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Winning Strategies for Nurturing Real Estate Leads

By: Rob Shapiro

October 11, 2024

Let’s say you have all the contact details of a potential client—name, email, and phone number and are ready to sell them a home. Unfortunately, this person isn’t prepared to decide on an agent or shop for a home. 

In these situations, these real estate leads need to be nurtured. Your job is to follow up, stay top of mind, strategically position your value and convert these leads into buyers.

For real estate lead generation and conversion, most agents get stuck at one important step: lead nurturing. Over the years, lead nurturing has gone beyond just following up and convincing the contact person to pick you as their agent. It has evolved to include unique strategies that use digital platforms to maximize results. 

This article will discuss winning strategies for nurturing real estate leads and the tools you can use to maximize your efforts.  

What is Real Estate Lead Nurturing?

Lead nurturing is all about building relationships with prospects at every stage of the sales process. Real estate success means staying connected with potential homebuyers and sellers by offering helpful information and resources that gradually build trust and move them closer to becoming clients.

Real estate lead nurturing can be done through emails, calls, or social media. The goal of real estate lead nurturing is to keep your name top of mind for when they’re ready to buy.

Learning how to nurture real estate leads is one of the most important things for the long-term success of your business. 

Let’s discuss how to manage a pipeline of real estate leads in a way that will increase conversion.

How to Manage a Pipeline of Real Estate Leads?

Managing a pipeline of real estate leads effectively requires a strategic approach to keep prospects engaged and guide them toward a sale. 

Here are the steps to help you manage your pipeline of real estate leads: 

  • Create Lead Nurturing Email Campaigns: Consistent outreach is essential for managing leads. Set up automated email campaigns to send relevant information at the right time, such as market trends or property updates, ensuring your brand stays top of mind. Drip campaigns for real estate are a great marketing tactic. A drip campaign is a series of automated emails sent out at scheduled intervals, designed to nurture leads gradually with more value and information. The best drip campaigns for real estate often include personalized videos.
  • Make Sales Calls: Sales calls remain effective—according to the NAR, 89% of home buyers would use their agent again or recommend them to others, and direct outreach plays a key role in maintaining these relationships. Focus on warm leads who’ve shown interest, ensuring your timing and messaging align with their needs.
  • Leverage Social Media: About 73% of home buyers use social media in their search. Share valuable content like real estate tips, market reports, and local insights on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, or LinkedIn to engage your audience and attract potential clients. 

Social media for real estate. A realtor's Instagram account

Best CRM for Real Estate 

Another crucial part of your lead nurturing strategy is using the right customer relationship management (CRM) platform. Finding a tool that effectively manages your sales funnel and communications with potential real estate leads is essential.

A specialized CRM for real estate offers industry-specific features, such as email and text messaging, lead follow-up tools, and click-to-call capabilities.

While many CRM platforms can be customized for real estate, some are designed to meet the industry’s unique needs. 

best CRM for real estate. Real estate leads. Clients listed on a CRM for real estate.

These are the four of the best CRMs for real estate in no particular order:

  • Lofty CRM (Formerly Chime) 

Lofty/Chime is a robust CRM suite designed for real estate agents. It offers lead management, automated alerts for new leads, email marketing campaigns, and customizable websites with live chat and property search tools.

Key Features

  • Automated alerts for new leads
  • Email marketing campaigns for individual agents or entire teams
  • Customizable website templates with live chat and property search tools
  • Integrated content management system for websites and blogs

     

    Sierra Interactive CRM

Sierra Interactive offers an Internet Data Exchange (IDX) website. IDX allows realtors to display comprehensive and up-to-date property listings on their websites. 

Key Features

  • Personalized IDX integration
  • Automated, personalized lead nurturing messages
  • Integration with third-party tools like dialers and voicemail
  • Mobile app for on-the-go access
  • Includes AI tools to optimize lead management
  • Follow Up Boss CRM

Follow Up Boss is explicitly designed for real estate professionals. It offers an intuitive and user-friendly platform that simplifies lead management and marketing.

Key Features

  • Contact and task management
  • Email marketing with tracking and bulk emailing
  • Task management via a mobile app
  • Built-in VoIP dialer and video texting
  • Integration with third-party apps
    Real Geeks

Real Geeks is a robust all-in-one CRM known for its powerful sales and marketing automation tools. It is ideal for both individual agents and larger teams.

Key Features:

  • AI auto-engagement chatbot
  • Facebook marketing integration
  • Property valuation tools
  • Lead scoring and email marketing automation

Lead Nurturing Strategies for Real Estate Agents

The goal of real estate lead nurturing is to build trust and guide your prospects toward making decisions. Follow these effective lead-nurturing strategies to compel potential clients to choose you as their agent:

Video Drip Campaigns

Video drip campaigns are pre-recorded videos that you can send to your leads over time to nurture them through the real estate buying process. They are meant to deliver content regularly and keep your potential buyers engaged, gradually building a relationship.Video drip campaigns for real estate. A woman presents a market analysis 2024 via video.

