Dana is a solo agent with a decent referral base and a slow month. On Monday a closing goes through. On Tuesday a lead-platform rep calls with a territory that is "about to be taken." By Thursday a photographer has pitched video tours, a friend has suggested a postcard campaign, and a brokerage training email says every agent needs a personal brand. She has one week's worth of attention and a single decision to make, and every option sounds reasonable.
Dana's week is the general case. Agents searching for marketing strategies for realtors rarely lack ideas. They lack a way to choose between them, and a way to tell later whether the choice worked. This page gives you that order of operations so you can decide before anyone sells you something.
Start with the person you want to hear from
Before comparing tactics, write one sentence about who you want more of. Sellers in a specific neighborhood. Buyers relocating from another state. Past clients who could refer a friend. Each of those people finds an agent in a different way, so the same tactic can be great for one and wasted on another.
Then name the gap in plain terms: not enough conversations, conversations that never turn into signed agreements, or a pipeline that dries up between closings. A strategy that fixes the first problem will not fix the second.
Where realtors usually put their effort
Most options fall into a few buckets. The table pairs each with the situation it fits and the one thing worth counting.
| Strategy | Fits best when | Count this |
|---|---|---|
| Past-client and sphere follow-up | You have closed deals but rarely contact those people | Replies and referral introductions |
| Local search and your Google profile | People already look for an agent in your area | Calls and direction requests |
| Paid search ads | You have a clear service area and can answer fast | Booked consultations, not clicks |
| Social and video content | You enjoy showing up and your market is visual | Direct messages from local people |
Reading a search that swells and fades
About 430 searches a month are spread across six related queries in this topic. That is a small pool of people, which tells you something: most agents are not comparing strategies online. They are asking peers, brokers, and vendors. The exact phrase also moves a lot. It reached 320 searches a month in September 2025 and had fallen to 110 by August 2026.
Treat that swing as a reminder that interest in marketing advice comes in waves, often when agents plan a new year or feel a slow season. It is not a signal that your buyers and sellers will behave the same way. Plan around your own lead history, not the search curve.
What a click costs when agents compete for it
Advertisers targeting this cluster of searches pay as much as $16.16 for a top-of-page click at the high end. Yours may cost less, and it depends on your market, but the takeaway is stable: paid clicks in real estate are not cheap, and an unanswered call or a slow reply wastes the money you already spent.
So before paying for traffic, check what happens after it arrives. Does the form go to an inbox you read the same day? Does your phone number work from a mobile screen? Does anyone know which ad produced which inquiry? If not, fix that first. Our guides on [lead gen for realtors](/guides/lead-gen-for-realtors) and on [measuring your best lead source](/guides/best-lead-source-for-realtors) walk through it.
A test small enough to lose
Choose one strategy and one audience. Set a budget you would not miss, and a stop date before you start. Write down what counts as a win in terms of real conversations, such as listing appointments or buyer consultations. Impressions and likes do not count.
Keep a simple record: date, source, what the person asked for, and whether it turned into a meeting. A spreadsheet is enough. When the test ends, you will have an actual answer, and next month's decision will be easier than this week's.
Where an outside pair of hands fits
You can run everything above yourself. Outside help earns its place in narrower cases: you want paid search but have never set up tracking, your calls and forms are not tied to the ads that produced them, or you suspect an account is spending on clicks that never become leads. In those cases a specialist can build the measurement or review what exists, and you keep the decisions.
If you talk to an agency, ask what they will count as a result, where you will see it, and what you own if you leave. Clear answers to those three are a better sign than any promise about volume.