Ultra-competitive, regionally-varied, tech-driven — real estate agents might think we’re talking about the current housing market but, in reality, we’re describing the state of the real estate lead generation process.
In today’s market, connecting with qualified real estate leads can be just as elusive as finding your client’s dream home. Fortunately, with the right real estate lead generation strategies, it doesn’t have to be.
From digital marketing campaigns and online workshops to physical postcards and local community events, there are many real estate lead generation strategies to grow your client base.
In this post, we’ll explore two dozen proven strategies to begin driving reliable real estate leads to your business today.
Main takeaways from this article:
- Real estate lead generation is the process of identifying and attracting potential clients interested in buying or selling property.
- Qualified real estate leads can be sourced both offline and online through techniques including digital marketing, management tools, and in-person events.
- Effective real estate lead generation strategies harness current and past clients to inform relevant marketing tactics.
- When you strategically align your real estate marketing initiatives, you can organically nurture prospects and unlock endless opportunities to generate more leads.
What is real estate lead generation?
Real estate lead generation is the process of finding and connecting with people who want to buy or sell property. Beyond simply exchanging contact information, lead generation is all about building strong relationships that transform connections into new clients.
There are two primary types of real estate lead generation strategies: online and offline.
Because real estate is a field where you may have to deal with feast and famine periods, combining online and offline real estate lead generation strategies is essential to turn nearby property listings into payouts for your business.
How to generate real estate leads online
As the number of real estate professionals in the U.S. reaches nearly 1.6 million, more realtors are competing to generate leads than ever. Fortunately, real estate marketing has evolved to include new avenues to attract potential clients across social media, websites, and more.
Consider these digital strategies to generate real estate leads online.
1. Use Facebook lead generation ads with captivating creatives
Few social media ads are as effective for real estate lead generation as Facebook ads. Facebook ads incorporate easy-to-fill lead capture forms that users can complete without leaving the platform.
To attract your target audience, be sure to use captivating content — like an aerial video of a new property listing — and follow up with a direct call-to-action (CTA) button, such as Learn More.
Once a user clicks the CTA button, Facebook will autofill the lead capture form with their information. To simplify (and speed up) the process, stick to five form fields or less.
2. Create video testimonials for social proof
Did you know that 95% of customers say online reviews influence their purchasing decisions? Video reviews are even more impactful, with 2 out of 3 people saying they’re more likely to make a purchase after watching a video testimonial.
Video testimonials aren’t just the ultimate social proof, they’re one of the top lead generation strategies to convert those unsure about hiring you into potential clients.
It’s best to implement a system for gathering and sharing testimonials from happy customers, like offering a nice closing gift to clients who create a video about your brand, and post the videos to your website and social media accounts.
3. Ask for referrals from past clients
Referrals are how many agents get new real estate leads, with data showing that 21% of realtors get over 50% of their business this way.
It’s no surprise why: a referred customer has a 16% higher lifetime value than a non-referred customer.
Like video testimonials, you’ll want to ask for referrals when past clients are satisfied, like when they move into their dream home or have made considerable profit on a home sale with your help.
Asking for a referral can be as simple as mentioning, “We are always on the hunt for more great clients like you. We work almost exclusively by referral, so if you know of anyone who may be looking for real estate services, we are always happy to help.”
Read more related content:
1. How to market yourself as a realtor
4. Launch a referral campaign
While asking for referrals works well on a small scale, you may want to take cues from major brands like AirBnB and Vrbo, which run referral campaigns to generate more real estate leads.
To attract leads through a referral program, you’ll need to:
- Offer an attractive gift to any of your former customers who give you a referral, such as gift cards or a welcome home gift.
- Promote your referral program via your email signature, email newsletter, social media post, and word of mouth.
- Remind customers about your referral program in happy birthday emails, anniversary emails, and direct mail campaigns.
5. Start a blog and attract SEO traffic
A whopping 74% of businesses agree that content marketing boosts lead generation, and no initiative is as powerful as blogging — especially with proper SEO.
SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of fine-tuning content with the appropriate keywords, headings, internal links, and overall structure so that a blog appears in search engines like Google and drives a broader audience to a website.
Start a real estate blog with industry trends or listings in a specific neighborhood to attract potential leads searching for similar topics. Include CTAs, automated pop-ups, and lead generation forms in each post to nurture these leads.
6. Start a real estate podcast
Beyond blogging, a real estate podcast is another lead generation strategy to position yourself as a market leader.
Podcasts are a growing media type that is just as easy for audiences to consume as it is for real estate agents to create. Choose topics your audience would care about — like market updates in your city or tips for buying and selling homes — and use an app like Anchor to create, host, and distribute your podcast for free.