Video drip campaigns are becoming increasingly popular because they are engaging, command attention and convey messages more effectively than text. This lead nurturing strategy is crucial as over 75% of customers prefer to be informed about a product or service via video.

Here’s what you should do to create a compelling video drip campaign for real estate:

  • Use Automated Platforms: Platforms such as BombBomb, Mailchimp, or HubSpot can help you quickly set up automated video drip campaigns. These tools offer features like drag-and-drop templates and scheduling options.
  • Keep Videos Short and Focused: Avoid draggy and lengthy videos. Produce 2-5 minute video content that covers the subject matter, such as an introduction to your services, virtual property tours, client testimonials, and tips for buyers or sellers.
  • Provide Helpful Information and Action Steps: Provide useful information (e.g., market trends) and always include a call to action, such as scheduling a consultation.
  • Optimize for Mobile: Ensure videos are mobile-friendly with clear visuals and fast load times.
  • Track Engagement: Use analytics to measure views and clicks and optimize for future videos.

Personalized Communications and Follow-Ups

You must send personalized material to nurture your real estate leads.

For example, if you know that one lead is interested in houses in a particular area, send them only relevant listings and area analysis. Don’t spam listings to your entire mailing list hoping that one will bite.

Instead of sending mass emails, personalize your outreach based on their preferences and needs. This strengthens your connection and shows that you will help them buy a home. Real estate is personal—your communication should be, too.

Address each recipient by name, a feature most email marketing platforms like Hubspot offer.

Share Content as Part of Lead Nurturing Strategy 

According to HubSpot, at least 47% of buyers view 3-5 pieces of content before engaging with a sales representative, so make sure your content builds trust and provides value.

Content for real estate. Real estate lead nurturing. Four blue thumbnails for blog articlesCreating great real estate content helps you retain your leads’ attention. You have to give them something they would find helpful, be it through a blog article, a YouTube video, or an email. Share expert tips, home maintenance advice, or success stories from past clients.

Nurture Real Estate Leads with Text Messages

Text messaging is a powerful, underutilized tool for real estate agents. With a 98% open rate compared to email’s 20%, SMS allows you to connect with leads quickly and effectively.

It’s excellent for follow-ups, appointment reminders, or even sending links to new listings. 

For instance, after sending an email with property options, follow up with a simple text: “Hi [lead's name], I just sent you some listings you might love. Please let me know if you want to arrange a viewing." Fast, direct communication can be the key to staying ahead of the competition.

Run Digital Ads Targeted Towards Your Leads

Google Ads for real estate and Facebook Ads are a valuable way to target specific groups of people searching for homes in an area. 

A Google Ads for real estate Reporting Screen. It displays analytics like "Clicks", "Conversions", Cost / Conv" and "Cost"

Make sure you test and optimize your campaigns regularly. For example, if a particular ad isn’t performing well, try adjusting the copy, changing the imagery, or targeting a different audience.

Effective digital marketing for real estate can generate leads for your funnel and then you can execute effective lead nurturing strategies with further content or follow-ups.

Lead Nurturing Tips for Real Estate Agents

In addition to the above-mentioned strategies, agents can follow these tips to help nurture and convert their real estate leads.

Understand Your Target Market

Understanding who your ideal clients are is crucial. You can create detailed personas by considering age, life stage, location, family size, and home preferences. 

For instance, first-time home buyers may require more hand-holding assistance and incorporation in the process. At the same time, seasoned investors may want numbers and charts illustrating and highlighting the ideal areas and markets for investment.

  • Be Authentic in Your Communication

Authenticity builds trust. Don’t just blast generic messages to everyone on your list. Take the time to send personalized emails or messages that speak directly to their needs and concerns, whether about finding the right neighborhood or understanding the selling process. 

Remember, people appreciate a genuine, non-sales approach, and it strengthens your connection over time.

Start Lead Nurturing for Real Estate Lead Generation Today

Real estate lead nurturing is an important concept that every agent must master to succeed in this competitive industry.

By integrating personalized communication, leveraging digital tools, and maintaining consistent engagement, real estate agents can position themselves as the go-to agent in a market for when leads are ready to buy or sell. 

Embrace these winning lead nurturing strategies to attract, retain, and convert your leads into satisfied clients. Your efforts in nurturing leads will significantly impact your success and growth in the real estate industry.

FAQs

Why is lead nurturing for real estate essential? 

Real estate lead nurturing is crucial because it helps you build strong relationships with prospects, which leads to higher conversion rates and sales.

How can I use email campaigns to nurture leads?

Set up automated email campaigns to regularly send valuable information, such as market updates and property listings. This will keep your leads informed and engaged and position you as a real estate expert in your market.

What role does social media play in lead nurturing? 

Social media helps you stay connected with leads by sharing valuable content and engaging with them in real time. It’s a great way to build rapport and showcase your expertise to a broader audience as a part of a real estate lead generation strategy.

What should I include in my lead nurturing content? 

Focus on providing helpful information like market trends, home maintenance tips, mortgage advice and success stories

What advantages does using a CRM offer in real estate?

A CRM helps you manage and organize leads, automate follow-ups, and track interactions.