Developing a real estate holiday lead generation plan takes a bit of strategy and acknowledgement that it’s not the most prolific time of the year. When it comes to running your real estate leads and attracting new business, it’s important to use your time as wisely as possible.
Sometimes this means focusing on different methods to increase lead generation during the holidays and going forward. So in this article, I’ll go over how you can maximize effectiveness during the holidays to keep you thriving as an agent.
Real Estate Holiday Lead Generation
During the holidays, many people go out of town and visit family. It’s a busy time for people and most aren’t thinking about buying or selling property. And chances are they are more focused on getting through their holiday gift list, decorating, planning for dinners and guests, and traveling.
The holidays might not be the best time for lead generation as a real estate agent. However, there are still things you can do to keep existing leads nurtured and attract new ones!
Part of real estate holiday lead generation is keeping in mind that many potential clients are very busy. You have to work with where your clientele are at during this time.
Lead generation is of paramount importance, but there are other things you can do during the busy holiday season. These practices will help to secure some leads and make your business stronger as a whole.
This means you should focus on other parts of your business, like connecting with past clients – but make sure you don’t reject lead generation as one of your goals during this time.
It’s crucial that agents market to past clients and prospects over the slower real estate season. Also, make it a top priority to capture the best leads. Let’s dive into some ways you can nurture and attract leads during the busy holiday season!
Festive Blog Ideas
The holidays are a great time to attract new leads by targeting what they are most interested in.
With festive blog ideas, you can be successful at real estate holiday lead generation, even if buying or selling property isn’t at the top of many of your clients’ lists.
Depending on where you live, this winter could be a doozy. Tackle the cold by giving helpful tips on how to combat the chill and tell buyers and sellers exactly how the frigid temps could affect local homes.
This centers around what your leads and clients are thinking about and redirects their thoughts back to real estate. It also helps further promote the image of you being an expert in local real estate.
For example, include suggestions on how to prepare pipes, clean out gutters, and a list of resources your community can consult when in a grinchy pinch.
If you are in an area where winter storms are prevalent, it can be helpful to provide local snow and ice removal services. This shows that you know the area well and are here to help homeowners make the best decisions for caring for their property.
You can use these blog ideas to build up your CRM by incorporating an information form to collect contact information. With a real estate website like LeadSites, this can be done anywhere your leads can download your holiday guides. This way you attract traffic to your website while building up your mailing list to generate more leads.
DIY Holiday Decorating Guide
Another great idea for festive blog topics are DIY holiday decorating guides. These are a lot of fun to write and can even help you get more into the holiday spirit.
Most folks love decorating for the holidays which makes this a great topic for your blog. It’s easy to position this type of post for your community, whether you live somewhere warm or cold. You’ll attract potential clients to your site and generate some leads in the process.
It can be helpful to throw in some extra safety instructions on how to hang lights without damaging the exterior or interior of a home. You’ll get to showcase some knowledge and expertise in homecare which will keep you in your lead’s radar for when the holiday season is over if they choose to buy or sell a home.
For DIY tricks, think back to your favorite childhood decorating traditions and share one or two family favorites with your audience. You can encourage them to do the same!
A Year In Review
It’s always nice to reflect on our personal and business success over the past year, but you’ve got to put a slightly different spin on it to make this blog worthy.
You want to make the topics appealing to your leads and clients as well. So try covering the housing market in your specific area!
This is helpful information for your leads and also highlights how knowledgeable you are on the local market which builds trust with clients.
Here are some ideas to include in blog posts that focus around a year in review:
- Incorporate some success stories with buyers and sellers you’ve worked with over the past year.
- Share predictions for the year ahead revolving around the real estate market in your area.
- Talk about local news and events that show you are involved in the community and up to date on what’s going on in the area.
Holiday Marketing Campaigns
Spending your time on winter marketing campaigns during the holiday season is a great way to encourage engagement from potential leads during the slow season for real estate.
Using your social media page and website to host a winter marketing campaign is an excellent use of your time, energy, and resources.
Let’s dive into some ideas on how to do this during the slow season to increase real estate holiday lead generation.
Host A Holiday Contest for Real Estate Holiday Lead Gen
Some agents don’t have much success with running contests and giveaways. No problem! The holiday season is the perfect time to tap into the giving spirit with your audience.
These are great ways to encourage sharing and to help increase exposure about your real estate services.
One way to host a contest or giveaway is to have them share a photo of their seasonal decorations. You can offer a special prize to the person who gets the most likes on their post.
