Real Estate Marketing Online: Are You Capturing Leads Or Losing Visitors?
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by Brandon Cornett
In April of 2005, I conducted a survey of more than 250 real estate marketing websites (now part of the Agent's Guide to Web Marketing).
It's important to note that these weren't corporate websites. Rather, they were the marketing websites of individual real estate agents.
Here's what shocked me. The majority of websites surveyed (nearly 65%) had no way to capture the email addresses of visitors. Why did this shock me? Because on a real estate marketing website, most visitors will leave without contacting the agent who owns the site.
In Real Estate Marketing Online: Lead Capture is Critical
If people leave your website without leaving their contact information, you'll probably never hear from them. That's the nature of the Internet, and it reinforces the need for a lead-capturing system on your real estate website.
What happens when people visit your website:
First-time website visitors will generally do one of three things:
1. They will respond immediately (with an email or phone call).
2. They will sign up for something and then leave the site.
3. They will leave the site without doing anything.
Clearly, you want your website visitors to take action #1 or #2. But statistically, we know that most visitors will take action #2 or #3. That makes action #2 (sign up and leave) the common ground between what you want visitors to do and what they're likely to do.
To allow for action #2, offer something that people can sign up for through your website, or that they can request via email. This is called an "opt in" offer. Your website visitors will opt in (or subscribe) to receive the item you're offering, and to allow future communications from you.
Listings Help, But They're Not Enough
Home listings certainly add value to your website. After all, your visitors will want to see listings at one point or another, possibly right away.
But listings alone will not increase the number of leads you capture through your website. Listings will generate an email here or a phone call there, but not enough to keep the pipeline filled with qualified prospects.
Listings give you a passive way to gain clients, since you must wait for them to contact you. But by capturing leads online, you can shift into active mode and contact prospective clients with information they want. What's the result of this shift? Your chances of turning visitors into clients will increase tenfold!
Offer Value to Gain Permission
To increase the number of people who opt in, subscribe or contact you directly, you must offer something of value. You offer this item of value in exchange for the visitor's contact information (and implied permission to use it).
Whether you offer a buyer's guide, a mortgage guide, a school report or whatever, make sure the item has a high perceived value. This will influence the number of people who ask for it.
Want to increase the number of people who give you this permission? Simply increase the value of the offer. With website traffic being equal, a stronger offer will produce more leads. The two are directly proportional.
Permission also makes a difference. Emailing prospects without their permission is spam. On the contrary, emailing them after they've expressed interest is good manners (and good business).
Conclusion
Lead capture / lead generation is a critical part of real estate marketing online. Without leads, you have no way to be proactive. If you offer nothing on your website but free information, you will not get visitors and readers to "raise their hands."
Free information is great, but you have to hold something in reserve to elicit calls, emails or subscriptions. Offer something of value in exchange for permission.
Sure, you can educate your visitors. And you should. But always keep in mind the ultimate goal of your personal marketing website -- to generate leads and grow your business.
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