How to Use Content to Build a Killer Lead Gen Strategy

Lead generation is one of the real estate industry's hottest topics. There are myriad ways to generate real estate leads, but one of the most effective ways is by developing a killer content strategy.

Content helps to draw prospects in naturally. When done consistently, content will help to give prospects a sense of what it feels like to work with you. But, there are challenges.

1. Time. Time is a rare commodity, so how can you create content quickly and efficiently? If you like to write, then you may choose to write a blog post on your site or on another site like Medium or LinkedIn. If you don't like to write, you may choose to record video or host live video, like on Facebook. Scheduling time to create, edit and publish content that works for you is key.
2. Patience. Creating content for lead generation in real estate is not a 'quick fix lead gen solution.' The agents and brokers that are getting great leads via their content have invested in creating content and distributing it through email and social media week in and week out.

Let's break down six things you need to know when creating your killer content strategy.

1. Define your audience

You need a straightforward roadmap of what you're looking to produce and for whom you're producing it. It's certainly possible that rather than a single typical customer, you might have several different types of frequent clients. You'll need strategies to reach them all.

Ask yourself:

• What are the questions you get asked time and time again?
• Where does your expertise lie?
• Who do you love working with?

When you can really start to dig into those questions, you can set the stage for creating content that supports your brand.

2. Understand your brand

Getting a handle on your brand means putting your thoughts down on paper — or pixel, depending on what works best for you. Start by identifying your strengths, challenges, and analyzing your competition. How can you differentiate yourself from other local agents? The answer will help you drive content.

Remember, your brand is so much more than your colors or logo. Your brand is what people say about you and how they describe you. How can you leverage their opinions or testimonials, and create (or curate) content that reinforces them?

Last, think about who you want to target and where they are hanging out. For example, if you are focused on the millennial market, you may leverage Instagram because your demographic embraces the platform.

3. Brainstorm new content ideas

Here are several questions that will help you determine what you want to achieve with your content:

• What type of content catches the mind and imagination of your customers?
• Who are the most important people to target?
• What parts of my business will connect with these important people?
• What do I want to emphasize in terms of our brand?
• What information does my clientele want?

4. Identify delivery of content

You're ready to begin selecting the ways you're going to deliver your content. This can include any or all of the following channels:

• Your website
• Paid channels including sponsorships, pay-per-click search ads and social media promotions
• Free social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, etc.)
• Industry influencers including bloggers and journalists
• Video
• Live streams

5. It's showtime!

Go forth and create your content plan! This may entail an editorial calendar, planner or both. However you tackle the task, though, make sure that your content schedule flows well with a combination of the large and the small.

Don't reinvent the wheel. Remember, with every content piece that you create – think about how you can repurpose that content to generate leads. For example, you may create one blog post a month. That one blog could get sliced and diced a number of different ways:

• You could create a Power Point presentation with that content and upload it to SlideShare.net – which is owned by LinkedIn. You can then collect leads on SlideShare for anyone interested in learning more.
• You can take that SlideShare and then create a short video, upload the video to YouTube and/or Facebook directly. You can run YouTube and/or Facebook ads that drive people who watch the video to a landing page on your site.
• You can create multiple graphics highlighting parts of that blog post – I like to call this “snackable content" which you can create for free using Canva.com or PicMonkey.com. Each of these graphics can be posted over the course of a few weeks on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram with a call to action to go back to the original post.
• You can re-share this post on all social channels a few months after originally sharing it on social media. There is no rule that you can only share something once!

6. Give them a way to raise their hand

One of the most important things you can do is to have a strong call to action with each piece of content. At each post's conclusion, send people to a landing page or your website that can capture their contact information.

Keep creating content consistently, and then put in place a system for letting people know about your content. Build your email list and then engage them using a service like Mailchimp, Constant Contact or Aweber on a regular basis.

You can't succeed if you don't get started!

If you employ these methods you will be providing valuable content for your past clients, and you will be reaching more and more people over the course of time. Remember, content strategy for lead gen is a marathon and not a sprint!

To view the original article, visit the SmartZip blog.