Last updated on January 5th, 2026 at 12:29 pm
Digital marketing for real estate is one of the most effective ways to reach potential buyers.
In order to create a successful digital marketing plan for real estate, you must first understand your target audience and what they want.
Then you must create a sales funnel (we’ll talk about what that is) to turn visitors into leads — and you have to find ways to drive traffic.
How do you do all of that?
Welcome to the jungle 😉
Here are the steps!
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Step #1: Start With the End in Mind
You might think of digital marketing as mandatory for your real estate business.
But let’s get specific.
Why — EXACTLY — do you want to be more intentional about marketing your real estate business online?
The answer is probably that you want to generate more demand; more brand awareness, more leads, and more deals.
Okay…
But what is a “lead” to you?
Is that a first-time homebuyer? A homeowner looking to sell? Investors looking for opportunities? Something else?
Before you can create a digital marketing strategy, you need to get crystal clear about who you’re trying to attract.
Who is your dream customer?
Here’s a great video that’ll help you create your customer avatar so you know exactly who you’re trying to attract with your digital marketing efforts.
Once you know who you serve, the next thing we need to figure out is how you’re going to turn someone into a “lead”.
Imagine your dream customer stumbles across your website.
What is going to compel them to give you their contact information… or to call you directly?
(Hint: they’re not going to do it out of the kindness of their heart)
If you’re using a traditional website… then there’s a good chance they’re going to explore for a few minutes, get confused, and leave.
We even made a video explaining why that is…
Most websites act more like brick walls than anything…
A sales funnel, on the other hand, is an experience that intentionally guides the visitor — your dream client — from point A to point B. Every word, heading, graphic, and button is optimized to guide the person toward conversion — in this case, giving you their contact information.
That’s what our software is all about at ClickFunnels.
We help business owners like you build high-converting sales funnels.
But what makes a sales funnel different from a typical website?
There are a few key differences…
No Navigation — A typical website has navigation in the main menu. This allows people to go wherever they please and browse your website as though it’s a digital brochure. A sales funnel doesn’t have that. Why? Because we want people to take one very specific action.
Focused — A sales funnel is far more focused than a website. While a website might have different pages offering different services, every page of a sales funnel is chronological (must be clicked through to access) and focused on offering a single service.
Experiential — A sales funnel is all about the experience you’re creating for the visitor. You think about how you’ll get people to read the headline, and then the subheadline. How will you draw them into the page? And then why will they be compelled to give you their contact information or call you directly?
In other words, sales funnels are far more human…
…and they’re far more effective.
In the next step, we’ll help you build your sales funnel. For now, just understand that you want a sales funnel… not just a website.
Additionally, you’re going to need a way to drive traffic to your funnel (high-quality traffic) and, on the other end, a way to turn your leads into paying customers.
This first step is just about understanding the entire process from a high level.
Now let’s dive into the nitty gritty.
Step #2: Build Your Funnel
Let’s build your sales funnel!
First, go here to create a free ClickFunnels account.
Once you’re in, click on “Build a Funnel.”
You’ll then be asked some questions about the type of funnel you’re wanting to build. Click on “Sell Your Product.”
Then “Sales Funnel.”
And then give your sales funnel name! I gave my example the name of “new listings” because I’m going to try and attract homeowners who are looking to sell.
Once you’ve entered that information, you’ll be able to choose from a ton of different free sales funnel templates.
Don’t overthink it.
You’ll be able to customize whichever template you choose to your heart’s desire. So just pick one that you think fits the style you’re wanting to convey.
And if you don’t know where to start, just choose the same one as me!
Then you can go ahead and delete the “Sales Page”, “Order Form”, and “Order Confirmation” steps by hovering over them and clicking the red “X”.
Click on “Edit Page” and now you can turn your sales funnel into something special (without hiring an expert designer.
I just added a photo to mine and changed the heading to make it relevant to the lead magnet I want to offer.
I could also change the logo, colors, and fonts if I wanted to.
Once you’re done designing, you can easily attach a custom domain, upload the lead magnet you’re giving away (to get people to give you their email addresses), and create an automated email sequence to deliver your lead magnet to new subscribers.
Now… what’s a lead magnet?
It’s just a resource that you’re giving away for free in order to get people’s email addresses.
Because once you have their email address, you can follow up with them and offer your services.
Examples of real estate lead magnets include…
- Free eBook: The Top 10 Real Estate Investment Strategies for Beginners
- Free Report: The 5 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Buying a Home
- Free Video Course: How to Sell Your Home for the Highest Price Possible
Those are just examples.
The important thing is that the lead magnet you create only attracts your target market.
If you want help with this process, check out our complete lead magnet guide over here.
And if you want more step-by-step help building your sales funnel… take our One Funnel Away Challenge.
Step #3: Drive Traffic
So you’ve got a funnel.
You’ve built a lead magnet to get email addresses.
