Turning Christmas lights into leads

When Scott Moe, a Canadian real estate agent covering the Vancouver area, was trying to come up with topics to write about on his blog, he noticed he couldn’t find any up-to-date lists for the best Christmas light displays in some towns where he helps people buy and sell homes.

So he put together his own. He copied relevant addresses from 2014 and 2015 lists of Christmas lights displays covering large areas and pasted them into a post that included an invitation for visitors to request home valuations.

The post was a hit. It’s attracted about 15,000 visits since publishing in late November and generated dozens of leads for Moe.

Here’s how he says he spent about half an hour to put the post together:

1. Compile addresses of popular Christmas light displays.

Moe combined addresses that he found on lists of popular Christmas light displays published by local newspapers The Vancouver Sun and The Province. Real estate agents can beef up their lists further with their own knowledge of local light displays.

2. Use a blog post with a lead-capture feature.

Agents who want to convert visitors to their Christmas light post into leads should make sure the post includes a call to action that prompts visitors to register their contact information in exchange for something.

Moe’s post, whose template is powered by the real estate marketing company Curaytor, features a tab inviting visitors to request a home valuation. Sitting just below the post’s title, the tab reads:

“HOME VALUES ARE UP OVER 15% IN THE PAST YEAR! HOW MUCH IS YOUR HOME WORTH?”

Visitors who click the tab are prompted to enter their address, contact information and specify their selling timeline, which includes the option “I’m just curious about my home’s value.” Moe said most visitors to his Christmas light post have clicked that option, partly explaining why leads generated by the post haven’t resulted in any listing appointments yet.

But that doesn’t mean the leads won’t turn into business in the future. They are now in his contact database, and “unless they unsubscribe, they’ll be getting stuff from me forever,” he said.

3. Add a map (optional).

Moe found a map from a local news and culture website, 604 Now, that showed Christmas light displays in the Vancouver area (see below), and he used the embed code of the map to add it to his post. Other agents may not find an existing embeddable map covering their area. In that case, they could consider creating their own map from scratch by using Google My Maps.

4. Leverage SEO (search engine optimization).

Moe used some common-sense SEO tactics by targeting the key phrase “2015 Christmas Light List” along with the names of areas covered by the list — Cloverdale, Surrey, Langley and White Rock. He titled the post “2015 Christmas Light List – Cloverdale, Surrey, Langley, & White Rock,” and he sprinkled those phrases, or variations of them, throughout the post.

5. Share on social media.

This is the type of post that can go viral on social media. Moe’s has 8,600 Facebook likes so far.

Teke Wiggin.