Does your real estate business need some help? Do you want to convince more people that you are their best partner to sell or buy a property? If these questions both get a big YES, then it’s time to take your real estate business to the next level! In this article, you will discover 50 powerful real estate marketing ideas & tips.
Arm yourself with the top 50 real estate marketing ideas targeted to help realtors like you generate more high-quality leads in no time.
Offline Ideas for Real Estate Marketing
1. Attend Seminars for First-time Buyers
While it is easy for people to find and access answers to all their questions related to real estate, many of them still choose to attend seminars for first-time buyers to gain more in-depth information.
As expected, any potential buyer will have a lot of queries running through their minds. They also gain more questions and ideas along the way when they are part of a group setting.
You can also make these seminars work to your advantage by taking note of some frequently asked questions by first-time buyers. You can then provide the answer to these questions that will generate more leads in the form of the seminar attendees.
2. Offer Free Real Estate Consultations in Your Favorite Coffee Shop
This may be one of those simplest real estate marketing ideas that actually work without too much effort on your part. If you are a coffee lover or you just love spending time at your favorite local coffee shop, why not adorn your laptop with a sticker that says, “Free Real Estate Advice.”
This can function as a free ad that other customers in the shop can see, thus helping you attract potential leads without the need for you to try too hard.
3. Acquire More Referrals Through Local Connections
Ask any experienced realtor and they will surely tell you that referrals are and will always be the best way to get more new leads for your real estate business. The only concern here is you don’t always stumble upon referrals, and new agents even find it even more challenging.
But you can do something to establish more local connections that can help you generate more referrals. Use a strategic approach to reach out to more prospective clients in a more targeted area. This will let you get hands-on local referrals and leads after each positive conversion.
4. Buy Exclusive Seller Leads
There is another shortcut to getting more leads. You can look for online platforms that sell leads to leverage and get the data you need for your real estate leads. You can also get exclusive deals for realtors depending on the zip code. These platforms can give you the best-seller leads at the start of the buyer’s journey before you can approach them for your pitch.
5. Distribute Your Business Cards and Seasonal Treats
Use your business cards to your advantage by giving them out during some seasonal events. If you are out buying your groceries, for example, why not hand out a few cards to other shoppers? Special times of the day such as holidays are also the perfect chance for you to share some festive treats. For example, you can give out some water bottles that feature your business name and services offered.
6. Go Knocking on Doors
As the world goes digital, it is easy to forget about traditional methods and take them for granted. However, when it comes to the most effective real estate market ideas, nothing can beat the power of door-to-door communication.
Knock on a few doors and get the chance to breathe in some fresh air as you do so. An additional benefit is that it is also an excellent opportunity for you to practice your sales skills and polish your elevator pitch.
7. Make Some Outbound Phone Calls Yourself
Just because you are using offline ideas for real estate marketing doesn’t always mean that you have to step outside your office or home to seek prospects for your venture. Go through your phone contacts to make some outbound calls to people you think can become your prospective clients in the near future.
Reach out to some people you might know. Doing these personal outbound calls won’t cost you anything. Start by setting an achievable daily goal. After completing a single lead conversation, you will find it easier to be more consistent in the next coming days.
8. Be a Cold Calling Master
It wouldn’t hurt to be a bit bold at times. Pick up potential clients immediately instant of just waiting for them to approach you. Having the other person on the line hanging up on you may seem a bit disheartening at first. But if you really want to become a top realtor, you need to form a thick skin for this to be possible.
9. Turn to News Outlets to Share Your Pitch
Sharing your pitch to news outlets is also one of the best offline real estate marketing ideas. This is a proven and tested strategy to get and convert more leads and dig up more clients.
With a reputable publication to back you up, you can expect to get a laudable list of calls. The referrals of these news outlets will help you sell property listings fast and attract more new clients.
Let the local print media work to your advantage by having your property listings published in the local newspapers for all locals to see. Although the readers might not take a keen interest in your listing, they might still share your details with others who may be interested.
10. Be a Part of the Local Chamber of Commerce
Participate in your local chamber of commerce so you can get on the listing for businesses and names on websites and newsletters. Get more referrals and make more valuable connections. Be a member of the chambers of the county or town where you belong or in other nearby areas. Doing so can help you generate more leads not just in your own locality but in other places near you.
