The temptation is there. All these slick internet lead companies are hounding you weekly, telling you that they can promise 100 ”scrubbed” leads per month that are ready to buy and sell RIGHT NOW. And for a significant chunk of money, all those “great” leads could be yours. Sure, why not pay that exhorbitant amount for those leads to automatically come to you? Let’s just pull all the newspaper advertising, direct mail marketing and traditional farming and funnel all our marketing dollars into this internet lead company since all these leads will most likely lead to successful transactions. With the promise of all these hot leads, who needs any other advertising? 

The above scenario is a huge myth and a big mistake in my opinion. Believe it or not, there are agents and whole real estate companies out there that are abandoning their newspaper advertising, direct mail advertising, and farming to sink all of their marketing dollars into the internet and internet leads. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are being spent on fancy websites, lead capture software, search engine optimization, pay-per-click ads, and lead generation companies. Real Estate agents and brokers are looking for the next big technology tool that will bring in a boatload of internet leads without them having to do much work to get them.  The problem is that internet leads are likely to cost more time and money in incubating these as leads and abandoning a well rounded marketing plan to solely depend on these internet leads can end up hurting more than helping.

Internet consumers searching for real estate are not necessarily ready RIGHT NOW to buy a home or sell real a home.  For many, the internet is where they go upon first searching homes and feeling out the marketplace. The internet gives them the opportunity to scan ads and do a “drive-by” of available listings without having to leave home. They want to remain anonymous for as long as possible until they are really ready to take the plunge. And even when they do fill out a web form for property information, statistics show that those leads can still take 6-12 months or more before they become active real estate buyers or sellers. I do not believe that the return on investment that many of these internet lead generation companies will convince you of, is as good as they promise.

According to NAR’s 2006 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 80% of buyers used the internet for their home searches. But in stark contrast, only 7% of buyers found the agent they used on an internet site.  40% of buyers used agents that were referred to them by friends, relatives or neighbors and another 13% used an agent they have worked with in the past.

Those statistics affirms my belief that you cannot dismiss the idea of having a well rounded marketing plan that involves not only the internet, but also the traditional farming and marketing methods to your friends, family, past clients and your neighborhoods you serve.  People are more likely to use someone they trust or is trusted by a close friend or relative, not some stranger on the internet that sent them an auto-email. When you continuously market to your past/present clients, friends, family, and neighborhoods through newspaper, direct mail marketing , even email if you can, you will stick out in their minds as the one they trust and the neighborhood expert.

Technology in real estate is ever growing and ever changing and there will always be something “bigger an better” that promises to generate tons of leads without lifting a finger, but they never quite live up to the hype. Don’t fall into that trap. When revisiting your marketing plan think about going back to the basics. Never underestimate the power of basic farming and advertising in your community and service area and watch the leads and referrals roll in.

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