Marketing Funnels For Real Estate Agents
Because the real estate industry is competitive, having a well-planned sales and marketing funnel is critical for generating leads.
We may have switched from a conventional marketing funnel to a digital marketing funnel, but the end aim remains the same: to convert prospects into leads and leads into loyal clients and customers.
By incorporating real estate funnels into your marketing plan, you will learn more about the route each prospect takes from discovering your brand, deciding to inquire, utilizing your services, or becoming a long-term customer who refers you to even more prospective prospects and clients.
What is a Real Estate Marketing Funnel?
A marketing funnel, also known as a ‘sales funnel,' 'buy funnel,' or 'conversion funnel,' is a tunnel that you send your prospects through. As they progress, they will encounter a sequence of touchpoints designed by you to elicit a reaction.
It is helpful to create a picture of each prospect using analytics and profiling technologies. Cultivate prospects' confidence in you and your services by communicating with them using customized content to create a relationship. Developing this relationship and confidence will help to gain their business and bring about a conversion or sale.
Structuring a Marketing Funnel For Real Estate
First establish your prospect's persona, then determine the their pain point and provide a solution. In our experience, it takes eight or more touchpoints to persuade a visitor to submit an inquiry. In general, these touchpoints will be spread across three sections: top, middle, and bottom.
Top of The Funnel
Top-of-the-funnel marketing refers to activities aimed at raising awareness of your presence in the real estate industry and bringing your brand to the forefront of the visitor's mind.
It all comes down to eyeballs on brand: the more local merchants or landlords are aware of your brand, the more likely they are to connect with you when they want your services.
So, how can you raise awareness?
There are various methods for reaching out to new prospects via digital marketing.
Some examples are:
- Blogs and personalized landing pages
- Advertisements to your IDX site
- Posts on social media
- Video marketing for SEO
- Marketing using influencers
The material at the top of the funnel has very little to do with your services as a real estate or rental agency and everything to do with the interests and wants of your buyer. You should focus on capturing your target audience's attention and convincing them that your firm delivers value.
The internet is likely to be the first place people go for solutions to their questions so be sure you have an established web presence. Your internet presence can reach an audience within the locations you serve who are interested in high-level issues related to home moving or property rental; therefore, your content should focus on them. Be sure to create trust and familiarity by generating material that is relevant to your prospects.
Once your prospective customers see your firm as a thought leader who understands their position and offers solutions, they will be more ready to opt-in to receiving messages from your firm and having access to your insights.
Middle of The Funnel
Potential customers that pass through the top of the funnel are now aware of your presence and are more willing to provide their contact information. Providing a means for them to sign up for a pamphlet, newsletter, or guide will increase your chances of gathering their information and continue your outreach as well as their movement through the funnel.
Once they reach the center of the sales funnel, it is also time to begin pitching your services and solutions. Emphasize the ways in which the services you provide can end their "suffering" and prompt cautious behavior by providing a chance to do so.
Some ways you can do this are by offering items like case studies, e-Guides, white papers, market research, webinars, FAQs, and datasheets on your site. Be sure to include a well-thought-out email campaign to support this free content and be sure it is interesting, instructive, and targeted. This content is what converts browsers into buyers. Understanding your buyers' interests and purpose are invaluable to your sales and marketing departments.
Make use of available marketing automation tools to help ensure that if the prospect doesn't take the bait and you don't make a sale or conversion at this moment, the prospect picks your firm in the future. Use this time to convince each prospect that your services are worth it (maybe by showing them films, infographics, or case studies) and that you will help them feel less "suffering".
Bottom of The Funnel
Converting a lead into a customer will be less of a struggle if they have been properly nurtured in the first two layers. They may have been more reluctant to buy or convert earlier in the funnel, which is to be expected; however, by the time a prospect reaches the end of the sales funnel, they should feel comfortable and confident in working with you.
In the first two levels, you've catered to their wants and answered their questions. If your sales and marketing processes worked as intended, they shouldn't have any reservations left to do business with you.
Automating Your Marketing Funnel
Automation can be included in any and all levels of the funnel and it should be triggered by the prospect's behavior. A completely automated sales may function efficiently on its own, according to the specific requirements, preferences, and routines of each individual prospect.
Automation Tools & Services
There are multiple tools available on the market to help automate your marketing funnel activities. You can schedule social media promotions with tools like Hootsuite as well as automate your Facebook ads with the help of automation technologies. These ads and promotions will help to continuously get the word out about your company and the products or services you provide.
Services like MooSend can help automatically send out personalized emails to your leads. These emails can be collected in "call to action" campaigns which compel your prospects to provide their contact information to you as they move through the sales process.
Dipak Raghuwansi, Email Marketing Associate
For retargeting certain leads, you can automate the sending of personalized follow-up messages by creating landing pages with clear calls to action that serve to conclude the prospect's trip. Additionally, multiple landing pages may be used to guide a potential customer through the buying process.
Building a profitable real estate marketing funnel relies heavily on the use of automation. In return, this gives you your time back while also ensuring that your prospects are receiving consistent pieces of marketing and continuing through the funnel.
If you want to learn more about automating your marketing, head over here!
