The 17 Most Effective Lead Generation Strategies for Real Estate

You are the only one who is going to assure there is wind in your sails when you’re working as a real estate agent. We like this sailing analogy considering the vastness of the real estate market all across North America being like a sea of sorts. And if that’s the likeness we’re providing for it then a realtor who doesn’t do well generating new clients is going to be in the doldrums and very quickly not earning any sort of living for themselves in their career. This is why real estate lead generation is so important.

If you’re a realtor working in Canada you don’t want to be that ship adrift at sea and not making a good living working as an agent. Remember that realtors don’t have any guaranteed income, and even if you put in a 60-hour week there’s no income coming in if you don’t have clients buying or selling homes through you. Sure, you’re going to have the odd listing or homebuying client fall into your lap, as the expression goes. But you’re going to need to generate real estate leads and drum up new clientele based solely on your initiative and hustle, and without it things are going to turn bleak fast. That’s how this business works, and any experienced realtor will tell you the same thing.

Long before the advent of the Internet realtors were doing this by traditional means, and ones like advertising billboards and getting out there and door knocking are still effective ways to get real estate clients. But if you want to grow your real estate business now and in today’s day and age you have to be taking advantage of Internet connectivity and doing it to the very best of your ability. This leads to us discussing paid lead generation strategies, and obviously that’s our area of expertise here.

But the best lead generation strategies go way above and beyond that, and even experienced, seasoned, and successful real estate agents may have a thing or two to learn about them. To that end we’re going to go over the 17 most effective lead generation strategies for real estate here with this week’s blog entry. Real estate marketing tips are always going to be crossing paths with lead generation, because a realtor who sells more homes is going to have more a reputation in that locale. And we all know what that does for career development.

Build Streams

Effective lead generation for real estate is absolutely everything when it comes to a realtor’s success in the business. Lead generation services can and should be expanded upon with other efforts made to gain leads organically through family, friends, and networking. Agents should also be looking at advertising, and marketing, and then deciding on strategies that will ensure a steady stream of prospective new clients for their business.

There are only a few of these that will qualify as truly free lead generation for real estate approaches, but those that are free might be worth taking especial note of. Particularly if you are new to working as a real estate agent in Canada. Many agents prefer cost-free and organic real estate lead generation strategies, and networking and establishing a referral system are going to be first on the list here.

We’ve seen so many times how the right approaches effectively lay the groundwork for a lasting business. But it’s crucial to note that they may require quite the investment of your time. Before fully committing to any path for real estate lead generation, it’s wise to evaluate all your options carefully and choose the approach that has you intersecting your goals with your resources.

Alright, without going on any further let’s get right to our 17 best strategies

Generate Referrals From Your Sphere of Influence

Here’s the first of our free lead generation for real estate possibilities, but agents must first understand they’re going to need to be willing to engage strategically with their SOI (sphere of influence). An agent’s SOI is family, friends, colleagues, and those they know personally and professionally.

This network is one of the best ways to get real estate leads since they already know and like you. The CREA member profile for Canadian realtors suggests successful lead generation for real estate agents comes from past clients and referrals (a total of 51% combined).

Building relationships doesn’t cost anything, but obtaining real estate referrals from your SOI requires consistent outreach if it’s going to be an effective way to get new real estate clients. Significant time investment is going to be required, including regular reminders that you’re working in real estate. Some not recall your entire range of services or the areas you cover.

Other agents being in their network is also a possibility, so what can you do to be top of mind when they’re considering real estate? Remember a few essential tips when reaching out to anyone in your SOI for new leads.

1. Direct but not overbearing is the best approach. Aim to express your readiness to assist with real estate needs while having a conversation that is natural.
2. Establish yourself as a helpful resource, and put a focus on your willingness to answer questions without obligation.
3. Prioritize connections over sales, clarifying that your primary goal is maintaining relationships rather than seeing them solely as potential clients.

Connecting with your SOI through a text, personal email, Facebook Messenger, or an Instagram direct message is easy. Ideally you will have a real estate CRM (customer relationship manager) too as a means of staying on top of follow-up and communication. This is also big for real estate referrals, which leads us to our next strategy.

Be Generous With Agent Referrals

Real estate agent referrals are when another agent is connected with one of your leads based on the fact the listing is going to a better fit for them for whatever reason. A common example is that it is in that agent’s city or town, and not the one where you are working as a realtor. They will do the same for you if the roles are reversed.

