Tools to Target Seller Leads and Listings in a Tight Inventory Market

Despite housing inventory rising year-over-year from 2022, real estate agents and teams across the country are still scrounging for new listings. So how can you make sure you're attracting seller leads and landing those listings instead of the competition?

1. Make that Marketing Seller Lead Focused

Most of your tried-and-true ad campaigns are probably focused on attracting homebuyers. It's time to rethink that marketing strategy. Create content and resources that are appealing to sellers.

Home valuations and neighborhood market reports

A home valuation landing page entices visitors with instant reports on their home's value and a summary of the market area. Create a gated landing page with this offer, so that seller leads register, and the lead information and property details are instantly added to your CRM.

Helpful content to help with the "moving mentality"

Create content (blogs, downloadable guides, etc.) that helps potential sellers by answering their questions and concerns. This could include navigating the process of getting ready to sell, deciding if it's the right time to downsize, or the right time to upgrade (for example, a pool for the kids, or a dedicated home office for remote work).

Testimonials from past sold properties

Highlight your past sold properties (especially if sold above asking!) and gather quotes and reviews that showcase your expert service, how taken care of your clients felt, and how simple you made the process for them.

Social media advertising to target sellers

Tools can make seller lead social media marketing easy. Look for tools that take the guesswork and automate both the ad creation and audience targeting process, so you can easily:

• Build advertising campaigns through channels such as Instagram and Facebook to showcase successfully sold properties. Once you land that listing, use ads to promote open houses and highlight the property.
• Create powerful retargeting campaigns that generate content a lead would be most interested in, and bring "abandoners" back to your website
• Leverage built-in reporting to get results in real-time and optimize your ad spend
• Show your potential seller clients how much exposure their property could receive, and how effectively you can promote it!

2. Monitor your database for seller lead activity

Your existing database is chock-full of potential sellers. Are you taking advantage? You need the tools to sift and segment those contacts into workable lists that prioritize actions that might spur selling.

Every lead should be on some sort of e-Alert for their neighborhood, or a drip to keep them engaged. Create target lists of homeowners based on attributes like "$100,000+ in equity," have stayed "in their home for 5+ years," a "past client from three years ago," etc. and provide them with relevant information.

NAR's 2020 Profile of Buyers and Sellers reported 89% of sellers saying they would rehire their agent, but only 26% actually did. This is simply because those agents failed to stay in touch. With the right system, this is completely avoidable (and automatic).

• Keep in touch with past clients and your SOI with automated nurture campaigns.
• Send quick videos with market updates, explanations as to why it'd be a good time to test the market and a "Are you thinking about selling?" message.
• Text your Vcard. Including your Vcard in texting campaigns legitimizes your message increases the likelihood of a response.
• Segment your database into different categories to be able to provide specific and relevant information directly to each subset.

3. Take Care of All Your New Leads

Did you ignore a lot of buyer leads last year? With so many inquiries coming in while you're trying to handle active clients, it's easy for new leads to slip through the cracks. But this is not a sustainable system. According to NAR, 50% of those buyer leads were purchasing contingent on selling their property. That's a lot of potential listings you're missing from your buyers.

If you're not following up on every buyer lead you receive and asking if they need to sell their current property to purchase their next home, you're losing a listing for every two leads you ignored.

You can land those listings if you have the tools to create amazing experience for your potential sellers (without taking more time and resources from your day). In many cases, homeowners are unaware of the possibilities to upsize, downsize, get a huge return, you-name-it, and it's your job as an agent and trustworthy expert, to help them navigate the market, understand their options, and deliver the ideal customer experience.

To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.