How to go digital and generate real estate leads in the Indian market (2024)

Are you a real estate agent based in India looking to leverage the digital world to connect with more clients? We’re here to guide you. 

The Indian real estate market has transformed significantly with technological advancements and evolving consumer behaviours. Now with the impact of AI, it is expected to evolve even further and more rapidly. If you’re yet to fully utilise digital platforms to promote your services and connect with relevant audiences, now is the right time to do so. 

Digitising your real estate services may feel overwhelming if you’re just starting out, especially since it usually takes many rounds of interactions to convert a lead. However, it can be highly rewarding if done correctly. Also, it might not be as hard as one may perceive.

In this article, we’ll guide you on how to become a digitally-enabled realtor to connect with more potential clients, set up your digital presence, and use the right platforms and tools to promote your real estate services in India. 

Why going digital is essential for getting more real estate leads

A large portion of the Indian population has access to the Internet, with many users using mobile devices for daily activities, including property searches. Moreover, real estate customers today prefer the convenience of browsing properties online, scheduling virtual tours, and communicating with agents through digital platforms. You should be where your customers are. 

A strong digital presence expands your reach and visibility, enhances the experience of your customers through more convenient communications, and plays a vital role in generating online leads for your real estate listing. Additionally, digital tools and platforms can significantly improve your productivity and operational efficiency and help you manage leads and client relationships better.

Here are some benefits of going digital: 

• Reach and visibility: A strong digital presence helps you reach a wider audience beyond your immediate geographic location. In a competitive industry like real estate, visibility can make a significant difference.
• Customer experience: The digital world provides clients with easy access to property information and communication. This can lead to a more satisfying and efficient experience.
• Workflow efficiency: Digital tools and platforms streamline various aspects of your operations, from lead management to client communication. This convenience allows you to focus more on closing deals and providing better service, instead of manual administrative tasks.

A strong digital presence is a necessity if you’re looking to thrive in the modern real estate market. You can better position yourself to meet the demands of consumers and achieve sustainable growth by understanding and keeping up with the current trends.

How to build your digital presence as a realtor

A good digital presence is not just about having a business website and pages on popular social media platforms. It’s also about being active in the digital realm and engaging with your potential clients by addressing their issues. Each platform offers you numerous opportunities to promote your services and connect with a wider audience. It’s also about knowing how to leverage the tools you have at your disposal effectively. 

Here’s how to start building your digital presence:  

Step 1. Create a professional website

A business website is one of the key marketing tools for real estate agents today. Your website helps you provide crucial information about your services to your customers, allowing them to self-serve anytime and connect with you as needed. 

Fortunately, creating a website today isn’t difficult or expensive anymore. With the tools available online, you can easily assemble and publish a website within a day even without expert-level technical proficiency. 

Platforms like WordPress and Wix allow you to create your business website quickly and on a budget. Alternatively, you can also use hosting platforms like Squarespace, Bluehost or GoDaddy, and explore the plans they offer to build a website. You should be able to build and run a decent website for under $100 annually.   

Here are some considerations you may want to look into while building your website:  

• Real estate features: Consider including detailed property listings, search functionality, and easy-to-use contact forms on your website. These features make it easy for visitors to find and explore your property listings and get in touch with you without hassle.
• Mobile responsiveness: As a significant number of users access websites via mobile devices, you should ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. A responsive design adapts to various screen sizes and provides a better browsing experience on all devices.
• SEO optimization: Keywords play a vital role in connecting you with your potential clients. By implementing basic SEO practices, such as keyword optimisation and meta tags, you can improve your website’s visibility on search engines and increase the likelihood of attracting organic traffic to your home page or specific listings.

Step 2. Set up your social media accounts

Everyone is on social media these days, with popular platforms having tens of millions of daily active users in India alone. These are great platforms to find and connect with your potential clients. 

To reach your target audience effectively, you should first identify the social media platform that aligns with your goals and ideal client profile. Each platform has its unique strengths and user demographics. While you can be active on all platforms, your focus should be on the one most likely to connect you with high quality leads. As a first step, create a business page on social media platforms that are relevant to your business.

For example, Facebook can be ideal for running Lead Ads, engaging with the community, and sharing property listings or market updates. On the other hand, Instagram is a great platform for visual storytelling through photos, videos, and stories. 