11. Strategize Your Holiday Plans
Many people love taking holidays and vacations. This means that your business competitors may be also taking a break on holidays. Now, it doesn’t mean you should be working even during the holidays to come up with your tactics for lead generation.
What you can do instead is to come up with a plan that will entail every aspect of your lead generation strategy while still enjoying your holidays to the fullest. Plan your strategies with more emphasis on automation so you can dominate your local market for more exclusive leads.
One more trick to take advantage of holidays is to have some holiday-themed listings for potential leads. You can even use photos of holiday-decorated properties to make them even more enticing.
12. Watch Out for Leads with Court Orders
There are lots of outside-the-box real estate marketing ideas, and one of these includes leads that come with a court order for selling the properties. Make sure you also focus on leads that want or need to move. Divorce leads are also worthy to consider. While these may require more empathy and patience on your part, these divorce leads also tend to be faster to close than others.
13. Connect and Network at Events Not Related to Real Estate
Did you notice how most brands often generate demands for their services or products first before they actually launch and sell the solution? This same approach is also applicable to real estate businesses. As a realtor, you can also try networking at events that don’t have anything to do with real estate and then generate leads from there that can come in handy in the future.
While you are at these events, use some merchandise items with your brand on them and distribute these to the attendees. Print out your business logo, contact details, and tagline in goodies such as calendars, tumblers, pens, or anything else that will match the event you are participating in.
14. Forge Partnerships with Local Brands
Decors and furniture items can add life to any property. Unfortunately, they often come at expensive prices. A good alternative here is to partner with local brands such as a local furniture store. You can offer free promotion of their store in exchange for lending their products to you.
Also, if your area has an up-and-coming artist, you can also partner with the artist to host a gallery night where you can invite potential clients, leads, and other realtors.
Remember that real estate businesses often flourish more once they are integrated with solid partnerships. Aside from offering exceptional knowledge about real estate, you can also share contacts and skills and offer moral support if ever the need arises.
Another great way to generate more real estate leads is to partner with other non-competing businesses and agents with target markets that are related or the same as yours.
For instance, an architect can ask his clients if they already have a realtor for the property. The architect can then recommend you to their clients. If the client says yes, the architect will then introduce you to the client. This is also applicable to other business partners.
15. Target FSBOs
With the combination of the right consistency and approach, targeting the niche of FSBOs or for sale by owners can help you enjoy a steady and constant list of leads. Just make sure you don’t approach these owners with an attitude as if you know everything these don’t. What you can do instead is to interact and communicate with them in such a way that you can promote your value in the subtlest way possible.
16. Take Advantage of Open Houses
As far as real estate marketing ideas are concerned, open houses continue to be some of the most preferred and popular approaches to attract more potential leads. Arrange an open house no matter what type of house or property you are selling. Invite some prospective buyers as well as their own realtors or real estate professional representatives to showcase the house and ignite their interest.
You can also add a dash of excitement to your house tours by inviting over not only neighbors but almost everyone in your current database while offering a promise of drinks, food, and a wonderful time.
Some realtors also bring in food trucks to ensure that the attendees can enjoy some delicious foods after the house tour. If you are hosting an open house during the Christmas holidays, you can even rent a snow machine for your open house.
Speaking of neighbors, you can invite them over by knocking on doors. Introduce yourself and the property you are trying to sell and allow them to get a glimpse of the property.
17. Give Back to Your Local Community
Aside from attending social gatherings, parties, and events, you can also volunteer for a nonprofit or charity event in your local area. Making this kind of difference can help you earn the trust of the members of the community and entice them to choose you every time they need or want to sell or buy a property.
Showing your charitable side by investing your money in causes or events you support might not be the top marketing method for most realtors. However, this can go a long way to collecting leads and building your business.
You can also donate to a charity and request name recognition, such as including your name in their monthly newsletter or social media.
You can also consider sponsoring a local festival that promotes your property listings. You can organize a community banquet or BBQ where you can offer delicious food and your business cards simultaneously.
Online Ideas for Real Estate Marketing
18. Learn Techniques for SEO Backlinking
SEO has already proven itself as the best way to boost traffic, spread brand awareness, and generate more leads. More specifically, SEO backlinks can help you attract more potential leads to your real estate business when you have other websites link back to your own.
19. Focus on Building Your Brand
You can also generate more real estate leads even while you sleep. The best way to do it is to establish an exclusively memorable and compelling brand. Just so you know, a brand is formed by the way people talk about your products and services. By focusing on building your brand online, you can earn compound interest in the investments you made in your business.
