Marketing vs. Sales in Real Estate: What Are the Differences?

You might have come across online influencers here and there, always grabbing your attention with bold statements like "I closed this many leads in a month" or "I made this amount of money in a month," etc.

But none of them make it sound that simple, and you might end up losing a lot of investment during the learning curve.

Before I make fluffy dream promises to you like “online influencers”...

Let’s talk about some context or what's commonly known as "their secret".

Marketing is attracting potential clients to your store, while sales is converting interested visitors into actual clients.

The better your marketing, the greater the number of visitors who come in, and the more interested those visitors become, leading to a stronger intention to buy in their minds.

Similarly, while marketing and sales are not the same in real estate, they are ultimately connected to your closing rate.

1 - Real Estate Marketing 101

🚨❗MARKETING IS ALL ABOUT ATTENTION❗📢

Once you capture the attention of the right audience, you've officially gained a lead.

However, it's crucial to remember that the attention of real estate leads varies based on numerous factors and scenarios.

Primarily, their real estate needs, such as buying and selling, play a significant role.

But is that all? Certainly not, as you're well aware.

While it would be much better if things were that simple, unfortunately, there's a long learning curve ahead.

But fair not, you won’t lose your money on this learning journey, since you are here, you've already taken the first step for free!

As the next steps are also free, be sure to frequently visit our 'Real Estate Online Marketing Library' to avoid wasting your investment money on online courses, coaching, online gurus, agencies, etc.

2 - Why Most Online Real Estate Leads Are Not Qualified

You might say most online leads are weak or not qualified.

That’s not true. If your future leads were to hear this statement, they’d never contact you again.

Not a single lead is weak!

Rather, it's the agent who is always weak.

You can't provide the same or similar offers to every single lead.

But, let’s learn some context before crafting fantastic offers for each lead type.

3 - Understanding Real Estate Lead Stages

Imagine you meet someone, and immediately after, you propose marriage. Most likely, you'll get rejected, right?

Similarly, you can't pitch to someone who is searching for homes or considering selling a home on the first call.

Why? Because they don't know you yet, just as you don't know their background.

Sales isn't just about making a transaction but building trust and relationships.

Let's explore the three main intentions of real estate leads.

3.1 - Understanding Hot Leads

These are the leads that are actively looking for real estate agents in your service areas.

They are eager to buy or sell a home in your market.

The cost of acquiring these leads is usually expensive due to their intention.

You’ll explore the best sales practices not to waste any hot real estate leads.

3.2 - Understanding Warm Leads

These leads are not weak, unlike weak agents claim…

They are the people considering moving but not actively looking for real estate agents.

They actively search for homes or are interested in selling their homes in your market.

After reading the best sales practices explained in this blog post, you will master the art of closing warm real estate leads.

3.3 - Understanding Cold Leads

These are not leads but rather random contact information.

But remember, we are real estate agents!

At some point, everyone might need a real estate agent.

This is the single and valid reason why we must not ignore cold leads in real estate.

You’ll see the best practices to warm up cold real estate leads in this blog post.

4 - AIDA Formula to Increase Your Closing Rate

We’ve already mentioned that marketing is all about attention.

Because, without capturing the attention, the rest doesn’t matter.

You capture attention, and only then do they start engaging with your real estate content.

By attention, I don't mean TikTok dances at open houses. (Yes, I've seen an agent doing that...)

Let's explore the best practices for your real estate marketing so you don't fall into popular social media trends.

4.1 - Best Practices for Capturing Attentions

To capture your audience's attention, identify their demand and position your offer, which meets that demand, in a place where your target audience spends most of their time.

You profit more from selling shovels in the gold mine than from the miners digging in the gold mine.

In this example, the miners, trying to dig for gold, are your target audience.

The miners demand shovels.

The gold mine is where your target audience spends their time.

The shovel is your offer.

You capture the attention of the miners with the shovel you sell.

Similarly, in real estate, you place your tailored offer where you are the sole solution for their real estate needs.

Is it that simple? We'll see...

4.1.1 - Capturing the Attention of Real Estate Leads with Cold Intentions

Do not worry, our goal is to transform weak leads into strong leads.

And providing GYM subscriptions is not the only solution.

We have other cost-effective solutions to make weak leads strong again.

