“If you’re buying, selling, investing or renting, just give me a call. I’m always happy to help!”
I’ve seen variations of that ad hundreds (thousands?) of times in my career across different mediums. People rarely respond to them. You need something that attracts people and compels them to take action. That’s what we call a lead magnet.
It attracts them to accept the offer and give you their contact information.
If you want to market successfully online, a lead magnet is essential. It’s a tool to get people to give you their contact information in exchange for something of value. It’s straightforward, and many over-complicate it.
The SAGE principle
Let’s simplify it so you can get started creating a lead magnet you can use. We use the Nicholas Kusmich SAGE principle when creating lead magnets.
Short
Actionable
Goal-Oriented
Easy to Consume
Nobody wants an 80-page ebook from someone they don’t know. Keep it short. It doesn’t need to be more than one to four pages long; you can deliver a lot of great value in short pieces.
The lead magnet should be actionable. The person getting a copy of it should be able to use it to do something right now. As in, today. Not a vague abstract. After reading it, they could immediately accomplish something valuable on their journey.
Include an actionable takeway
That action they’re taking should lead to a specific goal. What is your ideal client trying to accomplish? If they’re investors, it could be a tool that helps them evaluate investment properties.
It should also be something in an easy-to-consume format. A short video, a PDF, etc. Something that will make their life easier when they get it.
At our real estate market agency, Just Sell Homes, we have found a guide to preparing your home for sale works really well. It’s only a couple of pages long and includes a checklist they can print off and physically check things off in each room as they get them ready, and by the end, the accomplished goal is their home is ready for sale in a manner a professional would do it.
In the end, include a next step call-to-action. That could be to get a consultation with you on selling their home, an in-home home value appointment, or whatever makes the most sense given the context of the lead magnet.
Simple, right?
Consider your ideal clients; if their journey to either buying or selling a home was an A to Z process. Your lead magnet can simply take them from A to B. I bet all of you right now could write down three to five things that someone could go do to their home to get it ready for sale.
Write it out in a Google Doc (with an assist from ChatGPT if you have writer’s block), design it yourself in Canva or outsource it to Fiverr or Upwork, then start promoting it.
Creating a lead magnet is only the first step in generating more leads in your business, but I promise you’ll struggle without it.
Andrew Fogliato – The G is silent – is the Founder & CEO of Just Sell Homes, a digital marketing agency for the real estate industry, and the Publisher of REM.
He’s been a Realtor, trainer, speaker, consultant, marketer, and more in the Canadian real estate industry for more than a decade.
I like the idea, but since people can get the same info doing a Google search, why would they spend the time to give you their email information?
Since costs are low, it can be tried, but I think the offering needs to be more unique.
You’d be surprised at how even the thigns most readily available on Google people will give their contact information for when its easy and convenient for them. For example, I wrote an 8 part first time home buyers guide on my blog when I sold and then just took all 8 parts and put them in a PDF and offered it as a download in exchange for contact information. Got leads from it.
Simple works really!