*Top 15 marketing strategies

US lead generation service HomeGain has published the results of marketing effectiveness survey of more than 700 agents.

In many ways, the survey’s conclusions mirror the results of a study of Global edge readers last year.

The most effective channel in both surveys is referrals. Leads generated from past customers tops both lists by quite some distance with print advertising is voted one of the least effective marketing methods.

Portal advertising (featured listings) and email marketing are in the top in the top five in both lists with the former ranked slightly more effective than the latter.

Social media decline?

Interestingly, HomeGain report that agents in the US are becoming a little disillusioned with social media and blogging strategies. Social media slipped to 9th place and blogging to 15th down from 7th (Facebook) and 8th (Linkedin) and 5th (blogging) in January 2011.

The results may be a result of agents becoming frustrated with time lag between activity and the return on investment with social media and the difficulty many agents have in measuring success when using these channels.

It is an interesting finding especially because social media is much more suited to the US market as winning business for an agent there is much more about building a loyal local fan base, than it is in Europe.

HomeGain survey results

May/August 2010 - April 2011 Surveys	Ranking from Last Survey	February 2010 Survey
1. Referrals (8.7)	1	1. Referrals (8.7)
2. Leads From Your Broker (5.5)	Unranked	2. Featured Listings (4.8)
3. Events [Open Houses] (4.8)	Unranked	3. Email Campaigns (4.7)
4. Featured Listings (4.7)	2	4. Postcards/Mailers (4.6)
5. Email Campaigns (4.5)	3	5. Blogging (4.1)
6. Postcards/Mailings (4.4)	4	6. Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)
7. Craigslist (4.2)	Unranked	7. Facebook (4.0)
8. Online Lead Generation Services (4.0)	6	8. LinkedIn (3.6)
9. Social Media (Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter) (3.8)	7,8	9. Outdoor Advertising (3.6)
10. Outdoor Advertising (3.7)	9	10 Print Advertising (3.6)
11. Print Advertising (3.6)	Unranked
12. Youtube (3.5)	Unranked
13. Blogging (3.3)	Unranked
14. Pay Per Click (3.1)	Unranked
15. Banner Ads (3.1)	Unranked