Include a CTA to subscribe to your email list to capture your listeners’ contact information, and remember to promote your podcast on your social media channels, email signature, and email marketing campaigns.
7. Create beautiful contact forms for your website
If you run a real estate website (and you should, if you want to scale lead generation), a solid contact form helps you qualify visitors and confirm if they’re ready to hit the market.
Create beautiful and snackable contact forms for your property pages, so it’s easy to collect contact information if visitors are interested in a particular property.
You should also have a contact form on your home page or a real estate landing page that allows visitors to tell you what they’re looking for in a home. When you get listings that fit those criteria, you can follow up with the qualified leads with ease.
You can also use Contact Form 7 or GetResponse’s signup form builder to connect your website with an autoresponder to follow up with leads easily.
8. Invest in a customer relationship management (CRM) tool
With real estate leads coming in from social media, referral programs, and other channels, the best way to manage the relationships you’ve built (or intend to build) is with a CRM tool.
CRMs allow you to keep track of qualified leads that are likely to do business with you and provide support to existing customers.
The top Real Estate CRMs are turbocharged with AI-powered predictive analytics, so you can deliver personalized property recommendations and strengthen customer relationships.
9. Guest blog on authoritative websites
While your blog is a great place to start digital marketing, you can also guest post on authoritative websites to improve your online presence and reach.
Authoritative websites like local news sites and industry publications are always looking for industry experts to weigh in on the state of the real estate business.
It goes like this: find an authoritative website, offer them an article or news piece for free, and receive an author bio that tells readers a little about you — including your website and contact information — to attract high-quality traffic (and high-quality leads).
10. Host online webinars and workshops
Similar to podcasts and blogs, virtual events like online webinars and educational seminars are proven lead generation methods that help showcase your expertise and provide valuable information to potential clients.
Draw inspiration from other online content, focusing on topics that address common buyer and seller questions and promoting your virtual events through social media and email marketing.
Likewise, consider recording your events for on-demand access you can offer as a download to email subscribers, helping to reach a wider audience and capture leads even after the event.
11. Run targeted email marketing campaigns
Speaking of email marketing, targeted campaigns are a fantastic method to not only generate real estate leads but also build the trust necessary for them to become clients.
The magic lies in drip campaigns, a series of automated emails sent to prospects over time to share valuable content and recommendations tailored to their needs.
With the GetResponse AI Email Generator, you can quickly generate optimized email marketing campaigns that are personalized based on relevant keywords, preferences, and target audience.
12. Collaborate with local influencers
If you don’t want to guest post on authoritative sites, partnering with local influencers is another powerful strategy for generating real estate leads that taps into established trust and reach within your community.
To find the right influencers, look for well-respected creators in your local market that align with your brand values, such as popular community figures or fellow business owners (more on them soon!).
Leverage these partnerships by collaborating on content, hosting local events, or featuring them in your marketing materials to broaden your audience and build authentic connections within your community.
13. Add a chatbot to your real estate website
Last, but certainly not least, chatbots offer a quick and efficient way to generate real estate leads online.
By setting up chatbots on your real estate website, you can provide instant responses to inquiries, capture buyer leads 24/7, and qualify prospects through personalized interactions. This enhances user experiences and engages potential buyers to streamline your lead generation process.
GetResponse offers complete lead generation software that helps you grow your real estate business with marketing automation, live chats, and more.
Offline real estate lead generation strategies
While many real estate agents assume that online marketing reigns supreme, not all your marketing efforts should be digital! Let’s explore offline tactics to generate real estate leads here.
14. Speak at conferences, meetups, and events
As your real estate business earns more leads, you may get requests to speak at industry and community events. Beyond just a lead generation strategy, public speaking is an opportunity to improve your personal brand and image.
However, this doesn’t mean you need to attend every event looking for a real estate agent. Instead, focus on events and conferences where your ideal audience will be present to deliver value to the crowd and, at the same time, win new clients.
15. Send out personalized ‘thank you’ postcards
With automation as the name of the game these days, many people are happily surprised to receive a handwritten ‘thank you’ card from real estate agents.
Give your direct mail campaigns a personalized touch by sending out custom ‘thank you’ postcards to new clients and potential clients alike. You can even send cards to warm real estate leads to encourage them to become clients.
Services like thanks.io allow you to send out thank you postcards starting from just $0.49/card.
16. Do circle prospecting plus automated follow-ups
Circle prospecting involves reaching out to people who live in the area where your listings are.
Instead of reaching out to cold prospects, you’re breaking news to neighbors who might not be aware of new sales listings, open houses, or even rental listings in their area — like, “Did you know that your friends at 110 Smith Road just listed their home for sale?”