You can even use a template like this one from Bigstock to announce the winners – And drum up excitement for your next promotion:
You’ll get to share the joy of light displays, DIY decor projects, and Christmas trees to spread the holiday spirit while generating leads for your services.
Social media is a great platform to use for your contest. Here’s a great giveaway idea we’ve been recommending for years. It works consistently and tends to get good results. Check it out!
Here are some ideas for prizes for your holiday contest:
- Gift cards for Starbucks, Amazon, or other popular retailers.
- Partner with a local business for the prize to promote local retailers.
- The hottest tech products. A fancy wireless headphone makes for a relatively cheap, exciting giveaway.
Social Media Platforms
Social media platforms like Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook are great ways to connect with new people.
They offer the opportunity to add a very necessary visual storytelling component to your real estate winter marketing strategy. As you collect photos throughout the season, add them to your feed.
Hosting a contest on these platforms will give you plenty of holiday-related content to share. This is an easy way to incorporate your own holiday plans and activities into your marketing, without having to put too much time into a marketing plan.
Not only does this tap into the spirit, it also helps show that you are in tune with the community you serve as a real estate agent.
Holiday Cards Make Great Real Estate Holiday Lead Generation Tools
Holiday cards are a tried and true way to keep the connection fostered during the slow real estate season.
Send your clients a holiday card to show your appreciation. You can incorporate a call to action to see if they’d be willing to leave you a good review based on their experiences with you.
It doesn’t have to be a long testimonial, though that would be great. You can just link them to your Facebook Page, Yelp Profile, or anywhere your agent profile exists online and ask them to leave a quick remark!
This helps build trust in the community and foster your existing relationships with leads.
Here are some templates you can use for holiday cards!
You can also use a site like Canva to quickly and easily design your own!
Community Outreach For Real Estate Holiday Lead Gen
Getting involved in events in your local area is always a great way to gain exposure, and you get to do a little good!
It helps further instate yourself as a local expert which will build relationships and trust with leads should they decide to buy or sell in the future.
Events in your area will vary, but the holidays are always an active time for charities, donation drives, soup kitchens and so much more. Do some digging and see what events you can find that may need a helping hand, or host your own!
Here are some ideas for events so you can get involved in community outreach in the areas you serve:
- Hosting a canned food drive
- Organize a coat donation for a local shelter
- Make your office a toys-for-tots drop off point
- Set up a gingerbread house making contest
Hosting community outreach events during the holidays is a great way to meet new leads and segway into the services you provide.
You can even partner up with local businesses to gain further exposure during the holiday season!
Plan For Next Year
During the holiday lull, it is best to use your time and energy as best as possible.
Right now, lead generation may be a bit slower than the rest of the year. However, now is the perfect time to start planning for next year! Get a jump start on your marketing and lead generation so you can set yourself up for success.
Scouting Your Website
The slow season is the perfect time to scout your website and review your calls-to-action.
Think about your current calls-to-action and see if other options may benefit you.
Whether it be pop-ups, banners, or forms, it helps to review your current marketing efforts. Try out something that may be more lucrative!
Here are some things to review on your website to make sure it is serving you to its fullest potential:
- Does everything look how you want it to?
- Where are these forms sending your leads?
- What does your process look like to reply to them?
- Is the wording still right for what you’re trying to achieve?
In need of a better real estate website? Check out what LeadSites can do, and schedule a free demo!
Update Your Database
Review your databases during this time.
It’s a great way to use the slow season most effectively and to maximize your success in the new year.
Here are a few things to consider about your database so you can see what needs to be updated:
- Do you need a new CRM or does it need to be cleaned up? Getting rid of cold leads that have not engaged in a while will help improve your marketing efforts.
- Go through your leads. Which are top-priority, which need a bit of nurturing, and which ones can be left on the back burner? This will help you maximize your efforts and put your energy where you’ll get the greatest return.
- Review your email campaigns to see what can be changed or improved. Check your holiday email campaigns to make sure you are reaching out in the right way.
Refresh Your Website
This is a great time to give your website a facelift and refresh. Review your graphics and images to make sure they are giving off the right impression.
It also helps to check all your links and make sure they are directing visitors to the right pages and places.
This is a great time to focus on the little things that often get overlooked during the day to day rush.
Real Estate Holiday Lead Gen – To Sum It Up
This time of year is not the best time for lead generation. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop nurturing your marketing efforts!
There are many ways to refresh your internet presence. So make sure you are putting your best face forward in the community, on your social media profiles, and with your existing leads.
Take this time to regroup so you can enter the next year set up for success!