5 Reasons You Might Not Want to Generate Leads Online

There are plenty of real estate professionals who use the internet to generate new leads and connections, be that through paid ADs and click funnels, social media discovery, or aggregators. These people are often praised on stage for their genius for how they’ve been able to squeeze a $100 return out of $1. And while these success stories do exist, and I know plenty that do well in this space, online leads is a roller coaster that if you base your entire business around it, you might just find yourself picking up a few additional bad coping mechanisms at the end of the day.

I say all this so that you go in with both eyes open, not ignoring its challenges.

Instead of taking the “you should be doing this” route, I’m going to give you 5 reasons NOT to generate leads online. Like I said, it can work well for your business, but the cost of entry can be high, and it is not forgiving at scale. The slightest change in an algorithm if you’re not keeping a tight eye on spending can eat up all your profits in the blink of an eye.

1: To get to one good lead, you have to dig through a pile of slush.

Business is a numbers game. We all know it. We all embrace it. But when it comes to facing those numbers… we all hate it. Depending on your online lead source, you might have to go through as many as 1000 contacts before you can convince a single prospect to meet. These conversions can be improved drastically with best practices such as “speed to lead” follow-up through automated messaging or a quick response on your part, but the best you can hope for is around a 1% conversion for top of the funnel leads.

2: The information they give you is sometimes bogus, and even occasionally outright inappropriate.

While this appears more in pay per click Ads with forced registration funnels through Google, all channels get their fair share. People don’t like sharing their information online unless they are highly motivated. They see a pretty property, want some information, and they do everything they can to give you the least possible details. Facebook Forms help with this, coming pre-filled, but website capture forms are often manual entry. So look forward to the Daffy Ducks, John Smiths, and Poopy Poopersons.

3: They don’t know you at all, and plenty of other advertisers are fighting for their attention.

Leads who interact with an AD or a social post, or whatever means you gave them to find you, we all suffer in a single way: they don’t know you from Adam. Advertising online is the literal definition of attracting randos. And while it is always important to go outside your sphere and connect with new people, we forget that personal introductions, or even just someone shaking our hand at an open house while we smile, go a long way in building connections. Online? We don’t get that. Which means your marketing, branding, and message have to be designed to build trust swiftly. Help them go from you being unknown, to being known.

4: Setting up a lead funnel takes time and some technical prowess. If any part of the process is skipped, you’ll be burning cash for nothing.

For those who don’t know, a lead funnel is the industry term for a path a lead can follow online which will hopefully result in a closed sale or appointment. It starts with an AD, which offers something of value, or a curiosity, which then refers them to a website or landing page, where they interact with you or offer up information. The best lead funnels have a solid exchange. You do this, I do that. They are bilateral. But ensuring these can be properly set up requires thinking in systems, which is not everyone’s strong suit. A broken link, a website without the right follow-up info, or a message that just doesn’t drive them deeper into the funnel can cause it to fail.

5: Converting cold leads is hard. It takes dozens if not hundreds of touches, and a bit of luck, to book your first appointments.

We already spoke about this in the slush pile above, but it can’t be overstated. These people don’t know you. They don’t like you. They don’t trust you. At least, not yet. This then becomes your mission. Depending on the lead source and the current market, it can take as long as 400 days to convert an online lead. If you need sales now, it’s not your best avenue. The best online lead follow-up includes calls, texts, and emails (in a TCPA-friendly and compliant way, please don’t break the law!). If you’re not comfortable making those moves, grinding down lists, you might become miserable even if you’re getting paid well.

Not every agent has to generate leads online, but every agent has to generate leads. If this doesn’t sound like your game, sitting at home with the door closed, cranking it out on the phone, texting people in a flurry at 10pm at night, all hoping someone might book an appointment, then consider other avenues. If I were going into full production tomorrow, internet leads would be part of my strategy, but not the center of it. I would focus on sphere and open houses; internet leads would be dead last to fill the time when I am not doing the other two.

Using KW Command, we can make the process of generating leads online much easier and less technical. If you want to know more, be sure to check out my class on 9/18 about Facebook ADs and Command. We’ll go through the process from start to finish. Hope to see you there.

Stay connected, be joyful, go live your greatness.

~Patrick