Reminding them is always an option to stay at the top of their mind.

First, you need to introduce yourself to them.

People love gifts, right?

Digital products that address specific real estate needs can do the work besides giving away GYM subscriptions.

And they are infinite since they are digital, and you don't pay for them.

It could be a first-time home buying guide, a home selling and staging guide, or a housing market analysis.

By sending these materials to homeowners in your market for free, you introduce your expertise in real estate and provide a reason for them to open your next emails.

You can acquire these materials for free, customize them for your brand, and distribute them to the people in your service areas.

Setup instructions are included.

4.1.2 - Capturing the Attention of Real Estate Leads with Warm Intentions

There are still warm leads looking for houses or interested in selling their homes in your market right now.

But you don’t have their contact information, background, or real estate needs to provide them with a tailored solution from your services.

In the meantime, other realtors in your market are already in contact with those leads while you are not even aware.

Where are they?

I've already mentioned this metaphor to simplify the concept of capturing attention:

“You profit more from selling shovels in the gold mine than from the miners digging in the gold mine.”

I will give you a more clear example related to real estate:

Let’s assume, home buyers are your target audience.
Their demand is finding a home in your area.
They spend their time on Google searching for homes, rather than calling realtors.
What is your offer? “Check the latest homes for sale in [your area]”
You capture the attention of the buyer with the latest homes for sale in your area.

This is Alex and her husband.

They are considering buying a new construction home in your service area.

She types "new construction homes for sale in [your area]" on Google and discovers your offer at the top of the search results and she clicks it.

Lots of recently added new construction homes in your area appear on the page.

But she finds a very beautiful newly constructed home among them.

Now, she wants to view the details of the home and clicks but…

A popup screen appears and asks for her name, email, and phone number to view the details.

This is how you've already gained warm buyer lead Alex from a single online source with a single offer.

To explore more tailored real estate offers to maximize your lead generation, check out this blog post:

>> 'Generate Buyer & Seller Leads with Real Estate Lead Magnets.'

To discover more online real estate lead generation sources beyond Google, check out this blog post as well:

>> 'Online Lead Sources to Generate Qualified Real Estate Leads.'

4.1.3 - Capturing the Attention of Real Estate Leads with Hot Intentions

What was the rule of thumb for capturing attention?

To capture the attention of your audience, you need to position your offer where your target audience spends their time.

Hot leads are not searching for homes or considering whether they should sell their home.

Hot leads are those who directly search for real estate agents on Google instead of using keyword queries.

They are seeking a real estate agent who can provide top-tier assistance in either buying or selling their home.

What is their need? Finding the best agent who can save them from the hassle and save time and money.
What is your strong offer? Your offer is your unique value proposition and the quality of your services.
Where are they? Most of them are searching for the best local realtor on Google.
How do you position your offer where they spend their time? Through Google Local Services Ads.

Utilizing Google Local Service ads is the optimal approach to position your offer.

If you're not familiar with Google LSA, check out this blog post:

>> ‘Generate Hot Real Estate Leads with Google LSA’

4.2 - Best Practices for Generating Interest

You've captured their attention. What's next?

Now, you must maintain their interest.

Having captured their attention, there are no more cold leads remaining.

They are all either warm or hot.

So, we should engage them based on their intentions and real estate needs.

4.2.1 - Engaging Real Estate Leads with Warm Intentions

No, you're not going to pitch how awesome your real estate services are.

As we said earlier, this audience is actively searching for homes or is interested in selling their homes in your market.

Does that mean, they need your real estate services while they have plenty of options available online?

No one likes to get called so often by local agents when they show interest in moving at some point.

Rather, they would like to be informed, encouraged, and guided for their real estate needs by professionals.

To learn more about how to address their real estate needs like a professional, check out this blog post:

>> 'Real Estate Lead Nurturing: Converting Leads into Clients.'

4.2.2 - Engaging Real Estate Leads with Hot Intentions

Hot leads are the audience most actively seeking a real estate agent.

If you've gained an appointment with a warm lead, then you are wrong.

You have secured an appointment with a hot lead.

If they schedule a call with you, that indicates their intention is hot.

Unlike warm leads, you shouldn't prioritize educating them but rather pitching to them directly.

