Download the full infographic here: http://outbnd.it/1tX1Pei Real estate agents try countless marketing ideas to help grow their businesses, yet they continue to invest in expensive, low-yielding channels. After looking into the various ways real estate agents spend their marketing dollars, I had an “ah-ha” moment: Real estate agents are making poor marketing investments because they’re trying to reach the wrong audience. While researching this topic, I came across a number of studies that supported this idea. The statistics from the studies I found are all different pieces of the puzzle, but nobody has taken the time to put them all together. That is why I’ve put together this infographic on the 3 Ways to Fail at Being a Real Estate Agent…and 1 Way to Win. Here are some interesting stats that you'll see in the infographic: - 82% have a real estate company website. - 72% are unhappy with the amount of web leads they receive. - Real estate agents rank referral (88%) as being “very important” for lead generation. - 75% of the 350,000 top producing real estate agents in the US don’t even use Trulia or Zillow for their business. - 71% of all closed seller transactions came from trusted sources or face-to-face contact. - 68% of all closed buyer leads came from a trusted source or face-to-face contact: - NAR members typically brought in four inquiries and 3% of their business from their website. - The typical agent loses 20 percent of their past clients each year due to attrition. As noted above, the most common reason for attrition is that agents fail to stay in touch. - 50% of agents don’t even respond to internet leads: - Only 4% of sellers found their agent on a website. - Only 9% of buyers found their agent on a website. - Only 1-3% of internet leads that come in are ready to transact. - Real Estate Agents spend $100-$500/month on websites. - Real Estate Agents spend $100-$500/month on print advertising. - The average agent spends $320/month for leads on Zillow. - Almost 75% of an agents business comes from referrals and word-of-mouth. - 84% of sellers would use their agent again and recommend to others. - 88% of buyers would use their agent again and recommend to others. - 92% of small businesses said that social media was an effective tool for marketing. - Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates about 3 times as many leads. - Email is 40x’s better at acquiring new customers than Facebook or Twitter. - 91% of consumers reported checking their email at least once a day. - 70% say they always open emails from their favorite companies. - 78% of consumers believe that organizations providing custom content want to build good relationships.

1. Ways to Fail at Marketing
for Real Estate Agents 3 ...and 1 way
1 Spending Too Much Money
Real estate agents spend a lot of money on marketing their services. Unfortunately,
a lot of that spend is misguided and expensive. What are the worst offenders?
REAL ESTATE
AGENTS
SPEND:
DID YOU KNOW? It costs 6-7 times more to acquire a new
customer than retain an existing one.
Making Low-Return Investments
Many agents don't pay attention to the ROI they're getting from each campaign.
Spending money on marketing activities that you know don’t work isn’t helping your
business grow.
82% of real estate agents
72% of agents are unhappy with the amount of
website leads they receive
DID YOU KNOW? 50% of agents don’t even respond
to internet leads.
3 Not Following Your Intuition
No matter how much money agents spend on marketing, deep down they know that
most of their business comes from repeat business and referrals. If you're hoping that
segment will take care of itself, you're ignoring your biggest source of new deals.
88%: Referrals
83%: Repeat Business
24%: Personal Advertising
21%: Community Involvement
13%: Open House
11%: Direct Mail
11%: Floor Time
6%: Telemarketing
Newspapers
Yellow pages
Mobile apps
Direct mail
Specialty
advertising
BECAUSE YOUR CLIENTS GENERATE THE MOST BUSINESS FOR YOU.
2
Combined, these
lead sources
account for less
than 2% of sales for
real estate agents.
Agents only get 3% of their leads from websites.
Real estate agents
rank the following
as being “very
important” for
lead generation:
have a website
The probability of selling to a
new prospect is 5-20%.
The probability of selling to an
existing customer is 60-70%.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Search
engines
AGENTS ALREADY
KNOW WHAT DRIVES
THEIR BUSINESS
EXISTING CLIENTS
ARE THE MOST
VALUABLE
of all closed seller
transactions came
from trusted
sources or
face-to-face contact. 71% 68% of all closed buyer
DID YOU KNOW? Agents lose 20% of their clients annually due to attrition.
The good news is that not all hope is lost. In fact, you’re closer to being on the right track
than you might think. Getting new business doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated
because the best source of new leads already comes from your existing clients.
84% of sellers would use
their agent again
and recommend
to others.
88% of buyers would
use their agent
again and
recommend
to others.
Maximize Your Sphere of Influence
Using email, social media and
content marketing, tapping into
your sphere is less expensive than
traditional marketing, has a higher
ROI, and grows your business
through your existing clients.
Learn more at www.outboundengine.com
leads transactions
came from a trusted
source or face-to-face
contact.
One Way to Win
75%
The most common reason is that the agent failed to stay in touch.
$100-$500
per month
on online
advertising
$100-$500
per month
on print
advertising
$320 per month
for leads on Zillow
It’s no surprise why they’re unhappy.
Only 1-3% of the leads agents get from
websites are even ready to
do business.
of an agent’s
business comes
from referrals and
word-of-mouth.
70% say they always
open emails from
their favorite
companies.
Email is 40x better at acquiring new
customers than
Facebook or Twitter.
92% of small
businesses said
that social media
was an effective
tool for marketing
Content marketing
generates 3x more leads
than traditional
marketing.
91% of consumers reported
checking their email
at least once a day.
78% of consumers
believe organizations
providing custom
content want to build
good relationships.
SOURCES
https://placester.com/real-estate-marketing-academy/real-estate-advertising-budget/
http://www.inman.com/2014/08/06/zillow-quietly-pursuing-top-producing-agents/
http://www.realtor.org/reports/2013-14-realtor-technology-survey
http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/reports/2014/2014-home-buyer-and-seller-generational-trends-report-full.pdf
http://www.inman.com/2014/05/22/when-it-comes-to-real-estate-marketing-dont-waste-money-on-passive-techniques/
http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/reports/2014/2014-member-profile-highlights-2014-05-20.pdf
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2348805-zillow-acquires-trulia-for-3_5-billion
http://files.marketleader.com/pdfs/activerain_rich_poorreport.pdf
http://www.inman.com/2014/08/06/zillow-quietly-pursuing-top-producing-agents/
http://www.inman.com/2014/07/28/so-your-past-client-listed-with-a-competitor-5-reasons-you-lost-the-listing/
http://www.realtor.org/sites/default/files/Highlights-NAR-HBS-2013.pdf
https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130604134550-284615-15-statistics-that-should-change-the-business-world-but-haven-t
http://trends.e-strategyblog.com/2013/03/15/eectiveness-of-small-business-technology-tools/9433?utm_source=Webbiquity
http://www.slideshare.net/toprank/war-of-words-mythbusting-social-media-seo-content-marketing
http://blogs.salesforce.com/company/2013/07/email-marketing-stats.html
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/why_marketers_should_keep_sending_you_emails
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/e-mail-newsletters-usability/
http://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic
http://www.getsmartcontent.com/2014/08/5-statistics-that-underscore-the-need-for-smart-content/
http://www.exacttarget.com/blog/50-email-marketing-tips-and-stats-for-2014/
to win!