Similarly, if you want to network with industry professionals and share market insights, you’ll want to focus on LinkedIn. And finally, Twitter can be a great place for quick updates and participating in real estate conversations or thought leadership. 

Step 3. Publish content and engage with audience

Your websites and social media accounts provide the basic digital infrastructure you need to connect with potential clients. But in order for them to help you reach the right audience, you should regularly publish quality content that not just showcases your listings and services but also addresses the issues real estate prospects want solved.

Start with doing some research. This will help you to know what your potential clients are looking for, what type of content they engage with, and more. By identifying the right keywords and trends, you can craft content that addresses your customers precisely.

Posting quality content consistently is extremely important. You should always ensure your content is relevant, diverse, and share information your audience may find useful or inspiring.  

Figure out a format that works for you, which you’ll discover as you post and experiment with different content types. For example, you may find that your website is more suitable for SEO-optimised real estate articles, whereas social media works better for shorter and visually appealing short form videos. You can plan differently for each platform, and consider posting different forms of the same content to suit each platform.

Here are some real estate content suggestions: 

• Virtual tours and walkthrough videos. Having a first look at the properties help your potential buyers make crucial decisions on whether or not to come for an in-person viewing
• Client testimonials that highlight positive client experiences. It helps build trust and showcase your success and track record as a realtor.
• Visual or written information about property investment tips and local area highlights. This can help position yourself as an expert in the field or a property specialist for a specific neighbourhood.   
• Long-form content addressing specific real estate issues. Such content builds trust over time. By continuously providing value to prospects for free, you can build more awareness for your real estate brand, which could turn into sales opportunities in the long term. 

Generating leads online

Now that you have some ideas for  building a digital presence for your real estate agency, let’s discuss how to leverage this digital infrastructure to generate leads online.  

You can generate leads for your real estate services through organic and paid methods on different platforms. Ideally, you’ll want to capture leads from as many platforms as possible. Below are some important platforms and methods you can use to generate real estate leads online:  

1. Make use of property portals

Property portals are one of the most important lead generation platforms for real estate agents in India. Each month, tens of millions of potential buyers and sellers visit Indian real estate property portals directly or through search engines. These websites also offer valuable resources for real estate agents looking to expand their digital reach. You can create an agent profile and publish your property listings on most of these property portals for free.

The most direct way to generate leads on property portals is by posting your property listings. Once you have published your listing, you can also choose to promote it within the platform with paid options. Remember, while paid promotion improves the visibility of your listing and helps you generate more leads fast, you don’t always need to opt for it. Optimised listings can generate just as many high quality leads organically. 

Here’s how to generate leads via property portals:

Step 1. Choose the right portal

Several real estate portals in India allow you to showcase your properties to a huge audience. Each platform has their own unique features. You’ll need to find the best platform for you to attract your target buyers. Here’s a brief overview of some of the leading property portals in India: 

• MagicBricks is one of the largest real estate portals in India. It offers extensive listings and a wide user base. It can be a great platform to target people from all over the country. 
• 99acres is known for its detailed property listings and user-friendly interface. It’s also a widely popular property portal and can help you find new real estate leads around India. 
• Housing.com is popular for its innovative features like virtual tours and neighbourhood insights. It’s a great portal for local and regional targeting.  
• CommonFloor offers a community-centric approach with a focus on apartments and gated communities. It’s highly popular among the younger generation in India. 

Step 2. Create effective listings

The next step is to add listings that stand out. Visitors are more likely to visit listings with high-quality images,detailed descriptions, and keyword-optimised titles. You may want to target specific keywords for specific areas or neighbourhoods, and add videos or virtual tours for a more enhanced experience. 

Here are some tips to optimise your listings:

• Focus on keywords: Adding relevant keywords in your property titles and descriptions helps you appear in search results within the portal. You may want to research keywords before adding them to your listings. However, as a real estate agent, you may already know what your potential buyers might search for, such as “2 BHK apartment in Mumbai” or “luxury villa in Bangalore.”
• Update regularly: Regular updates help maintain the relevancy of your listings and can improve their ranking on the portal as most portals may prioritise new and fresh content. Keep your listings updated with the latest information. 
• Consider paid promotions: Paid promotions on property portals typically include premium and featured listings. These types of listings offer higher visibility and priority placement on search results pages.
• Add customer reviews: Positive feedback can enhance your credibility and encourage more potential clients to reach out to you. Encourage your existing clients to leave reviews and ratings on your profile.  

