Hello there again, my friends! It’s Farm Friday and I’m back with more digital marketing tips for all you real estate professionals out there. This week, we are focusing on how to generate real estate leads on LinkedIn.
Virtuance sent out a survey to real estate agents and found that, out of those surveyed, that 59% of real estate agents are active on LinkedIn. So, if you haven’t been using LinkedIn to generate leads, you may be missing out on some easy wins. Your competitors are using LinkedIn, so you should, too.
Key Terms Defined and Questions Answered
As always, I’ll start out with some basic information you’ll need to understand in order to implement the tips in this article.
Why Should I Use LinkedIn?
If you are active on Facebook or Instagram, you may wonder why you need to use LinkedIn. LinkedIn is one of the greatest lead generation tools available for professionals in the real estate business. The professional network site is proven to generate nearly 3x as many leads as Facebook and Twitter (Hubspot). If you’re looking for potential clients, LinkedIn can be a lucrative addition to your lead generation strategies.
What is LinkedIn Premium?
LinkedIn is free to use. However, the social network has a feature called LinkedIn Premium. I don’t personally believe that real estate professionals need to purchase a Premium plan to take advantage of LinkedIn’s lead generation, but it does have a few nifty features.
LinkedIn Premium is a paid upgrade you can get for your LinkedIn account. The service is primarily intended for current job-hunters and recruiters, but it is also helpful in getting new clients. Annual pricing ranges from $29.99/month up to 99+ dollars per year depending on how much exposure you want out there about yourself online. Additionally, free 1-month trials are available too so that everyone has an opportunity to experience LinkedIn Premium’s features before committing fully or cancelling their membership entirely
LinkedIn’s Professional plan ($49/MO) offers more personalized branding & greater control over advertising.
What is “social proof?”
Social proof is a term that was coined back in 1984 by author Robert Cialdini. He defines it as people’s tendency to copy the actions of other individuals when they see them succeed, believing this will support their own success. Also known as “informational social influence,” social proof is a big reason why companies seek reviews for their services. If a user finds that many other people recommend a certain service or individual, they will likely follow suit according to the social proof.
Social proof in real estate marketing takes the form of reviews, referrals from existing clients, social media interactions, and more.
LinkedIn’s Demographics Are Perfect for Real Estate Professionals
One of the biggest reasons I think real estate agents need to be active on LinkedIn is that the average demographics of its user base align with the National Association of Realtor’s profile of the average home seller and buyer. The majority of LinkedIn users are 30 and over (77%). Almost half of the LinkedIn user base are college graduates and earn more than $75,000 a year. Additionally, 90% of users make household decisions. Not to mention that many professionals on LinkedIn are looking for new opportunities, which means they may need to relocate!
How To Generate Leads on LinkedIn
One of the most important things to understand about leads on LinkedIn is how people use the platform to find real estate agents. Typically, people will use LinkedIn to find out more information about agents they’ve found elsewhere. They’ll use LinkedIn to look for “social proof.” When looking for a real estate professional, they’ll focus on agents that are reviewed highly or have a certain list of accolades. LinkedIn is a great platform to advertise your accomplishments in the real estate industry and attract potential clients.
1. Optimize Your Profile
As with all social media sites, the first thing you want to do is optimize your LinkedIn profile. This means that you should fill out every field with detailed information. Make sure to update your profile regularly to reflect your accomplishments. Think about your niche in the real estate industry. Do you specialize in residential? Commercial? Multi-family? By including keywords related to your niche in your LinkedIn profile, you will attract more qualified leads. For example, if you specialize in helping military families relocate and find homes, you may want to have your headline say something like, “Experienced real estate agent dedicated to helping active and reserve-duty military purchase their first homes.”
2. Create a Page for Your Real Estate Business or Brokerage
If you own your own business or you are part of a brokerage, make sure that you have an active company page. A company page on LinkedIn helps provide social proof and adds credibility to your business. Make sure to add every relevant detail about your business, including areas of expertise, certificates, and awards. Additionally, you can add a custom banner on your company page to help advance your brand and show a bit of personality!
3. Join Groups and Create Groups
Once your personal pages are optimized and set up, you’ll want to start connecting with other people. The first step to this process is to join groups. Search for LinkedIn groups related to your business such as your real estate association, your MLS, professional networking groups in your community, etc. Contribute to the conversation and develop content that can be useful for your groups. Each time you post content in a group, you are establishing yourself as an expert in your field.
Additionally, you can create your own group if you find a gap on LinkedIn. For example, if your community doesn’t have a professional networking group, you can create one and start connecting with like-minded professionals. By creating a group, you position yourself as a leader in your niche and you can connect with new people and learn more about your niche.
4. Ask for Referrals
As you know, referrals are a great way to land clients. When you perform a LinkedIn search, you’ll get a list of your shared connections with the people who come up in your search. Bridge the gap between yourself and potential leads by reaching out to your shared connection through direct messages. If you’re looking for referrals, explain how they might be able or willing help with XYZ situation- this way not only are getting introduced into their network but also expand yours even more!
Another great way to get referrals is through LinkedIn groups. For example, real estate agents moving out of their area might be looking for someone else who can help them with new clients and you could show up as a referral candidate by joining such an LDRG (LinkedIn Discussion Roulette Group). If they like what they see in your profile then it’s only natural that this person would want more information from both parties before making any decisions about working together. Therefore, make sure not just to share some valuable insights but also ask if there are ways in which you may benefit each other!
5. Create Content
If you want to be noticed on LinkedIn, then the best way is posting relevant content regularly. This will help your posts get engagement and increase leads for marketing purposes! Here are just a few tips for creating engaging content on LinkedIn:
- Add 3 to 5 hashtags to your real estate content to get more engagement.
- Either publish LinkedIn articles or share your blog post on LinkedIn to grow your brand and establish yourself as a leader in your market.
- Actively engage with comments. Share your opinions in your posts as well as in others’ comment section.
- Share your real estate listings on your profile. Many LinkedIn users are actively looking to buy a house or know someone in the buying process.
Get Started Today
These are all FREE ways to generate leads on LinkedIn; they just take a little bit of your time and effort. Keep in mind that you can always hire a freelancer or a digital marketer to take care of this for you, but if you don’t want to or can’t invest in professional services, you can definitely generate leads and get a great ROI on your real estate marketing efforts by being active on LinkedIn.
Join us next week for tips on how to run Google Ads (specifically for real estate queries). If you want more content like this in the meantime, sign up for The Good Stuff: Virtuance’s email newsletter designed to provide marketing tips and useful information to real estate professionals across the country.