What you do here is create an agreement between the two of you that the other agent will give you a real estate referral fee upon the successful deal closure. This strategy fosters trust with fellow agents, increasing the likelihood of reciprocal referrals. It lets you concentrate on leads within your target audience, and promotes you having more of a reputation as a reliable professional and the go-to source for your specific real estate niche or location.

Ways to grow your business through referrals include hosting client events, volunteering and participating in charities, or hosting workshops and seminars. Some go further and build out a full realtor referral network, which of course is huge for boosting real estate lead generation results if you’re willing to put in the needed time and effort.

There are fewer established real estate agent referral networks in Canada than there are in the United States, but if you do a quick Google search you should be able to find them.

Make Cold / Warm Calls

The general consensus in the industry is that it takes around eight cold calls to reach one legit prospect who might become a real estate lead. That may seem like a poor ratio, but you should still commit to cold calling as part of free lead generation for real estate. It’s true that for a lot of realtors they are going to be comfortable with sending texts and emails, but talking to someone one-on-one is undeniably powerful.

More than half of realtors say cold calling comes in second to referrals as the most effective real estate client prospecting strategy. When done correctly, cold calling old acquaintances or leads who have fallen through the cracks can recreate a relationship that generates new leads and referral sources. Success and getting your foot in the door with clients here has everything to do with having well-written and proven effective real estate calling scripts.

Realtors looking into the best lead generation strategies should take the time to write out scripts that they can read out when speaking to potential clients on the phone, and if writing one isn’t something you do well then you can and should pay someone to do it for you. Before picking up the phone, practice with a real estate cold-calling script several times to gain confidence and communicate effectively.

Aim for Business-Savvy Sellers & Buyers

Most realtors have their sights set nearly exclusively on residential homebuyers and home sellers when it comes to their real estate lead generation efforts. But there are many other types of real estate clients that aren’t receiving the focus that they should be from these agents.

It’s always good if an agent can specialize in a niche and work with homebuilders and real estate investors. Investors and builders buy and sell multiple properties, and this is something that won’t apply to the average homeowner. There’s no cost involved to be reaching out to these prospective clients, and there can be much to be gained from offering to buy them lunch or meet for coffee. It will be beneficial if you have experience working with new construction or investment properties to generate investor and builder leads. But everyone has to start somewhere to get that experience, and moving outside your comfort zone is a part of real estate marketing tips too, albeit a more abstract one.

So try to create a specific marketing plan to connect with this audience and demonstrate the way you’re the best agent for their needs. Get established in this niche and you’ll find that professionals in the investing and construction industries are well-connected with homeowners and homebuyers in their communities. An excellent sources of real estate referrals? You bet.

Obtain a Lead Generation Service Subscription

The extent to which a realtor’s client base can grow with paid lead generation strategies is immense, and it is something that every realtor should work into their operating budget if that’s possible. Remember that not all paid leads are the same quality, and a part of what puts us among the best real estate lead generation services in Canada is the fact that our leads are qualified to be genuine leads to a much greater extent.

Expect names and contact information of highly motivated buyers and sellers, and no matter which service you go with you should be receiving leads by email, text, and phone, depending on your chosen service. It’s possible the come in bunches, or you may be receiving them one at a time.

One of the best ways to take advantage with paid lead generation strategies is to use a popular lead generation platform like ours. With good ones you’ll have targeted communication and have more direct and usable means of taking leads and more reliably converting them into clients.

Some also specialize in targeting seller leads with predictive analytics that determine a homeowner’s readiness to sell. Ideally you’ll have a robust system to target both types of leads too – clients looking for help with finding and buying a home, and ones who are current owners of a home and will be putting it on the market soon.

Farm the Neighborhood With Direct Mail

Direct mail for real estate has so much potential here too, and farming to generate leads for real estate means involves focusing efforts on a particular area or neighborhood. Direct mail is an effective strategy for acquiring real estate clients in your farm area, allowing you to reach people in a specific geographical location and getting better results from your efforts if the market there is more active and has any boom in buyers or sellers depending on the current situation there with real estate.

One good idea is to try real estate farming postcards. They can feature new listings, market updates, or engaging content like home renovations in advance of sale ideas, for example. Focusing on a specific area through targeted marketing and community involvement gets your name much more out there as an established realtors. Done right this makes it more likely for someone to contact you for real estate needs.

Advertising on Social Media and Search Engines

We’ll give the same emphatic nod to social media marketing for real estate as an option for any new realtor who wants to get more leads and get them faster. They should be active promoting themselves on social media, and if their budget allows for it they should be buying paid ads on social media platforms. This does wonders these days for making them visible as a working real estate, and PPC (pay per-click) Google ads for realtors are equally highly recommended.

