Lots of demand and very little supply. The current housing market is a textbook example of the economic law of supply and demand.
Homeowners who decide to sell are the winners while buyers and real estate agents are hungry for more homes to hit the market.
Getting listing leads quickly in this market may seem impossible, but it’s not. No, it isn’t easy, but it is possible.
And, it requires a multi-pronged strategy.
First, KISS
Whether you choose direct mail, cold calling, buying ads or any other marketing method, the need to cut through the clutter of advertising that most consumers receive every day is more important than ever when looking for listing leads.
Keep to one message and simplify that message so that those with even the shortest attention spans will understand immediately:
- What you offer
- How it will make their life better
- What they need to do to get started
Author Donald Miller (“Building a Story Brand”) calls this the “Grunt Test.” Is your marketing message simple enough that a caveman could, within five seconds, get the value in what you’re offering?
It’s similar to the KISS principle: Keep it Simple, Stupid.
Here’s an example of a simple real estate marketing postcard that we found at vistaprint.com.
Notice that there isn’t any personal promotion going on here. Resist the urge to clutter this marketing campaign with information about:
- How many homes you have sold
- Awards you’ve won
- Your designations
- More than one phone number to reach you
Save that information for your website.
Go after starter homes
Starter homes are not only in high-demand right now, but, as you know, they’re in short supply.
Sure, homeowner reluctance to sell has a lot to do with the shortage, but homebuilders do as well.
In 2019, “… the majority of newly constructed homes consisted of upper-tier housing costing at least $500,000,” according to fool.com’s Maurie Backman, citing a Mansion Global report.
She goes on to cite a National Association of Home Builders report that finds high lumber costs are another contributor to the starter-home shortage. Apparently, mounting lumber costs have added “$24,386 to the cost of a newly-constructed single-family home since mid-April 2020.”
That leaves existing starter homes for listing agents to pursue. Farming, via direct mail, is probably the best way to reach out to these homeowners. Start by narrowing the audience to those who’ve owned their homes for more than 10 years.
Then, create a very simple direct mail piece that highlights the equity these owners have accumulated.
Frank Naft, CoreLogic’s chief economist claims that the 9.2% bump in home prices in the fourth quarter of December 2020, compared with prices from the same period in 2019, boosted home equity.
How much? More than $200,000 “… for the average homeowner with a mortgage,” he says.
Do more schmoozing for listing leads
With the weather outside no longer frightful, and millions of Americans have had or will receive the anti-COVID jab, it may be time to consider a client appreciation event to collect those listing leads.
This one, however, will have a twist: it will be a potential client appreciation event.
The goal here is to extend your brand recognition to those potential sellers in your farming area. Hold the event outdoors, preferably in a park within your farm area. This does away with lingering pandemic fears.
Agents we’ve spoken with offer up the following ideas:
- A barbecue
- Movie night
- Ice cream social
- Block party
- Outdoor concert
- A day at a sporting event (this is best for your two or three most promising leads)
- Seller seminar
Whichever you choose, serve food. Millennials, especially, attend events based on whether or not food will be served.
The invitation sent to your farm should be, again, simple yet attractive. If the event is family-friendly, let them know.
Find listing leads in your CRM
When was the last time you took a deep dive into your CRM? It’s a rich source of possibly quick business that too many agents ignore.
Since warm calls are always easier than colder calls, start with past clients and call each of them. Explain the lack of inventory and ask if they know anyone who is thinking of selling.
Then, dive deeper into old leads, especially those for whom you supplied a listing presentation and they ended up not selling. But all seller leads in your database, regardless of age, should get a phone call.
Finally, call everyone in your SOI to see if they know anyone who is thinking of selling.
End this project by ensuring that everyone you’ve spoken with is put on a drip or direct mail campaign.
Buy Google ads for listing leads
When consumers need products or services, when folks need answers, their first stop is usually Google.
This includes those looking for real estate services. The average click-through rate for Google PPC real estate ads is 3.71, which is higher than the average for all industries, according to the folks at wordstream.com.
They’ve also found that ads “… placed on the Google Display Network reach up to 90% of internet users.” Pretty impressive, right? There’s more.
Google internal studies find that “… businesses generally make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads.”
Is this an overnight-sensation process? Nope. But you’ll most likely see results (aka “leads”) far quicker than you would with an email, direct mail, cold calling or other marketing strategy.
Read up on the basics of Google ads for real estate agents if you aren’t familiar. Then, instead of sending visitors who click on your ad to your website’s home page, set up a dedicated, branded, high-converting landing page. This is where all of the traffic from your ads will be funneled.
Ensure the real estate landing page contains a compelling call to action and that it’s, overall, very clean and simple. The sole purpose of it is to capture the visitor’s contact information, so avoid the urge to promote yourself, to list your accomplishments and designations and anything else that distracts from the page’s purpose.
For submitting their contact information, you’ll need to give them something in return. A special report about how much home equity Americans have realized might be tempting. Or consider the following:
- A complimentary, no obligation home evaluation
- An e-book or report about getting a home prepared for the market
- An e-book or report on the home selling process, start to finish
- A local current market report, mentioning seller hot buttons, such as the prevalence of multiple offers, quick DOM, etc.
Again, what is most likely to catch a potential home seller’s attention is the home equity angle. Americans have accumulated substantial home equity and many don’t understand just how much they’re sitting on.
Set up your landing page so that visitors who submit their contact information immediately receive your valuable offer.
Consider paid social for listing leads
If Facebook ads are something you’re considering, keep in mind that the largest user demographic is age 25 to 34 (more than one third), which is not within the age range of the typical real estate seller (age 40 to 73, according to the NAR).
The second largest group (23.8%) includes users who are between the ages of 18 and 24.
Since targeting a specific audience is critical to the success of any marketing strategy, and the primary audience isn’t who you should be targeting, you may want to reconsider paying to advertise on the platform.
Or, you may want to take a gamble. After all, the audience may be very small (not only because of their age, but geography as well), but if they click on your ad, it may be worth it to you when you’re looking for listing leads.
“I have seen real estate agents burn tens of thousands of dollars per month on Facebook and Instagram ads and blame the platforms for it,” Sam Mehrbod at forbes.com said.
Like most real estate marketing methods, Facebook or other social media advertising works, if you know what you’re doing and you keep at it, consistently. Facebook isn’t quite what it used to be since they took away so much of the targeting, but what’s left is still enough to work with.
Mehrbod offers a recipe for success and, as it is with Google ads, one of the “ingredients” is a “… carefully designed landing page for the destination of the ads.”
Testing is also an important aspect of a Facebook ad campaign. “… agents can run two different ads to see which one resonates the most with their target audience,” according to Adrian Fisher at propmodo.com.
“Or, if they notice their ads aren’t performing well, they can swap out one element, such as the copy or imagery, to see which one is more effective.”
Facebook ads may or may not start bringing you leads almost right away. There are lots of variables in determining how well your ads are received by consumers.
It is, however, one more weapon to consider including in your “hunt down listing leads NOW” arsenal.
Good luck!
Still need more help generating leads? Check out these top ways to get more real estate leads