by When you are first creating your real estate website and thinking about your overall online marketing strategy, often one of the farthest things from your mind is simply why someone would want to contact you. Having a powerful marketing message is a great start, but what else could you offer someone that would encourage them to fill out your contact forms?
Putting an array of “Free reports” on your website in the hopes that someone will fill out a form with their valuable name and e-mail address is a colossal waste of time. Most of the traditional free reports in real estate are so widely circulated that anyone can find them. To get an online visitor to provide you with their contact information now requires being different and providing them information that isn’t that easily available.
Unique Offers Can Transform Traffic Into Leads
Consider the following ideas for compelling a visitor to give you their information:
- A 10+ Page Report on Buying a Home – Creating a report of this length demonstrates real value to a prospective client. Try to not make it a “fluff” report that speaks about your awards or service. Write it from an objective standpoint that will allow them to get real value from it. Put information in the report that helps them to see how they could purchase a property in the areas you operate. Point out items to consider that are specific to your area and they will infer your expertise. This can be a “living” report meaning you could make the back few pages of the report about the current market activity and then update it quarterly or semi-annually with the latest market trends. On your landing page let prospective buyers know that your 10+ page (yes give them the actual number) is a report that not only gives them unique guidance about buying in your market areas it also gives unbiased market data that will help them to decide IF now is the right time to buy for them.
- A 3 Day Course on Preparing a Home For Sale – Many people provide a small one page document for preparing a home for sale, so be different! Create a 3 day email course on items a seller should consider when preparing a home to sell. You can even provide information on how they would select a listing agent. This course should be packed with so much information that the prospective seller has enough information to choose ANY agent they want in the marketplace but they will be compelled to select you because of the information you provide. As you could do in a buyer report you can add a section on market activity to help seller’s determine IF it is the right time to sell. The agents that do the best aren’t afraid to tell a seller “you know if you can wait, it might be a good idea”. Be bold and be different with your course and you can attract great prospects daily.
- A Targeted List of Properties or Off-Market Properties – Take advantage of market conditions and place a form that allows people to get the homes in a specific area and condition. For example if Bank Owned properties are abundant in your area, you could create a form that allows someone to get a list of Bank Owned/Foreclosure homes in your neighborhood. With the apps from Realtor.com, Zillow, Redfin, and more the curated lists are harder to create that are truly unique. If you belong to a larger office, give prospective visitors to your site the opportunity to get the “first look” at properties before they hit the market. Let a prospect know that you understand they can get any set of listings from the MLS or the variety of Real Estate Apps, but you want to get them a truly first look at properties BEFORE they hit the market to help them get the edge.
Getting people to give up their information takes a focus on what is most important to those searching online and it can change as markets change. People searching for real estate help online want to get information and they want it on their terms. Providing them multiple opportunities to get the help they desire will have visitors opting in daily for great information.