Most real estate portals offer analytics tools for insights into the performance of your listings. Don’t forget to use the data to refine your listing strategies. 

2. Utilise SEO and content marketing

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and content marketing help improve your online visibility and attract organic traffic. Additionally, the right strategy can help establish you as a trusted voice and agent in the real estate space. Don’t feel intimidated by SEO even if you’re a beginner. At the end of the day, SEO and content marketing is all about researching keywords your potential customers are using and adding them to your posts and articles. With practice, you can master it in a short period of time. 

Your website and property listings on portals are the primary platforms for SEO and content marketing. These are the places where you’ll not only optimise each page but also consistently post quality articles with keywords that your ideal clients are most likely searching for.   

Here are some basics of SEO for real estate websites or listings:

• Keyword research: Keyword research includes identifying relevant keywords that your potential clients are using to search for properties. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner to find popular and competitive keywords in India. The more precise your keywords are, the better the chances of finding quality leads. Also, mentioning location is extremely important as most real estate buyers search for properties on specific locations.
  • Here are some real estate keyword examples: “buy property in Delhi,” “luxury apartments in Mumbai,” “real estate investment in Bangalore.”
• On-page SEO: On-page SEO is all about optimising individual pages on your website to rank higher for different search queries and attract more relevant traffic in search engines. This includes:
  • Ensuring each page has a unique and compelling title tag and meta description that includes the target keywords. 
  • Using header tags (H1, H2, H3) to structure your content and make it easier for search engines to understand. 
  • Including descriptive alt text for images to improve image search rankings.
• Local SEO: Optimising your website for local searches is important to attract potential clients in your targeted area. You can enhance local SEO in a few different ways including:
  • Setting up and optimising your Google My Business profile to appear in local search results and Google Maps.
  • Using location-specific keywords in your content, such as “2 BHK Apartments in Pubjabi Bagh” or “homes for sale in Thane.”

Here are some basics of content marketing:  

• Blogging: Blogging refers to publishing articles on your website to share informative content with your target customers. Some topics you may want to write about include market trends, home buying tips, government regulations, investment advice, neighbourhood guides, and property maintenance tips. Remember, publishing valuable content consistently can help you keep your audience engaged and improve your website’s ranking on search engines.
• Guest blogging and backlinking: You can also consider writing articles for reputed real estate blogs to reach a wider audience and link back to your own website in those articles (also known as backlinks). Getting high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites can improve your site’s domain authority, credibility, and search rankings.

Consider publishing diverse content to attract and engage a diverse audience. This includes creating and publishing videos, infographics, and guides. 

The main goal of SEO and content marketing is to appear more visible in search engines results pages whenever your potential clients make a relevant search. Nevertheless, you can also promote your content by sharing it across social media platforms, distributing your content through email newsletters, and collaborating with influencers and industry experts.

Keep in mind that content itself doesn’t capture leads. You’ll need to ensure your visitors can conveniently contact you or leave their contact information for you to reach out to them later. Therefore, don’t forget to include forms on your pages.

3. Social media marketing

Social media marketing involves using social media platforms to connect with your audience. It generally involves posting industry-related text posts, image updates, videos, and other content that attracts an audience and drives engagement. Most social media platforms also allow you to run lead generation ads to specifically generate leads for your services or properties

Here’s an overview of key platforms for social media marketing. 

Facebook 

Facebook is the most popular social media platform in India with many users from diverse age groups. More importantly, there’s a strong presence of adults and older demographics with higher purchasing power. You can get started with creating a Facebook Business Page and posting content to attract leads.

Some ways to drive engagement on Facebook include posting regularly, using high-quality visuals, and responding to comments or other people’s content. Facebook is also an excellent platform to generate leads via paid ads. Facebook Lead Ads is specifically designed to capture leads. 

Instagram

The primary users of Instagram are younger real estate prospects, particularly millennials and Gen Z. The platform allows you to post photos, videos, stories, reels, live videos, etc. to drive engagement.

