Polish Your Profile

It all starts with your profile. 

When someone Googles your name, your LinkedIn profile will most likely be one of the top results. So even if you don’t plan to focus on LinkedIn as a lead generator for your real estate business, having a top-notch LinkedIn profile is important.

Your profile needs to be optimized to give viewers:

• A clear sense of your experience 
• An understanding of your real estate unique value proposition
• Confidence in your expertise
• A taste of your track record
• Opportunities to dig deeper

A solid real estate agent LinkedIn profile needs to have:

• A customized URL. LinkedIn lets you personalize your profile’s URL. Do it! Simply use your full name or your full name followed by “realestate.”
• A great headshot. It can be candid or posed, but either way it needs to be high-resolution (no fuzzy photos), professional-looking (no selfies or party shots) and feature only you (no group shots).
• A branded background photo. The background photo is the horizontal header image behind your profile photo. This area is — pardon the pun — excellent real estate. Upload an image featuring your real estate branding. Keep it simple; a basic wallpaper-style image with “[Your Name] Real Estate” as a text overlay is all you need.
  
• A strong headline. This is where LinkedIn users put their current role. Realtors can keep it as simple as “Real Estate Agent” or add a detail (making sure to keep it brief and to the point) — for instance, “Your Toronto Condo Real Estate Agent” or “Top RE/MAX Real Estate Agent.”
• Your website and contact information. It should be easy for viewers to reach out to you and to navigate to your real estate website from your LinkedIn profile. Make sure this section is filled out and up-to-date. 
• A strong summary. This is where you get to sell the sizzle. Resist the temptation to regurgitate your resume. Use this section to zero in on what makes you different and special — make use of your real estate unique value proposition. You can also include a call-to-action here; for instance, you could end by inviting the reader to visit your website to download your free neighbourhood guides (a lead magnet that gets you their contact info).
• Professional experience. This is like the resume section of your LinkedIn profile. Describe how you help clients, explain your niche if you have one and mention career highlights (such as how many homes you’ve sold to date).
  
  Be strategic about what other professional experiences you list here and the details you include about each; if you mention any job that isn’t real estate, be sure to write a description that provides a sense of what value that experience adds to your current role of agent. Skip your university lifeguarding gig; include your pre-real estate career in marketing.
• Awards. Made a top agent list at your brokerage? Won a community builder award from your municipality? Mention those sorts of accolades here.

Recommendations. This section is your chance to include testimonials. Send connection requests to a few recent clients and include a personal note requesting a recommendation.

Keep Your Connection List Public

LinkedIn gives users the option to keep their list of connections private, preventing other users from seeing their LinkedIn network.

Real estate agents should always keep their LinkedIn connection list public. That way, any potential lead with mutual connections will be able to see who you know in common when they come across your profile.

Why does this matter? It establishes trust. Plus, if the person viewing your profile is considering you as their potential real estate agent, they might reach out to your mutual connections to try and learn more about you.

Publish Content

Online marketing efforts provide real estate agents with their own platforms for sharing their expertise. 

To expand your reach and increase your chances of generating real estate leads using LinkedIn, you need to be utilizing LinkedIn’s options for content creation: publishing posts and/or writing articles.

Like writing real estate blog posts or real estate newsletter content, publishing content on LinkedIn gives you an opportunity for thought leadership. You get to show off what you know, in hopes that by demonstrating your expertise, you’ll nudge someone along the road to becoming your next lead.

What should you write about? Adapt the content you’re already creating for your blog or newsletter. Topics for LinkedIn content should be timely, unique and buzzy — you want to drive engagement. The more reactions and comments, the greater the likelihood that your content will bubble up in other users’ newsfeeds.

A hugely important tip when it comes to publishing content on LinkedIn: don’t forget a call-to-action! You need to seize every opportunity for lead generation. Drive people to your website. Nudge them to sign up for your newsletter, download a freebie, book a call, or search for listings on your site. Invite them to follow you on Instagram or TikTok.

Be an Engaged User

One of the key tips for boosting engagement on Instagram: engage more with other users’ content. 

The same applies to LinkedIn. You need to be an active, engaged user if you want a shot at generating real estate leads using LinkedIn.

That looks like:

• Sending invitations to connect
• Reacting to, commenting on and sharing other users’ posts and articles
• Responding to comments on your content
• Joining and participating in local LinkedIn groups 
• Sending direct messages (when appropriate)

Your goal is to raise your own profile and build relationships.

A Final Thought

LinkedIn may not be the linchpin of your real estate lead generation strategy but it does have a role to play. Raising awareness of your business, showing off what you know and building relationships are key to growing your list of potential clients — LinkedIn can help you effectively do all three.