Real estate lead generation: it’s a crucial nut to crack – not just for your business to thrive, but to survive.
Running a successful property investment business requires a steady stream of new leads. Luckily you work in an industry where demand is ever present. The trick is to make sure enough of that demand finds its way to you.
In this article, we will discuss some of the top tactics to nail real estate lead generation.
Before we dive in…
Lead generation strategies require a lot of experimentation to get right. But what if there was a way to skip to the part where your strategies are working, winning and the revenue is rolling your way? That’s what we offer at Adbetter. We understand the tactics that work and know exactly how to deploy them. We’ve already got huge results for property investment companies. (Just take a look at our case studies.) We can do the same for you.
Matthew Fawl, Director, Alesco Investment Property
“Since working with Adbetter, our digital paid media channels have grown to be one of our most consistent generators of high-quality leads. Our lead volumes from paid media channels have increased over 1400% whilst maintaining a low cost per lead.”
Picking the best lead generation strategies
When it comes to strategies for real estate lead generation, you’re not short of options. There’s direct mail, print advertising, open houses and – lest we forget – networking events. But there’s one channel that, in our opinion, trumps everything else. And it can drive huge revenue for your business. That channel? Pay per click (PPC) digital media advertising.
Why we love PPC for real estate lead generation
Non-PPC strategies have their place. Of course they do. But they also have something in common. Uncertainty. When you are looking for some substance and security in your new business pipeline, it’s preferable to have a strategy that provides you with some certainty – and that’s PPC.
We can sum up why we love PPC in one word: accountability. You get direct control over your ad spend. You get direct feedback on your ad spend. And – used properly – you can bring a predictable stream of enquiries, sales meetings and warm leads your way. Week after week, month after month. That’s excellent news when you are trying to grow your business.
Pay per click platforms: what are your options?
For real estate lead generation, the following platforms can drive big returns through PPC activities.
- Google Search
- Google Display
Which should you choose? That depends on many factors: your budget, your brand, the type of audience you want to target and more. The key difference is that with Google you can target searchers with high conversion intent, whereas with other platforms you have to be a bit smarter with how you target your next customers.
Below is an introduction to some PPC best practices that stand up regardless of the platform you choose. Or hit the links below for a deep dive into each platform.
>> Google pay per click for real estate: a guide to getting results
>> Facebook ads for real estate: attracting leads and driving revenue
>> Instagram ads for real estate: become a revenue growth machine
PPC lead generation for real estate: 8 tips for getting results
1. Get the balance right: lead volume vs lead quality
Not all leads are born equal. There’s no point spending money targeting people who have low likelihood of converting – unless the cheaper cost per lead balances out the low conversion rate. Think about how the design and messaging of your ads piques the interest of the right people. This also applies to any incentives you are offering to encourage people to click through to your website. For example, giving away a brochure on real estate investment may get you some decent traction at a cheap cost. But how many of those leads are going to be ready to convert? It’s all about striking the right balance between lead volume and lead quality.
2. Consider your visual communication
Today’s consumer is bombarded with adverts – we call this “banner blindness”. You have to make sure your ads cut through to the right people. Think carefully about the visual aspect of your design, including any copy included in the image – this is what your customers are going to read first. And if you are advertising across the Google Display Network or social media, make sure you have visuals that render correctly across all relevant ad placements.
3. Take time to craft your message
Words matter – and finding the right ones isn’t always easy. You have a second or two to land a message that makes your reader pay attention. It’s incredible how many adverts don’t speak to their reader.
As a minimum you should address your reader directly.
Picture yourself talking to them one to one. Think about what their ambitions are. Consider what their doubts might be and how you can overcome them. Be realistic rather than trying to cajole or manipulate people into clicking. Oh and if you are advertising on Google, make sure you comply with the ad character limits.
4. Test, test, test
You could run just one ad at a time, with one visual and one caption. But why would you when you have the option to drive better results with a little extra effort?
For each campaign you can add a number of image options and captions/descriptions. Your platform will then test the variants against one another, preferentially displaying the best performing ad combinations to increase your chances of getting results. Feed the machine.
5. Analyse performance. Double down on what works.
No matter what platform you use, your ads dashboard will give you lots of data on how your ads are performing. This data is your gold dust. Try to identify any trends in the best performing ads.
Is there something you are saying in your messaging that is encouraging the click? Do your ads seem to perform better with a certain type of image? When you know what’s driving results, you can double down in that area – creating more ad variants based on what’s working and ditching the stuff that isn’t.
6. Make sure you’re aware of the regulations
Property, real estate and investments. They’re not the easiest things to run PPC campaigns for in terms of red tape. And falling foul of the regulations could land you with sizeable fines and a blacklisted advertising account.
On Facebook, for example, there are several restrictions on how you target people with your ads. As for Google, you may be required to get financial services verification purely because you’re targeting “investment” related keywords. Confusing? It can be. But we can make things clear.
>> Google pay per click for real estate: a guide to getting results
>> Facebook ads for real estate: attracting leads and driving revenue
>> Instagram ads for real estate: become a revenue growth machine
7. Create a retargeting campaign
Okay. So someone’s clicked your ad and shown an interest in your business. That’s great! Now the real work begins. The next step is to create a retargeting campaign that allows you to target each lead with content that encourages them to convert. This is especially important in the property and real estate sector – where the lead-to-close time is typically six months plus. We’ve written a short guide below.
>> Expert tips for real estate retargeting ads
8. Set a (reasonable) budget
With PPC for real estate, you have to commit to spending if you want meaningful returns. Given the potentially lucrative nature of the industry, the top keywords on Google can be expensive. As for campaigns on Facebook or Instagram, you will need to run your ads at a high volume for the platform to learn how to optimise your campaigns for success. The potentially high outlay makes ROI – or ROAS (return on ad spend) – even more important. That’s why partnering with an expert, at least in the short term, can be a wise move.
Go deeper
PPC lead generation for real estate is quite the science. But if you are willing to do the research and get a little technical, you can drive huge returns for your business. If you enjoyed skimming the surface of best practice in this article, we recommend going a level or two deeper in our next article – which has some more actionable advice for PPC success.
>> Revenue-boosting PPC for real estate investors
You run a business. You’re not blessed with time.
Running your own PPC campaigns can be rewarding. But it can also be technical. And time consuming. And time is most likely not a commodity you are blessed with.
We are a specialist paid media agency and can take care of everything on your behalf. Get in touch to find out what type of returns you can expect by working with us. Or read this case study to see how we generated more than £2.5m in revenue for Alesco Property Investments through paid media leads.