Use high-quality images, leverage hashtags, talk to your followers, and post stories regularly to improve the visibility of your posts. The platform also allows you to run Lead Ads similar to Facebook. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great platform for networking with professionals and industry experts. It can be a great lead generation tool if you’re specifically targeting a professional audience. On the platform, you can post articles, images, videos, carousel-style presentations, etc. Similar to Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn also allows you to run Lead Gen Ads. 

Steps to get started with Social Media Marketing

1. Define what you want to achieve (lead generation in this case). 
2. Create a business page on social media platforms.
3. Plan the type of content you will post and create a content calendar to stay organised.
4. Focus on creating high-quality content that your audience finds useful.
5. Run lead generation ads. 
6. Respond to comments, messages, and mentions. Engage with your audience to build relationships and foster community.
7. Track the performance of your posts or ads, including engagement, reach, and conversions using the analytics tools provided by the platform. 
8. Continuously monitor the results and adjust your strategies based on what works.

5. Lead generation ad campaigns

Lead generation ads are excellent tools for generating leads online. They can help you reach a targeted audience across various digital platforms. Major advertising platforms including Google and Facebook allow you to run lead generation campaigns easily. Let’s take a look at how these major ad platforms work. 

• Google allows you to run Google Ads Lead Form Assets to capture leads. These ads will run on Google’s search results pages and its partner websites. You can target your audience based on keywords, location, demographics, interests, and remarketing.
• You can run Facebook Lead Ads to generate leads on Facebook. Your ads appear in users’ news feeds and stories. The platform also allows broad targeting options based on location, age, gender, interests, behaviours, custom audiences, and lookalike audiences.
• LinkedIn Lead Gen Ads are ideal for generating professional leads. You can target your audience based on job title, company size, industry, skills, education, location etc.

Here’s how to get started with lead generation advertisements:

1. Select the platform that best suits your target audience and goals. You can run ads on various platforms if you have the budget. 
2. Decide how much you want to spend on lead ads. Most platforms offer flexible budgeting options.
3. Design compelling visuals and write engaging copy. Make sure your ad is clear and has a strong call-to-action (CTA).
4. Use the targeting options available on the platform to reach your targeted audience.
5. Review all the details and launch your ad campaign.
6. Track your ad performance using the analytics tools and make adjustments as needed.

Keep in mind that ad platforms only help you reach your targeted audience. The success of your lead generation campaign mostly depends on the elements of your ads and who you target. Here are some tips to consider: 

• Test, test and test: Run A/B tests with different images, copy, and CTAs to see what works best.
• Focus on quality: High-quality visuals and messaging that drive urgency and clear actions can significantly improve your ad performance. Always avoid long and confusing content that requires users to jump through too many hoops to reach out to you. 
• Use remarketing: Target people who have already interacted with your platforms to increase conversion rates.
• Monitor budget: Keep an eye on your budget and adjust it as necessary. It’s important to ensure you are getting the best return on investment (ROI) from lead generation ads.

Conclusion

After successfully generating leads, the next critical step is converting those leads into clients. To improve your chances of sales, you’ll need to focus on several key elements, including prompt follow-up, personalised communications, and consistent engagement. Therefore, it’s crucial to manage all your leads in one central location and automate repetitive processes like adding new leads. You’ll usually need some tools to streamline these steps, ideally a CRM.

A CRM like Privyr can help you manage and convert leads more effectively. You can centralise and manage your client data on your mobile phone, automate follow-ups, segment leads, and enhance collaboration with your real estate team using automatic lead distribution. Moreover, CRMs provide insights into your lead management process, so you can identify what strategies are working and where improvements are needed. This data-driven approach helps you refine your conversion tactics over time.

If you’re looking for a CRM to run your sales process from the comfort of your mobile device, Privyr is a highly recommended solution. It’s a mobile-first CRM that integrates with all major lead generation platforms, including Facebook, WordPress, property portals, and helps you manage all your lead data in one place. It automatically syncs new leads to your mobile device, and you can contact them within seconds through popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, SMS, and more. With Privyr, you have the freedom to run your sales process and communicate with your leads from wherever you are.

Try Privyr for free today.