Encourage them to buy or sell, and if you don't pitch to them, someone else will.

Let's explore two pitch strategies to increase your closing rate with your real estate leads.

4.3 - Best Practices for Driving Decisions

Soft-sell pitch approach is the best if you are just met with the lead.

What does it mean?

Focusing on building rapport and trust in a relaxed manner.

Provide valuable information without applying pressure for a sale, by:

Show personalized property selections tailored to their preferences.
Highlight the features and market value of the prospect's home.
Offer comparative market analysis to provide pricing insights based on similar properties in the area.
Provide staging advice and pre-sale recommendations to enhance the presentation of their property.
Host virtual or in-person open houses to showcase the property to potential buyers.

If they've already expressed interest, it indicates they're seeking a solution.

Ask if they have already spoken with another agent.

If they say yes, then switch to a hard-sell pitch approach.

4.3.1 - Selling the Leads with Hot Intentions

What does the hard-sell pitch approach mean?

It focuses on your services and the unique value you bring.

Emphasize urgency or limited availability to prompt immediate action, by:

Highlight scarcity to encourage swift decisions from buyers.
Offer a "sell in less than 14 days" guarantee to motivate sellers.
Provide limited-time offers like reduced commissions to prompt quick listings.
Offer pre-approval letters to show buyers are ready in the market.
Provide incentives such as free home warranties to attract both buyers and sellers.

5 - Real Estate Marketing and Sales Summary

First, capture the attention of potential buyers and sellers by:

Identify a target audience, which might be relocators, first-time home buyers, home sellers, luxury home buyers, rentals, real estate investors, retirees, etc.
Find a goldmine where your target audience spends their time to find a solution for their real estate needs, which might be Google, Social media, YouTube, etc.
Tailor your offer according to their needs, which might be viewable open houses, home value estimator, market statistics, home staging guides, etc., and place it where they spend their time most.
Include lead capture systems to capture their contact information which might be popup screens, lead forms, contact forms, etc.

After capturing their contact information, keep them engaged by:

Educate them about the process.
Provide valuable tips to buy & sell their home effectively.
Giving them local market information.
Inspire and encourage them to buy & sell with you.
Craft irresistible offers to convert them.

After engaging for a period of time, time to close them by:

Highlight scarcity to encourage swift decisions from buyers.
Offer a "sell in less than 14 days" guarantee to motivate sellers.
Provide limited-time offers like reduced commissions to prompt quick listings.
Offer pre-approval letters to show buyers are ready in the market.
Provide incentives such as free home warranties to attract both buyers and sellers.

Thanks to the AIDA framework, you will always be closing your next deals.

6 - Is Your Future Bright as a Real Estate Agent?

I will show you the two different future scenarios in your real estate journey. (No, AI won’t replace human realtors)

And I will be realistic with you without fluffy dream promises, etc. since we are the Realest Marketer.

6.1 - You Take the Blue Pill

You invest your money in courses, books, seminars, gurus, coaches, etc.

Only to figure out that online marketing is the best lead-generation method in real estate.

After spending time on courses, books, seminars, gurus, coaches, etc.

Then you realize that you couldn’t manage all aspects of online marketing on your own.

There are lots of efforts required to learn and practice as well as tools to invest money just to build your marketing.

To make matters worse, imagine spending your hard-earned money on outsourcing every single aspect of marketing.

Copywriter, website builder, social media manager, social media manager, ads expert, ads budget, and so on…

That would break your bank before even seeing your business grow.

6.2 - You Take the Red Pill

Work with us, you won't need to build any of these; we can tailor them specifically for your market and brand.

You will have access to our all-in-one marketing service, ensuring you are overloaded with clients. You may even need to hire additional agents to increase your capacity, eventually transforming your operation into a full-fledged business.

Unlike "the gurus" you might encounter on social media channels, we deliver tangible results with our blueprint rather than testing your patience.

You will receive all the digital marketing services at a fixed price without additional advertisement costs or extra fees.

The decision is upon you…

You take the Blue Pill and continue searching for "real estate lead generation secrets" while still dreaming of your future and cold-calling people, allowing the real players to dominate your market...

You take the Red Pill, you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes…

TAKE THE BLUE PILL

TAKE THE RED PILL