20. Get More Local Leads with Predictive Analysis
Predictive analysis is now one of the most important aspects of any real estate lead generation strategy. Some channels and platforms provide predictive analysis services to help you bring in more local leads.
These tools use machine learning and machine intelligence to analyze hundreds of data points and search for the specific leads you need and want. This tool also scours the internet and acquires information from the local MLS to identify the property owners in your targeted geographic area.
21. Develop an Attractive Website with Great UI and UX
Even if most real estate sites today are great, the experiences they offer often leave users asking for improvements and wanting more. Spending a part of your budget on a well-designed, well-developed, and well-maintained site is one of the top investments you can make for your business.
As long as you get the features and content right, your site can serve as an effective lead magnet to help you generate more leads. Since building a website isn’t easy, especially if you don’t have the slightest clue on how to do it, you can always hire a professional who can do the job for you and offer good value for your money.
22. Rank Articles for Your Listings on Google
It seems that many real estate agents assume that Google ranking is nothing but a thing of the distant past. What they don’t realize is that you can actually spark interest in your properties more organically if you target and use niche-specific keywords on Google. It will let you showcase your property listings with the use of websites dedicated to capturing more local search traffic.
You can create articles for individual property listings complete with photos and the story behind each one of them. With the help of these articles, potential buyers will get the chance to form their opinions regarding the properties as well as their weaknesses and strengths. This way, buyers can gain honest insights regarding the properties they are interested to buy.
23. Claim Your Real Estate Business on Google
To ensure that more people can easily find you online, make sure you also create your own Google My Business account and include the details of your business there.
Providing as much information as you can, will increase your chances of showing up higher in Google search results every time people use keywords such as “real estate agents near me” and other relevant terms.
24. Start and Email Campaign
Email remains to be one of the best real estate marketing ideas for a good reason. Well-strategized and well-designed email campaigns can help bring a much higher opening rate. It also works as a powerful tool for marketing with great potential for generating more real estate leads.
While going about with your email campaign, using video emails is also found to work better compared to traditional emails filled with just text or pictures. Videos tend to provide an extended personal engagement that simple static visuals or texts cannot do.
Using videos will make it feel as if you are directly talking to potential clients or leads face to face even though you are not there physically right in front of them. Aside from this, videos are also more entertaining compared to staring at images or reading blocks of text. Video emails are also most suitable with event invitations, welcome emails, and tutorials or guides.
25. Let PPC Ads Work for You
You can also generate more leads for your real estate business through targeted search engine placements with the help of PPC or pay-per-click advertising. PPC ads are ads that only use text and appear on top of searches. Once done properly, these ads can produce low-cost but high-quality leads. Don’t miss the chance to leverage these PPC ads, especially if your budget is a bit tight.
26. Start Your Own Podcast
Did you know that millions of people all over the world are now listening to podcasts? This is why starting your own podcast is one of the effective tools for long-term marketing.
You can establish a loyal and strong following if you can captivate your listeners with a regular flow of content perfect for their everyday commute or some interesting tidbits of information they can listen to while completing their household chores.
However, the only downside here is that it might be a bit tricky to localize your podcast audience. To get around this problem, you can try to make your topics more specific to your target market and advertise your podcast in your local area.
27. Add Affiliate Marketing to Your Arsenal
You can also leverage the power of affiliate marketing so you can earn a commission by recommending services or businesses of other people. Investors can also use the affiliate marketing method so they can also recommend your services or products.
28. Harness the Power of Local Ads
You can also use online ads so you can make the most of the local market that targets local homeowners. Local ads are traditional and tested advertisement techniques to generate more real estate leads.
While going about with your ads, always think local every time you write a copy not only for your ads but also for your website as a whole. By including targeted keywords, such as the specific name of your area, you will be able to rank higher every time leads to look for potential properties to purchase in your area. You can also include easy-to-understand local slang so that you can also welcome website visitors with local vibes.
Aside from local ads, you can also use some pop-up ads. These ads eliminate the need for you to ask your prospects one by one whether or not they are interested in your business. All you have to do is pop them an ad and grab the chance to attract their interest.
Pop-up ads are excellent real estate marketing ideas as they act as a non-intrusive way of giving exposure to your business, making it more advantageous on your part.
