. Now is NOT the time to pull back on marketing. It would be a disservice to your sphere and to your brand. You CAN still generate leads during the pandemic.

Besides, people are still buying and selling homes

Scrutinize your marketing budget and then decide which marketing vehicles will offer you the most bang for your buck right now.

Direct mail is still a winning marketing method for engaging real estate leads during COVID-19 and, since folks are staying home, they have lots more time to go through the mail and peruse what looks interesting.

Especially if they’re thinking of buying or selling, your message will resonate with them.

Prospects Plus! is offering a series of COVID-19-related postcards. In their COVID-19 series, for instance the postcards offer up ideas for DIY projects and family activities.

Their Content Cards series offers advice on how to sanitize the home and others.

Vista Print is also offering COVID-19-related postcards for agents to send, although the cartoonish nature of them is a bit of a turnoff.

Finally, take a look at what ReaMark.com is offering.

Get these cards out to your SOI, leads and prospects. But don’t stop there.

“March home sales drop 8.5% as sellers take properties off the market,”

blasts a headline at CNBC.com. Find these people in your market (withdrawns are fair game) and put them on a touch schedule, starting with the same cards you’re sending to others.

Then, consider farming. With nearly 3 million American homeowners in forbearance, there are bound to be many who will sell rather than attempt to either come up with the big chunk of money they’ll owe at the end of the forbearance period or go into foreclosure.

Sure, this farm may not be productive soon, but in a year, you’ll be glad you decided to focus on engaging real estate leads during COVID-19.

It’s safe to say that most Americans are ready for our towns to reopen and to get back to business. When this will happen is anybody’s guess so in the meantime, use the down-time to get creative with your website, engage with those in your CRM and farm a new area.