This text argues that LinkedIn is a great social media platform for generating leads for real estate agents, even if some features are now only available with a paid plan. The key is to take advantage of the free features that are available and to make sure your profile is set up in an informative and visually appealing way.
Why use LinkedIn to Generate Free Real Estate Leads?
LinkedIn is the only leading social media platform that is business-centric. LinkedIn users are mostly 30 years old or up, earning at least $75, 000 a year, and 50% have a college degree.
Despite the fact that many demographic studies show that LinkedIn is an effective real estate lead generation strategy, very few real estate agents use it.
This text is saying that LinkedIn is a better platform than Facebook for real estate agents to connect with their audience and generate leads because LinkedIn allows for more intimate connections.
Find out how to get quality leads on LinkedIn without spending any money.
1. Bring Viewers to your LinkedIn Pages
The first thing you need to do is make sure that people will be able to find your LinkedIn profile. One way to do this is to add a LinkedIn widget to your signature or on any marketing materials you create. Some examples of places where you could do this include your email signature, the bios of your other social media accounts, and your websites and landing pages.
Be sure to make your LinkedIn profile prominent and easily accessible from other pages so that people can follow you easily. Make sure that your LinkedIn widget or icon is a different color than the rest of the page so that it will stand out.
The AgentFire website allows you to add social media icons in a variety of locations. You can see some examples of how our clients have used this feature on our website.
2. Get Your Profile Together
Business Accounts
If you’re not sure which profile type to choose on a social media platform, it’s usually safe to go with a business account. This will allow you to list your real estate website and other social media links in your bio. The “customizable personal summary” is where you can get creative and write a few sentences about your areas of expertise, why you’re passionate about real estate, and anything else you want potential clients to know about you.
Choose an image for your header that looks professional and is captivating. A perfect example is our client, Susan Monette, who has a banner that is simple, yet effective, and uses her branding theme and slogan.
When people visit Susan’s LinkedIn profile, they can immediately tell what she does, who she is, and what kind of content she typically posts. This helps give them a better idea of the quality of her work and what kind of things she is interested in. If you were a prospective client visiting someone’s LinkedIn profile for the first time, what would you be looking for? What would make you more likely to contact someone?
Our web designers can help you create a branded look for your business, including a custom logo. We’ll make sure your branding is consistent across all your marketing materials.
Creator Mode
If you want to improve your thought leadership and social media influence, you should start by using creator mode. For example, eXp real estate agent and real estate marketing influencer Mike Sherrard posts a lot of different types of content, and each one gets a lot of engagement.
In creator mode, the connect/message button is changed to a follow button, and it is more prominently featured. Your posts are also positioned above your personal summary, to encourage more content views. However, the most stand-out feature is the ability to go “Live” on LinkedIn. When your profile is up and running, LinkedIn will also regularly suggest growth strategies based on your profile type, to get you better results.
To decide which account type is right for you, ask yourself how much time you have to dedicate to your LinkedIn page, what kind of content you want to create, and what results you’re looking for. If you’re mostly interested in reaching out to potential leads in your area, a company account will suffice. However, if you want to focus on influencer strategy, creator mode could offer the extra view boost you’re looking for.
3. Social Media – Another Solid Tool To Get Free Real Estate Leads
If you’re not using social media to promote your business, you’re missing out on potential customers. It’s time to start using social media to reach more people.
Methods of marketing have changed over time, and it is now easier to target your audience using social media than cold calling or door knocking. With most of the audience now using digital media, Instagram and Facebook are the two strongest platforms to get free real estate leads.
Instagram is especially good for sharing high-quality images and videos of properties and promoting upcoming content.
Many real estate agents don’t use social media much because they think it’s time-consuming. However, with some handy tools like Hootsuite and Buffer, it only takes an hour to set up a whole week’s worth of content. Once this is done, all that is left is to scroll through comments and respond to them at your own convenience. social media can be a fantastic platform for buyer leads for real estate agents.
4. Website Optimization
An optimally designed website is the key to generating leads for your real estate business. By creating a website that accurately reflects your brand and highlights your unique selling points, you will be able to attract potential customers and build trust with them. Testimonials from happy customers will further cement your reputation as a reliable business, and providing value-added content will keep visitors coming back to your site.