Now what?
Now it’s time to drive some traffic.
There are three different places we recommend you consider driving traffic from Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook ads.
Let’s talk about each.
When it comes to real estate, we believe that Instagram is currently the best platform for driving high-quality traffic (that converts into leads and customers).
Why?
Well, it’s a highly visual platform and it has far better organic reach potential than Facebook.
The key with Instagram is to be strategic about the content you post, using both photos and videos.
You want to focus on creating content about your business, case studies, and the properties you have for sale.
As you’re creating this content, make sure to use relevant hashtags and post regularly.
The more active you are on the platform, the more likely you are to be seen by potential leads (there’s no such thing as posting too much).
Put a link to your sales funnel in your Instagram profile so people can easily convert when they’re ready to learn more.
Our favorite example of real estate agents using Instagram effectively is the Farr Group — we highly recommend following them to see how they use Instagram to generate leads for their business.
TikTok
TikTok is a newer social media platform that has taken the world by storm.
If you’re not familiar with it, TikTok is a video-sharing app where people can watch short videos (usually under one minute).
While it might not seem like an obvious choice for a real estate agent, we believe that TikTok has a lot of potential.
The key with TikTok is to focus on creating fun, creative videos that show off your personality.
People want to see the real you, not some polished version of yourself.
Be authentic, be genuine, and have some fun with it!
We recommend posting at least once a day, but feel free to post more if you’re enjoying the platform.
Make sure to include a link to your sales funnel in your profile so people can learn more about you and what you do.
Here’s an example of the type of content you can post on Tik Tok…
@steeviesoucie Top 3 mistakes to avoid 🏡 #realtor #realestate #firstimehomebuyer ♬ original sound – Steevie Soucie
Facebook Ads
Finally, we come to Facebook ads.
Now, we believe that Instagram is currently the best platform for driving traffic (as we mentioned above).
However, that doesn’t mean that Facebook ads are a waste of time.
In fact, we believe that they can be a great complement to your Instagram strategy.
The key with Facebook ads is to focus on creating short, attention-grabbing videos that showcase your properties and what it’s like to work with you.
You want to make sure that your ad copy is clear and concise, and that your video is high quality.
Once you have your ad created, you’ll need to target the right audience.
We recommend targeting people who live in your city and who are interested in real estate.
You can also target people who have visited your website in the past, as they’re more likely to be interested in what you have to offer (this is called retargeting).
Once you’ve created your ad, make sure to track your results so you can see how well it’s performing.
If you’re not happy with the results you’re getting, don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy.
Step #4: Build a Follow-Up System
It’s difficult (impossible?) to overemphasize how important follow-up is for real estate businesses.
The more consistently and systematically you follow up with your leads… the more deals you’re going to get.
That’s true whether you’re trying to find motivated sellers, get more listings, or find first-time homebuyers.
How do we know?
‘cause science says.
Check out the following stats…
Most deals happen down the road — that’s as true with real estate as it is with other industries that require a massive amount of trust and rapport.
It doesn’t happen overnight.
Follow up!
Not just once… but according to the data, you should follow up at least 12 times to get the maximum amount of deals from your leads.
We highly recommend using our Soap Opera Sequence for your first email follow-up (click the link for more details).
Step #5: Become the “Scientist” Your Business Needs
Now we’ve got good news and bad news…
The good news is that you’re making progress. If you’ve taken the above steps, then you are moving in the right direction, slowly but surely. Action breeds success.
Good work.
The bad news is that some stuff isn’t going to work.
That might irk you. It irks everyone at first.
But it’s part of the game.
As Elon Musk once said, “If things are not failing, you are not innovating.”
If you want to be an entrepreneur, then you’ve got to change your mindset.
Engage with the process — both failures and successes.
Play.
Look at failures as problems to be solved, not as evidence of your inadequacy.
Become the “scientist” your business needs.
This is part of the process. It’s also part of the fun.
When something doesn’t work out — and there’s a very good chance your first sales funnel won’t work how you hoped it would work — look at it with critical eyes.
Why didn’t it work?
What went wrong?
What could you try next time that might work better?
Create a new hypothesis and run another test.
We allow you to easily run A/B tests with ClickFunnels…
Look at your competitors — we call this funnel hacking — and see what they’re doing. Would something similar work for your business?
If you’re not sure what to do, here are 7 funnel hacks you might consider trying…
Failure doesn’t exist unless you quit.
So keep going. Keep experimenting. Keep playing. And keep enjoying the process.
The entrepreneur who is having the most fun… is usually the one who wins.
Final Thoughts
Digital marketing for real estate is a great way to reach potential buyers and sellers.
But there’s a lot to it, and it can be overwhelming if you’re just getting started.
The above steps will point you in the right direction.
With those, you’ll be able to systematically generate leads, build brand awareness, and find more deals.
Ready for a challenge?
Then click the link below!