29. Post a Quiz
Asking some questions is another great way to pique the interest of more people and make them engage more with your brand or services. These quizzes can also increase the number of potential buyers and boost your credibility at the same time.
30. Answer Questions Online and Use Craigslist
When it comes to answering online questions, don’t just focus on raising questions alone. You also need to put some effort into actually answering the questions. It is a great opportunity for you to showcase your credible and authentic resources.
You can also search for some real estate questions on subreddits on Reddit or Quora and provide answers. If applicable. You can even link readers to your website or blog.
While you are at it, make sure your Quora profile is also complete. This way, every time you post an answer to questions, your title or profession would show up beside your name. This will add more credibility and integrity to your answers.
You can also try Craigslist if you want to reach out to a wider set of audience. The platform generates over 40 billion page views each month and over 50 billion users every month in the United States alone.
31. Post a Virtual Property Tour on Your Website
Videos are at their all-time high in terms of popularity. However, many realtors still fail to take full advantage of them. To set yourself apart from your competitors, you can try adding a virtual tour of the properties to your listings to give a nice little touch to them.
Don’t forget that your site can be one of your most powerful tools for lead generation when equipped properly. These virtual tours can give prospects more opportunities to learn more about your property listing, the condition of the area around it, what it looks like, and more.
This is already a great way to filter your leads since only those people who are truly interested will reach out to you and ask to have a personal tour of the property.
32. Sponsor a Web Post and Submit a Press Release
You can also invest in sponsoring a web post to help you take things a step further. It is one of the real estate marketing ideas that combine image and content alike so you can give prospective buyers a nice blend of brand exposure, credibility, and authenticity.
You can also write and submit a press release so you can jumpstart your lead generation campaigns and make your brand more recognizable. With the help of the massive power of the internet, your press release will have the potential of reaching a more extensive set of audiences.
33. Make the Most of CRM to Scale Your Lead Generation Strategy
When it comes to lead generation, it is important to scale your strategy with a CRM or customer relationship management no matter what niche or industry you belong to. A CRM can help you handle your lead generation, nurturing, and scaling processes in a better way.
An intelligent CRM also involves essential human intelligence, machine learning, and AI-based intelligence. The CRM dashboard can also help understand and analyze the behaviors of leads way before they are ready for a transaction.
34. Post Property Listings on Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace provides the best spot where you can post your property listings with all the necessary details in the groups. These groups are often named based on the name of the area. Some groups also ask their new members to answer a few questions and read their policies first before they get accepted. Once you have completed these steps, you can then get started in listing your properties.
Unique and Creative Ideas for Real Estate Marketing
35. Help Your Buyers Find a Good Investment and Not Just a House
Unfortunately, some realtors are not even aware of the needs of their buyers to invest in real estate and find a primary residence. You can work with accountants and business managers to understand potential buyers and offer buyers the best deals for them.
Always keep in mind that buyers don’t just want a house alone because most of them are also looking for a good investment. You can guide buyers on how to have a win-win situation for the different parties involved. A good realtor directs buyers to the right path according to their needs and wants.
36. Partner with a Trusted Local Handyman
You can also offer your clients an invaluable resource by partnering with a trusted local handyman. These expert professionals are the first ones to hear every time someone wants to sell or buy properties. Since they handle and specialize in upgrades, repairs, and renovations, they are also aware and more well-versed when it comes to the specific needs of prospective buyers.
37. Create and Advertise in Newsletters
Make sure you also keep both your previous clients and potential leads up to date with everything new in real estate, including company events, new property listings, new properties sold or bought, and more.
One important tip when writing your newsletter copy is to write it as if you are talking to someone. This will make the readers feel more exclusive because you took the time to create an email update especially made for them.
If creating your own newsletter is out of the equation, you can also try advertising in your local newsletter. This form of advertising can help boost your branding and also function as a lead magnet to easily generate more leads for your real estate business.
38. Let Automated Text Marketing Do the Work
Just so you know, the open rate of text messages can reach 97%, which is significantly higher than the open rate of emails at a mere 20%. However, the main issue here lies in how you should approach potential leads using text messages.
Text messages tend to use up more time compared to bulk emailing and cold calling. This means that you should only try text automation if you wish to send text messages to your potential leads. With the use of automated tools, you will be able to get more clients or establish your brand at the very least among your key users.