Search engines and social media generate both organic and paid leads. Organic real estate marketing is effective if done right, but with paid advertising you will benefit for sure as long as there’s nothing wrong with the ads. Agents will get the most out of online advertising strategies when they are part of a comprehensive real estate marketing plan. Ads alone can generate leads for real estate, but they will be a whole lot more impactful when combined with other marketing and lead-nurturing strategies.

Here’s two great places for you to start with real estate lead generation online:

1. Facebook and Instagram advertising – ads on either platform offer precise targeting based on geography and interests.
2. Search engine advertising – Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising target keywords and feature your listings at the top and bottom of the search engine results page (SERP). It’s smart to learn how to use Google ads for real estate agent leads.

Host Open Houses

Here agents will need to learn how to advertise and host events, help the seller prep the home, and be set up to capture buyer leads with open house sign-in sheets. Your focus here needs to be that anyone who walks through the door at an open house is a potential lead. If you’re attuned this way you’ll meet buyers who are actively looking to purchase along with neighbors who are contemplating selling. This makes open houses quite powerful among low-cost real estate lead generation strategies.

But generating leads from real estate open houses effectively is going to involve more than just leaving a sign-in sheet and a pen by the entranceway. The ways to connect more effectively with open house visitors and generate high-quality leads from these events extends way further than that.

You want to be engaging with all visitors upon entry, and providing them with various ways to collect contact information, plus implementing a follow-up email plan. You’ll also do well to provide printed materials containing property details, market information, and your contact info. Last but not least, these days it is a good idea to have a QR code for easy access to your contact information on the materials.

Build Targeted Landing Pages

This is where SEO for real estate enters the conversation, and the importance of having SEO-optimized landing pages on your real estate agent website is super important for so many reasons. If your website comes up high in SERPs when people search for ‘-city name- real estate agent’ then you will be nearly guaranteed to be doing well with real estate lead generation.

Real estate landing pages enable agents to attract leads by offering niche-specific content in exchange for contact details. These pages use a lead capture or hook, and examples of this can be a home valuation report or listing pages, and ones that cater to potential sellers and buyers for that specific region. Creating a unique landing page allows agents to market specific offerings.

Send Targeted Email & Text Messages

Email marketing for real estate can bring huge gains too. Like direct mail, email and text messages, or SMS marketing, emails that promote you as a realtor and provide welcome market information can be sent to niche audiences and leads. This helps you nurture leads more effectively, and given that global marketers report email marketing campaigns achieving an open rate exceeding 20% this is something that you can expect to have similar success with.

It’s ideal to combine every method of communication when generating and nurturing leads, but text and email are compelling for connecting individually with future clients. Look at these approaches to using email and text messages to connect and convert leads:

1. New real estate listings
2. Email Marketing
3. SMS Marketing
4. Real estate listing updates
5. Notifications for emails
6. Local market reports and updates
7. Homebuying tips
8. Mortgage industry updates
9. Birthdays and anniversaries
10. Meeting follow-ups
11. Event reminders
12. Birthdays and anniversaries

Just keep in mind that there is federal legislation in Canada prohibiting you from sending unsolicited messages to anyone. Those that you see as real estate client prospects must sign up and you must be permitted to send them notifications. Provided you have permission to contact leads by text or email you can then proceed to be in further and more detailed contact with emails to nurture them and build the type connection that will eventually convert lead into client.

Experiential Marketing as a Resource

When realtors host an event and offer an experience, they position themselves as an expert and put themselves in front of potential clients in the best way possible. The term for this is experiential or engagement marketing. Experiential marketing allows potential clients to meet you in person and get to know you in a pressure-free environment.

Here’s a very doable way for any realtor to try experiential marketing. They can host a tour of the area and be selling an educational event at one of their listings, or participate in a panel discussion. Another possibility is a ‘neighbors-only’ open house once you list a new property or an invitation-only open house. This strategy is very much in line with increasing the odds of being hired or recommended, and it is because the agent is giving potential leads a chance to get to know you in person and feel comfortable.

Host a Live Webinar

If an in-person event in unrealistic for the agent, they can consider creating a real estate webinar to attract targeted types of leads as part of the best lead generation strategies. A webinar is a two-way online seminar where you present material, just like would be the case at an in-person event. Attendees can engage with the agent to ask questions or initiate / facilitate discussion. If possible make it so that they webinar can be recorded and then use it as an evergreen resource that is provided to other leads in the future.

