How To Get Real Estate Leads In 2023

The last three years have been a wild ride for real estate agents. Prices skyrocketed while inventory plummeted. Mortgage rates reached historic lows, then extreme highs. You struggled in your real estate business, but you also innovated, adapting to the new normal and rethinking the way you do business.

And now, in 2023, you’re ready for whatever the market throws at you next.

Whatever changes we experience this year, one thing will remain the same: the importance of lead generation. To grow your real estate business, you must keep your pipeline full with new (and returning) potential clients.

Here are 10 ideas to help you generate more leads this year.

10 Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas for 2023

1) Identify the thing that’s holding people back

For many people, it’s a scary time to buy or sell a home. Jennifer Myers, founder of Agent Grad School, decided to dig deeper and figure out exactly why people in her market were scared. What was holding them back from taking that first step of reaching out to an agent?

She realized that people in her market were unwilling to list because they doubted their ability to buy their next home. Once Jennifer identified that challenge, she acknowledged it in her marketing—and she spelled out her solution. Instead of sending the typical Just Listed postcard, she included a message on that postcard that acknowledged the challenge of finding a home to buy and explained, briefly, what she does to get her clients into their next home (finding off-market homes, for example).

2) Ask your past clients for help finding pocket listings

Pocket listings, or homes not listed on the MLS, are an often-overlooked source of real estate leads. While there are many methods for finding pocket listings, I really love this idea that Jennifer Myers shared.

When inventory began to dry up at the beginning of the pandemic, she started a weekly email to all of her past clients. In this email, which she called “The Hive,” she described the types of properties her buyers were looking for and asked her past clients if they knew of any homeowners who fit the bill and might consider selling.

It was a huge success: “We got so many people telling me things like they went in the alley and waited until the woman put her trash out and then gave me her phone number. I mean, you wouldn’t believe the number of introductions that I got out of this.”

3) Build partnerships with relevant local professionals

There are many professionals in your town who come into contact with potential buyers and sellers every day: mortgage lenders, interior designers, insurance companies, landscapers—even divorce attorneys. In an article for The Close, Kelly Lise Murray, CEO of Divorcethishouse.com, had this to say:

“Do you want genuinely motivated leads? How about leads that have a court order to sell their home? How about leads who really, really, really want to move? If you’ve got reserves of patience and empathy, then working divorce leads might be the perfect lead generation strategy to close a few more deals this year.”

4) Use a lead generation platform

A lead generation company does the hard work of running online ads and capturing leads so real estate agents, teams, and brokers don’t have to. Depending on the lead generation company you choose, you’ll pay a monthly fee (and possibly additional fees per lead or depending on ad spend). Many lead generation platforms are part of a CRM (client relationship management software) with additional functionality to help you follow up with those leads and convert them into clients.

Our preferred service is the Firepoint Lead Generation Platform, which allows you to target by multiple criteria: area, persona information, buyer/seller type, price point, lead quality, and even speciality targets like “First Time Homebuyer.”

Lead generation is just one component of the Firepoint platform, which also includes IDX website management, CRM, and an Automated Assistant. The best part? All of it integrates with Realvolve!

5) Build a brand that differentiates you from other agents

Why should someone choose me over another real estate agent?

To build a brand that will attract leads, you need to figure out what makes you different: why you chose to become a real estate agent, who you want to help, how you’ll help them, what you want to be known for, and who you want to be for your clients.

6) Create a Best of [Your City] list of recommended businesses

This idea comes from real estate marketing guru Valerie Garcia, and it’s a great way to work your database of past clients. This idea consists of multiple steps:

First, you call up all of your past clients, let them know you’re creating a “Best of” local business directory to share with the community, and ask them if they have any local businesses they’d like to recommend.

Next, after you’ve created the list, you can follow up again (maybe by text or email this time) to let them know the list is complete and you will be sending it to them.

