1. What is your definition of an internet lead?
2. How is my definition different than yours?
3. Is your website making your phone ring?
4. Organic results are better for real estate than PPC leads.
5. At what part of the buying/selling cycle are you catching the buyer/seller?
A couple of years ago “internet leads” were all the rage in the real estate world. You had various websites that sold internet leads for either a 25% referral fee or for a flat fee per lead. I even worked for one of these companies for a year. This system worked well for a little while until real estate agents and brokers learned one very important truth; internet leads suck. The basis for this declaration is, someone said “real estate internet leads take anywhere from 12 to 18 months to close”. Well, yes and no.
A friend of mine tells me over and over that internet leads are worthless. And then he proceeds to tell me about the email drip campaigns and new templates he’s setting up on Top Producer. And my rebuttal is and always will be the same…. “the way you think of internet leads is wrong”. The funny thing is I don’t think he ever hears me when I say it. I think it’s because he’s not ready to hear me yet.
Let’s go back to the “12 to 18 month” period of time it takes a lead to come to fruition. There could be some truth to this. Let’s assume that when someone decides to starts down the road of “the buying process”, the reality is if they go through with any type of transaction, it won’t be for 12 to 18 months. The reason for this is because when someone begins the buying process, they start with research. When they start this research, THEY WANT TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS.
I think the key to success for any real estate agent for catching these potential clients is brand recognition. I’m not talking about big brands like John L. Scott, Windermere, Keller Williams, or Coldwell Banker. I’m talking about your brand as a real estate agent. I’ve already spoken about an agent’s Online Brand Management in other posts.
Picture this from a potential client’s eyes: As the client figures out where they want to live (which neighborhood). They’ll focus their search on terms and phrases related to that neighborhood plus “real estate”, “homes for sale”, “statistics”, “condos” and so forth. If they continually see one agent’s branding during their search, that agent will most likely become the “de facto” agent to turn to. As a real estate agent, think of it as developing your “online farming area”.
I’m going to leave this post at this. I will be devoting a little more time to “real estate internet leads” as time goes on.