Webinars are more and more popular these days, and they continue to be effective because they allow leads to attend your event without leaving their home. This is an ideal lead generation strategy to appeal to targeted audiences and provide them with a convenient way to meet you. In other instances it may be possible to find new real estate leads without paying for extra resources or fees if you refine these methods and also find the ways to implement them more efficiently. This approach is excellent for new agents or those with limited budgets.

They will need to invest time, and agents that do opt to do these strategies for free will find the lead is going to be much slower to be generated, but they are still highly effective. Many agents may start for free and upgrade to paid tools when making money.

Embrace Networking

Networking is one of the most time-tested real estate marketing tips and such a core part of getting new leads. It’s similar to building your sphere of influence (SOI) since new connections you make from networking become part of your sphere. But different from your SOI in that networking is for establishing relationships to enhance your business.

It’s not only real estate professionals you want to be involved with, it is others unrelated to the industry. You can attend free or paid networking events. The key here is to get to know others. You’ll find that nearly every successful real estate professionals is active in the community. It can be a good idea to volunteer with a local charity, attend alumni events and fundraisers, etc. Review market data and trends before going to an event, because questions like “how’s the market?” are standard occurrences. Use these questions as an opportunity to show your expertise. Be prepared to connect with new leads by having an elevator pitch. Also, collect business cards and follow up with your new connections within a few days of the event.

Build Up Social Media Presence

Back to social media marketing for real estate we go here, and we can’t stress strongly enough how much realtors stand to gain from taking advantage of it. Building an audience on social media requires consistency and planning, but there is an incredible return on the investment of your time if you do it right. Spend the time and trial & error approach to social media marketing strategy and agents almost always increase their reach and build a solid reputation in their community.

Very few methods of lead generation for real estate build trust as effectively in the way a social media influencer can. If a realtor can become a social media influencer it is a powerful way to grow their business. Consider that 68% of brands plan to increase their influencer marketing budget. Start by focusing on one social media platform a time, and plan to take a long-term approach seeing which ones bring the best results for you.

Organic SEO for Lead Attraction

A marketing plan that utilizes search engine optimization (SEO) the same way is effective for finding home buyer leads as a real estate agent. SEO strategies for real estate websites can consistently bring new, highly targeted leads if the site pages are seo-optimized with keywords organically incorporated and at the right keyword density. The right keywords for a real estate website will be something most agents won’t know of, but if you feel that this is something you can do yourself with good writing skills then you can try to use Google Adwords or SEMrush.

Alternately, hiring a writer to do SEO-optimization for your site may be money well spend too, because SEO for real estate is a big deal always. Choosing the right keywords is a core element of any successful SEO strategy. To help you find the best keywords, use a reliable and robust tool like one of these ones or hire someone who knows this stuff well and can provide you with the expert SEO writing for real estate you need.

Follow Up on Expired Listings

Expired listings are ones that didn’t sell the first time they were put on the market, and now they’re off it because they didn’t sell during that set time period for the listing to be active. You can usually find the expiration date in the listing details for a property on your multiple listing service (MLS). Searching for expired listing leads can be a great way to showcase your ability to sell a house that has had its challenges or hasn’t been marketed properly.

Keep in mind though that as soon as a listing expires sellers are typically inundated with calls from agents who want their business. You won’t be the only one. The odds of converting a frustrated seller are higher than finding new business from a cold call or similar means of contacting potential real estate clients.

For those who would rather be out selling instead of spending hours searching through MLS records for leads, you might want to consider a tool that does this for you. They do exist, helping real estate agents prospect and potentially secure new clients by contacting homeowners with expired listings and discussing the possibility of listing the home again – this time with you as the new agent. But be ready to explain to them how you’ll do things differently, and have an actual plan for doing that before you speak to them.

Watch for Aging FSBO Listings

No one needs to get an explanation as to why a property owners would list their property without an agent. The aim is to save money. FSBO leads are harder to convert for this reason. There are still many FSBO sellers who’ll realize how much work is involved with selling a house though, and as a result they may be willing to work with an agent who might be able to make up for their shortcomings when it comes to marketing a home and getting it sold.

Even the most astute agent isn’t going to know when they’ll be ready to become clients. But an agent letting a FSBO know they would like to give their listing added exposure is still a good idea and a different approach to real estate lead generation. Some agents even have a FSBO script they use when speaking to these owners, and it is written to convey a clear, straightforward tone and to extract information about what homeowner feels about selling the home themselves.