Here’s why this idea is effective: Not only are you providing something of value—one of the golden rules of good marketing—but you are also creating two excuses to reach out to them and have a conversation. You’re staying top of mind, you’re reminding them of your value, and you’re creating the opportunity to ask, “Hey, do you happen to know anyone looking to buy or sell a home?”

7) Send Unsolicited Video CMAs to past clients

Another great “excuse” for reaching out to past clients is to send a video CMA (comparative market analysis). Realtor Michael Thorne has found this strategy to be so effective that he now teaches other agents how to do it, too.

It’s unexpected. It’s engaging. It’s a lot more interesting than a .pdf document attached to an email.

And there’s an element of *magic* to it (okay, it’s actually just really good automation). By using BombBomb to send his video CMAs, Michael is able to receive notifications when, months after the email went out, someone has dug back through their inbox and reopened the message.

“The magic is when they’re sitting, having a glass of wine in October six months later, and they’re saying, ‘You know what, it’s time to move. What did Michael say the value of our property was?’”

They open the email; it triggers a notification. That’s when you know your past client has just become a lead for repeat business, and it’s time to give them a call.

8) Create videos & turn them into Facebook ads

People LOVE video, which makes it a really effective marketing tool. According to Facebook marketing specialist Travis Thom, animated Facebook ads get a 20% to 30% higher click-through rate and a 200% to 500% higher engagement rate than a static image.

Top-producing agent and coach Krista Mashore is a huge advocate of video marketing: “[People] are 64% more likely to choose you over another agent if you are using video.”

To make sure people are seeing your video on Facebook, you should run it as a paid ad. Check out this article to learn more: How To Create A High-Converting, Strategically-Targeted Facebook Ad

Not sure what type of video content to create? Here are some ideas shared by Krista:

Create a short, intriguing video to hook them: “Did you know you can buy a home even if you have a low credit score and no money for a down payment? If you’d like to learn more, click the link below!”
Be a reporter: Showcase all of the cool local businesses and hangouts in your community. This is a great way to network with local business owners, meet people who could become lead-sharing partners (landscapers, flooring companies, painters, attorneys, etc.), and provide something of value to the people living or moving to your town.
Provide a market update: Give a quick, easy-to-digest update on the housing market in your area. For more pointers on how to get this right (so you don’t overwhelm or bore your audience with a bunch of statistics), check out these tips for explaining market data to your audience.

9) Create an unexpected lead magnet

A lead magnet is a piece of content that is designed to compel people to exchange their contact information for access to the content. A classic example is the “First-Time Homebuyer’s Guide”—a nicely designed PDF provided to anyone who fills out your lead capture form.

An unexpected example is a quiz. Check out these lead-generating quizzes created by M/I Homes—they range from the practical “Are You Ready To Buy A Home?” to the cheeky “What’s Your Cincinnati Community Crush?”

Each quiz ends with a simple lead capture form inviting quiz-takers to “Register To See Your Results.” After all of those compelling questions, who could resist?

10) Automate your lead generation process

If you’re not using automation in your real estate business, you’re missing out. With an automation platform like Realvolve, you can delegate all of those menial, time-consuming tasks to your technology. Automation platforms can import and organize your online leads, follow up with those leads on an established schedule through email and text message, notify you when it’s time to reach out to a lead via phone call, and measure which of your lead generation tactics are most effective.

Worried that using automation will de-personalize the way you do business? If you do it right, you can leverage this powerful technology—and grow your business exponentially—without sacrificing the human element.

Make 2023 Your Best Year Ever In Real Estate

Ready to start getting more leads? Which strategy will you try first—Facebook video ads, unsolicited video CMAs, a branding overhaul, or something else?

Whichever new venture you decide to embark upon this year, Realvolve is here to help as you scale your business. Schedule a call with one of our workflow experts to learn how you can use Realvolve to manage your growing number of leads, transactions, and relationships.

This blog post was originally posted on April 8, 2022. It has been updated for comprehensiveness and accuracy.