Using CRM and Social Media Together for Lead Nurturing

Why this matters

Most people do not buy or sell after seeing one post or one ad. They need many small touches over time. Your customer relationship manager keeps every contact in one safe place. Social media puts your brand in front of people every day. When you connect both, you can guide a person from a casual viewer to a trusted client with less effort and more control.

What lead nurturing means in real estate

Lead nurturing is the simple plan to move someone from curious to ready. You help them with useful information and friendly check ins until the timing is right.

Common stages
• New lead
• Engaged lead
• Warm lead
• Hot lead
• Client
• Past client and referrer

Your goal is to match the right message to the right stage. Your CRM stores the stage. Social media carries the message.

How CRM and social work together

Think of social media as the open home on a busy street. People look in, comment, save posts and ask questions. Think of your CRM as the guest book and the follow up plan.

• Social collects interest and signals
• The CRM captures details and sets tasks
• Social keeps your face in their feed
• The CRM sends the next best step at the perfect time

Core setup before you start

Get these basics right so the system runs smoothly.

• One CRM as your source of truth for all contacts
• Fields for name, phone, email, suburb, buyer or seller, timeline, budget or price range, source
• Simple lead stages that match your process
• Consent tracking so you know who can receive emails and texts
• Tags for interests such as downsizer, investor, first home buyer, beachside, acreage
• Saved lists that update by rules such as all new leads this week or all warm sellers in postcode 4178

Build your social to CRM capture paths

Make it easy for people to move from a post to your CRM in one or two taps.

• Bio links that go to a short form for buyers list, off market alerts or a suburb report
• Lead forms inside Facebook and Instagram that send to your CRM
• A simple chatbot in Messenger or Instagram that collects name, email and suburb and sends to your CRM
• Story stickers that link to a one question quiz with a contact form at the end
• QR codes on reels and market update videos that land on a form hosted by your CRM

Tip
Keep forms short. Name and email is enough for the first touch. Ask extra details later.

Map content to each stage

Use this menu to plan what to post and what to send next.

New lead
• Welcome message in DM or email
• Thank you for requesting the suburb snapshot
• One question to understand timing

Engaged lead
• Carousel that explains the selling steps in your area
• Short reel that shows how to prepare for photos
• Invite to a free valuation call

Warm lead
• Case study that shows days on market and result
• Vendor testimonial video with captions
• Price guide for three homes just like theirs

Hot lead
• Private message with three time options for a visit
• Pre listing email with a short list of what to expect
• Simple checklist to get the home ready for appraisal

Client
• Weekly vendor report and social highlights of their listing
• Thank you posts that tag the vendor with permission
• Just sold story that leads to a new call to action for neighbours

Past client and referrer
• Anniversary message of purchase or sale
• Invite to free annual price check
• Local giveaway that prompts tags and shares

Automations you can turn on

The magic happens when your CRM watches for social actions and then fires the next step.

• When a person submits a lead ad form add the tag new lead and send a welcome email within five minutes
• When someone downloads a guide move stage to engaged and assign a follow up task for the next business day
• When a contact watches your listing video to at least half add the tag property interest and send a helpful DM
• When a lead replies yes to timing within three months move to warm and send a booking link
• When a deal is marked sold start a past client nurture with twelve monthly touches

Keep each automation short and clear. One trigger. One action. One goal.

Smart lists and retargeting audiences

Your CRM can keep live lists that become strong ad audiences.

• All new seller leads in the last 90 days
• All engaged buyers who clicked on at least two listings
• All past clients who bought more than two years ago
• All open home visitors from the last quarter

Use these lists to run gentle reminder ads
• Market update video to sellers
• New listing alerts to active buyers
• Just sold carousel to neighbours
• Review and case study to past clients

This keeps your brand visible without heavy spending because the audience is warm and small.

Daily workflow that keeps you consistent

Here is a simple one hour plan that links your CRM and social.

