Real estate professionals can strengthen client relationships and generate new leads by showing appreciation through online giveaways, events, or other marketing efforts. Whether you’re helping clients buy property in Al Jubail Island or lease a condo in the city, these strategies can help expand your network. Here are a few ideas shared by other agents.
1. Draw new leads with online giveaways
Since 2018, Laura Gillott, founder of The Gillott Home Team in Lebanon, Ga., has used weekly online giveaways to expand her customer database. Prizes include Yeti coolers, Stanley-style cups, and VIP box seats at the local racetrack.
To enter, participants must engage with the Facebook announcement and complete a Google registration form. The form asks about their real estate interests (like buying a home or investment property) and includes links to subscribe to Gillott’s newsletter or sign up for a class.
For example, a Mother’s Day giveaway featured a $1,000 gift basket with items purchased from a local Boys and Girls Club auction. In five days, the giveaway drew 533 registrations, leading to 34 CMA requests, 20 referrals, and over 200 signups for her newsletter and classes. Three months later, her team had booked eight appointments, showed properties to five clients, sold one property, and added 116 new leads to their database.
2. Turn YouTube views into clients
Will Sawyer, an agent in Greenville, S.C., generated $612,000 in gross commission income last year from YouTube leads. His channel targets relocation buyers, especially retirees and empty nesters, with videos like “What I Wish I Knew Before Moving to Greenville.”
In January alone, Sawyer gained over 50 new customer leads from his channel. He works with a professional videographer and posts a new 8- to 13-minute video every Friday. He also repurposes this content into 30- to 60-second YouTube shorts for other social media platforms.
Each video includes a call to action within the first 45 seconds, encouraging viewers to subscribe, visit his website, or contact him. Sawyer also manages a Facebook group with 35,000 members and sends a newsletter with local news and property updates to prospects.
3. Make client appreciation events extraordinary
Danny Baron of The Baron Group in Cincinnati hosts large-scale client appreciation events four times a year, drawing thousands. These events keep him top of mind and create grateful prospects. For one event, Baron invited 3,000 clients to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game, partnering with vendors to help cover costs.
Each event creates multiple client touchpoints, from hand-delivering invitations to sharing professional photos on social media afterward. Baron has used this strategy since he started in real estate. His first launch party had 175 guests; six years later, 100 of them are now past clients.
4. Nurture ‘Raving Fans’ for consistent referrals
Seychelle Van Poole’s team in Dallas created a “Raving Fan” gift box to thank clients for referrals and positive online reviews. Her team sends up to 150 boxes quarterly to local referring clients, out-of-town agents, and key business partners.
“A referral shows a level of trust, and we want to say more than just ‘thank you,’” Van Poole says.
The boxes, which cost $20-$25 each, are filled with items from local businesses, such as recipes and ingredients from an Italian restaurant. They also include a branded card reminding clients that more referrals mean more gifts and a booklet with a market update.
5. Get face time in your community
When Disen Cai started in real estate in 2013, he had no clients. He focused on door-knocking and open houses to get face time with prospects. For four years, Cai went door-knocking in a neighborhood of 1,200 homes. He presented himself as a resource rather than using a hard sales pitch. This led to one elderly woman asking him for a ride to the salon every week, which he did for four years. After she passed away, her family asked him to sell her home.