Having a website is a great way to generate leads for free, but if it’s not done correctly, it could backfire. Your website shouldn’t be a place to show off how great you are in detail. Instead, focus on how you’ll add value and meet your customer’s needs.
Make sure to include a blog section on your website to help the client with any challenges they might face during the buying process. You can also create and post helpful how-to-videos to further assist them. Don’t forget to optimize your website and include a newsletter signup to capture the client’s email address.
5. Focus on Targeted Posts
If you want to get in front of the right eyes on LinkedIn, post often and make sure your content is professional and value-packed.
A few topic ideas for real estate agents looking to gather leads, include:
- Just sold posts
- Home decor tips
- Local market reports
- Client testimonials
- Coming to the market soon
- Aspirational listings
- Links to your landing pages
If you want to keep your followers on LinkedIn engaged, mix up the types of posts you make. You can include links to other websites, videos, surveys, or just make a plain text announcement. For example, you could post a blog article about tips for first-time buyers, and then a few days later repost a video from a local news source. You can find more ideas for videos that will grab viewers attention in this list of 25 ideas.
Hashtags should not be overused. Joining a trending topic by providing useful information is a great way to get attention to your content. However, if you use too many hashtags or irrelevant hashtags just to get attention, it can damage your professional image on LinkedIn.
Take a look at Travone Burnette’s recent post on LinkedIn. He uses hashtags sparingly, makes a personal connection, and refers to one of his listings in a way that is natural and easy to read.
It is suggested to post content at least once a week to be consistent.
6. Engage with Your Audience
To engage with others on LinkedIn, simply like, comment on, or repost their content.
However there are a few tips to make your engagement efforts standout:
- Comment and like posts right after they are posted. The post creator is statistically 100% more likely to see your gesture and start a conversation if communicated with immediately after posting on LinkedIn. (Bill Corbett Jr., President, Corbett Public Relations, Inc.)
- Like and love as many posts as you’d like, but commenting is a much more effective and actionable way to interact.
- Set a daily goal for posts you want to engage with. If you’d like to build your network quickly, 40 – 50 post engagements a day has been shown to be most effective (fitsmallbusiness.com)
7. Review Analytics
After making changes to your LinkedIn presence, you can use analytics to track what is working and what needs to be changed for better results.
The analytics tools on LinkedIn can help you see how many people are clicking, viewing, and interacting with your posts. Keeping track of which topics are of most interest to people can help you know what kind of content to post in the future.
The LinkedIn analytics page allows you to compare the number of impressions, clicks, views, reactions, comments, shares, follows, and engagement rate (shown as a percentage) on each of your posts. You can use the date and demographic info to see when and with whom your content resonates most. For a detailed view of how to use LinkedIn demographics, check out the Youtube video above.
8. Referrals
If you’re wondering how to generate free real estate leads in 2022, one very effective (albeit traditional) method is word of mouth. When you first start your business (real estate or otherwise), you won’t have a network. So it’s important to start building one from scratch.
Ask your customers for referrals and recommendations. People usually trust and do business with people they know rather than with anonymous real estate agents.
9. Quora – A Most Untapped Source Of Free Real Estate Leads
One of the most effective marketing strategies these days is one that is often overlooked – Quora. Quora is a website where people can ask and answer questions on any topic. With over 300 million monthly unique visitors, Quora’s Q&A entries often show up on the first page of google results. And the best part, it is absolutely free!
You only need an email address to start playing this game.
Answering questions that are frequently asked will help you to establish a presence and readers will take notice of you as a brand.
Key Takeaways
from different channels. There is no easy or free way to generate leads for real estate businesses. It is a process that requires time and consistency to develop relationships with potential clients. Having a well thought out plan for generating leads will help you distinguish yourself from the competition. Use the tips provided in the article “How to generate real estate leads for free in 2021” to help you get started on the right path. It is a long journey, but if you are getting leads from a variety of sources, it will be worth the effort.
In Conclusion…
If you use LinkedIn correctly, it can be a great source of leads for your real estate business. There are lots of paid features that can help you generate leads, but there are also some great free strategies that work just as well.
To be successful on LinkedIn, you need to create a strong profile, connect with potential customers, produce high-quality content, and be consistent in your efforts.