Direct Real Estate Marketing Ideas
39. Distribute Leaflets and Door Hangers
Distributing leaflets is one of the best methods to generate real estate leads. You can share more details about your business and your services through these leaflets so you can attract more potential leads, especially if you are just getting started with your lead generation strategy.
Simple door hangers can also bring some unexpected results for realtors. Door hangers reinstate the traditional or old-school mentality of doing anything it takes to reach out to clients. This also shows that the person is open to new possibilities.
40. Send Your Sale Letters to Absentee Owners
There are two options available for you when it comes to sending sales letters to absentee owners, and these are direct mail and drip mail. Drip mail is where send out flyers or postcards to all the residents and contacts in your contact list or neighborhood. Direct mail, on the other hand, refers to sending mail to select recipients.
41. Reach Out to Owners of Expired or Old Listings
Listings will become unlisted after a year or so. You might want to reach out to the owners of these old or expired listings and try to find out if they are still interested in selling their property. You can also use this chance to go through your list of buyers who might be more interested in older properties or those that might need some repair but are within their budget.
Free Real Estate Marketing Ideas
42. Ask for Referrals and Offer Incentives in Exchange
Beating around the bush is a big no-no when it comes to ideas for real estate marketing. Don’t hesitate to ask for referrals from your own circle, including your family, relatives, friends, and coworkers.
If word of mouth is your main source of referrals, you can also encourage them to send more leads your way by offering them rewards or gifts.
For example, you can come up with a referral where every successful referral will make them earn $2 with an additional $15 once the deal is closed. You can also mail some gift cards or discount coupons from nearby restaurants or shops.
43. Show Up at Garage Sales
One of the cheapest ways to be right in front of potential leads is by interacting with them at garage sales. It will help bring in more clients. With the right strategy, you may also attract more future buyers.
44. Share Testimonials
Positive word of mouth from your previous clients to potential leads can benefit your real estate business in more ways than one. These testimonials can bring in new clients and serve as endorsements for your venture.
45. Provide Topnotch Customer Service
Aside from focusing on capturing the interest of new leads, it is also important to emphasize the level of customer service that your existing clients get from you. As long as you offer your current clients world-class customer service, you can expect them to bring in more clients soon.
Social Media Real Estate Marketing Ideas
46. Create a Real Estate Facebook Group in Your Local Area
Use this Facebook group to encourage all your members to raise their questions about selling and buying properties and any other inquiries they may have. The group is also a great place to post exclusive real estate tricks and tips as well as real estate news and updates. You can also promote your free eBook or course about real estate here if you have one.
47. Create a Client Avatar for Easier Targeting in Social Media
You can create an avatar of your target clients according to their age, personality, family, needs, interests, and preferences. After learning about your ideal clients, you can create and post blogs and videos on various social media platforms. Determine your target clients and post about the things they love so you can attract them and direct their attention to you.
48. Use IG Stories to Drive Engagement
Just like other social media platforms, you can also take advantage of the changing algorithms of Instagram. The platform pushes its users to create more video content and share them with the rest of the world.
Instagram stories allow creators not just to engage with the platform but also attract more followers and engage them as well. Just know that IG stories might not be easy to make and may not come naturally to some realtors.
49. Find Prospect Leads on LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a favorite go-to platform for various niches, and even realtors can leverage it. This platform is designed for professional networking and attracting business professionals.
50. Start a Contest
Contests are also one of the easiest ways to lure leads to a certain property listing. Give incentives that will entice buyers to put in their offers and close, such as VIP tickets to a popular sporting event or concert, or a new TV for their new house.
Learn More: How to Utilize Social Media to Generate More Leads Online?
Bonus Real Estate Marketing Idea: Monitor Results Regularly
You can never tell which of these ideas for real estate marketing works better than the others unless you evaluate the results they generate. Which idea helped you acquire more leads? Which has a higher return on investment?
The only way to know the answers to these questions is to track and analyze how each strategy performs. Pay close attention to identifying the strategies that work so you can implement and improve them as needed for your marketing campaigns in the future.
The Bottom Line
Be sure to focus and follow the above real estate market ideas and always make them especially tailor-made to your business. Stick to a strategic approach that suits your customer profiles, goals, virtues, business values, and personal ideals. As long as you have a customized strategy in place, you can look forward to generating leads for your real estate business in no time!
I became a realtor when I was 25, Right now I’m a digital marketing expert helping realtors, brokers and real estate agents generate more leads online.