• Ten minutes to review new leads in CRM and send quick thank you DMs
• Ten minutes to reply to comments and save hot conversations to contact notes
• Fifteen minutes to publish one post that fits your content plan for today
• Fifteen minutes to send booking links to warm leads and confirm times
• Ten minutes to update stages and set tomorrow’s tasks

If you lead a team
• A shared dashboard shows new leads, tasks due and stage changes
• Clear ownership rules so each lead has one person responsible
• A stand up call twice a week to review pipeline movement

How to turn comments and DMs into CRM notes

Every social chat should end in your CRM so you never lose context.

• Copy short quotes into the contact record
• Record key facts such as kids schools, pets, travel plans and time to move
• Add the next step task such as send suburb report or book price update
• Use a tag for each platform they use so you know where to post more

Sample DM script for a new buyer lead
• Thanks for reaching out. Would you like first look alerts for homes in your price range
• What suburbs are you watching
• What price range would you like me to focus on
• Great. I will send your alerts today. May I have your email so I can set them up

Measure what matters

You do not need a complex report. You need a simple scorecard that fits on one page.

Weekly
• New leads by source
• Contact rate within one business day
• Booked appraisals
• New buyer appointments
• Cost per lead for paid activity
• Time from new lead to meeting

Monthly
• Listings won
• Average days on market
• Clearance rate for your area versus your results
• Number of past clients who returned or referred

Build a dashboard in your CRM with these numbers and review it every Monday.

Compliance and trust

People trust you with their personal details. Respect that trust.

• Ask for clear permission for emails and texts and store the consent in your CRM
• Provide an easy way to opt out across email and SMS
• Keep forms clear about what they will receive and how often
• Use secure links and trusted tools for payments and bookings
• Follow local privacy rules and keep data only as long as needed
• Train your team to update records carefully and avoid group sharing of passwords

Troubleshooting guide

Common issues and quick fixes.

Leads are coming in but not booking
• Check response speed. Aim for five minutes for first contact
• Shorten your messages. Ask one question and wait
• Add a direct booking link

Lots of likes but few enquiries
• Add a call to action on every post
• Use posts that solve a real problem such as how to sell with a tenant
• Run a small retargeting ad to your warm list

CRM is messy and hard to use
• Remove old fields
• Keep five to ten tags only
• Create two or three smart lists that matter and archive the rest

Team does not follow the process
• One written playbook inside the CRM
• Short training video for each key task
• Weekly review with praise for wins and coaching for misses

A simple 90 day roll out plan

Use this plan to set up and prove the system. Keep it simple. Make it visible. Improve each week.

Weeks 1 to 2
• Choose one CRM and connect Facebook, Instagram and your email tool
• Create fields, stages, tags and three smart lists
• Build two short forms and one lead ad form
• Write three welcome messages for buyers, sellers and landlords

Weeks 3 to 4
• Launch your first lead ad with a clear offer such as a suburb report
• Post three times a week following a simple content mix
• Turn on two automations for welcome and follow up tasks
• Start your one page scorecard

Weeks 5 to 8
• Add a warm seller list and run a soft market update ad to that list
• Record one client story and one quick tip video each week
• Improve your DM scripts with shorter questions
• Review data each Monday and remove any step that slows you down

Weeks 9 to 12
• Launch a quarterly valuation drive with a booking link
• Add a past client nurture with monthly touches
• Host one live Q and A on Facebook or Instagram and capture questions to your CRM
• Publish your results and learnings to build trust with your audience

Templates to copy into your CRM today

Stage names
• New
• Engaged
• Warm
• Hot
• Client
• Past client

Tags
• Buyer
• Seller
• Investor
• Downsizer
• First home
• Suburb name
• Platform name such as Facebook or Instagram

Smart lists
• New seller leads last 90 days
• Warm sellers in your core suburbs
• Engaged buyers who clicked two or more listings
• Past clients older than two years

Short messages
• Thanks for reaching out. Would you like a free price check for your home
• I have three open times this week. Would morning or afternoon suit you
• I can send off market alerts for your chosen suburbs. May I have your email

Final takeaways

When your CRM and your social channels work as one, every post has a purpose and every contact gets a next step. You save time because the system handles the routine work. You win trust because your messages are timely and helpful. Start small. Connect one form. Turn on one automation. Improve each week. In a short time you will have a lead nurturing engine that runs every day and grows your business.

Author Ken Hobson
ken@agentslibrary.com.au