To simplify circle prospecting, try running Facebook or Google Ads to capture emails in a particular zip code, and then run a drip email sequence with GetResponse to follow up.
17. Go door knocking
In the midst of all these new strategies to generate real estate leads, don’t forget about old-school methods like door-knocking to connect with new clients.
Door knocking often gets a bad rap, but walking door-to-door to speak with homeowners in a specific neighborhood is the most direct way of communicating with your target audience. Nothing beats face-to-face chats to build trust and relationships!
This direct communication can produce impressive results for realtors during famine periods, even when homeowners don’t answer the door.
Door knocking allows you to leave custom door hangers for the homeowners you haven’t spoken with, offering a way to provide your contact information to connect with new clients.
18. Partner market with a local business
Marketing can be expensive and exhausting, if we’re honest. Tools like GetResponse marketing automation help limit the time and money spent building relationships, and partner marketing with a local business can help find new clients at a fraction of the price.
Whether you host events at local venues like coffee shops or gyms or sponsor a community event at a nearby business, you can connect with potential clients in a friendly environment that helps build trust.
Leaving your business cards at the front desk of partner businesses is a low-cost way to ensure you stay top-of-mind for visitors, boosting your visibility and attracting fresh local leads.
19. Host open houses
When you’re searching for tried-and-true methods of generating leads offline, hosting open houses is a smart idea. Open houses are like lead magnets for other professionals as well as the local community — especially during slow periods.
Hosting an open house is a great way for other agents in your brokerage to meet more potential clients, allows you to mingle with neighbors, and provides an opportunity to collect contact information to launch follow-up campaigns.
20. Target FSBOs
For sale by owner (FSBO) listings may refer to property owners who assume they can sell without a realtor, but they’re better thought of as exclusive leads for the real estate agents who can convince them otherwise.
Though not considered among traditional lead generation strategies, targeting FSBOs allows you to demonstrate your expertise in pricing, marketing strategies, and simplifying the sales process, helping to drive new clients.
Imagine the potential for video testimonials you could gather from the FSBOs you successfully win over!
Read more related content:
1. Best real estate marketing tools in 2025
21. Work expired listings
Expired listings are the bread and butter of real estate prospecting. But almost every real estate agent you know cold calls owners of expired listings, so how do you stand out?
For one, make your pitch all about value by getting to the bottom of why the listing expired and what you would do better if you were hired.
Secondly, use a multichannel marketing strategy. Create campaigns across two or more platforms, like social media and email marketing, to follow up where your potential customers are.
22. Become a source of local real estate investing advice
When new clients look for real estate services, they’ll look for agents with valuable insights, knowledge of market trends, and a history of repeat business in their area.
So, position yourself as a go-to source of helpful advice both online and offline.
Online, you can interact with local investors, mortgage professionals, and homeowners on websites like Reddit, Biggerpockets forum, and Quora. Offline, you can attend local real estate investing events and seminars to provide expert guidance to your neighborhood.
23. Leverage your connections with real estate agents
Using industry connections can boost your lead generation efforts as a real estate agent, giving you access to a network of professionals like mortgage brokers, contractors, and, of course, fellow agents.
By teaming up with professionals in your network, you can generate more leads through referrals and joint marketing efforts that help everyone. This way, you build relationships that can turn into long-lasting partnerships.
24. Use vehicle branding
We’re keeping it old-school with our last offline technique to generate leads: vehicle branding!
Think about how many branded vehicles you see on the road daily, like plumbing and HVAC trucks, and how those details stick with you once you’re back home. By crafting decals or magnetic signs, you can increase your visibility in the same way.
To prompt inquiries from new leads, be sure to include your name, photo, and contact information so locals can easily find you online or give you a call to learn more.
Power up your real estate lead generation strategies with GetResponse
Real estate lead generation is more than just connecting with people who want to buy or sell property — it’s about building relationships with the local community. By demonstrating your expertise on and offline, you position yourself as a pillar of the community that can make any neighbor’s dream home a reality.
Following the strategies outlined in this guide is the first step toward growing your client base. But you don’t have to do it alone. GetResponse is a powerful email marketing platform that empowers real estate agents with comprehensive, affordable, and easy-to-use tools to grow, engage, and convert your audience.
GetResponse’s lead generation tools and automation features help align your real estate marketing initiatives, craft personalized email campaigns, and unlock opportunities to convert more leads.
FAQs
Where do most realtors get their leads?
Most realtors get their leads from past client referrals, online marketing campaigns, offline networking events, and traditional techniques like cold calling and open houses.
How many leads before a sale?
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the average real estate conversion rate is between 0.5% and 1.2%. So, if you were to capture 400 leads, two to four could become a sale.