Are Zillow Leads Worth It in 2023? (Zillow Premier Agent)

As a real estate agent, you probably know that you should have a presence on Zillow. But should you invest in Zillow leads in 2021? Zillow’s lead service is called Premier Agent, and it offers several features that agents can take advantage of to get more leads for their real estate business.

In this post, we’ll cover how Premier Agent works, how much it costs, and whether or not it’s worth including in your lead generation strategy.

How Does Premier Agent Work?

Zillow Premier Agent is somewhat similar to purchasing ads on other platforms, such as Realtor.com, Move.com, and Trulia.com. When you become a Premier Agent, you get increased exposure across the platform and access to different features and resources that can help you maximize your lead generation strategy.

Ad Placements and Exposure

The main benefit to being a Premier Agent is that you get better ad placements. You’ll get featured ad spots on property listings in your purchased zip code, whether the listing is yours or not.

This means that your name can be the first on a list of other agents, right below the listing agent’s name. Of course, it will depend on how many other Premier Agents you are competing against.

When interested buyers click on that listing, they can then reach out to you if they are interested in working with you.

While you’ll still have to compete against other Premier Agents, you’ll rank above all the non-Premier Agents on Zillow, which gives you a greater chance of being chosen. Buyers will see “Premier Agent” next to your name, which can help boost your credibility, especially when combined with great reviews.

You’ll also get exposure across Zillow’s network of real estate sites, which includes Trulia, StreetEasy, and RealEstate com. While these sites don’t get as much traffic as Zillow, it’s still beneficial to have this extra exposure.

Another benefit to the program is that you’ll have top placement on Zillow’s Agent Finder. Many buyers visit Zillow to look for an agent as a part of their research process, so being at the top of the page can be great for your business.

Other Features

Zillow also makes it easy to see how much the competition in your zip code is spending. This is helpful if you notice an agent who is doing well in your area and you want to try and imitate their technique. It also lets you know how much you need to spend to gain control of your zip code.

The last feature that Zillow Premier Agents gives you is that you can use Zillow’s IDX website and CRM system. While most agents probably already have their own website, transferring your domain to Zillow can help you by boosting your site’s overall performance, increasing SEO, and giving you access to Zillow’s branding.

Similarly, Zillow has its own CRM system as well. While it may not have as many features as other CRMs, it can easily transfer leads and integrate with Zillow’s system, including Zillow’s app.

To get started becoming a Zillow Premier Agent, you can either fill out the contact form on Zillow’s site or call their customer service and speak with a sales rep.

How Much Do Zillow Leads Cost?

The cost of Zillow leads depends on the average price of homes in your location and the amount of competition from other agents.

Essentially, you are paying for a percentage of a particular zip code. If the zip code has highly-priced homes, you will have to pay more. In addition, you will have to compete with your fellow agents for the leads.

For example, if your market is New York City where homes have a higher value and there are more agents in the area, you will have to pay more than if your market was a small town in Indiana.

On a monthly basis, you can expect to spend anywhere from $150 to $1000 on the platform, which is not cheap. But again, it will depend on your market.  

Thinking of it another way, on average you can expect to pay around $20 to $60 per 1,000 impressions. Zillow recommends you pay for at least 5,000 impressions per month to get the most effective results for your investment.  

With 5,000 impressions you should be able to generate one to two leads.  This would mean your average cost for a lead would equate to around $50 to $150 per lead in this example.

Leads Are Not Guaranteed

Keep in mind that you are just paying for impressions, not guaranteed leads. While Zillow customer service promises that you will get leads from the process and will even help you out doing so, that still doesn’t mean you will officially have a client.

Even if you do get on the phone with a promising lead, there is no guarantee they will work with you until they sign a contract.

Due to the high price of leads, it takes a larger budget to truly be effective with Zillow Premier Agent. Depending on your budget, location, and competition in your market, it may or may not be worth the investment depending on how many leads you can expect to get out of it.

Zillow Flex

For agents who don’t have a larger budget to work with, Zillow offers an alternative payment structure called Zillow Flex.

This program works by providing agents with leads, but only charging if a transaction goes to closing. At the moment, Zillow Flex is only being offered in a select number of markets but is likely to be rolled out on a national scale soon.

Are Zillow Leads Worth It in 2021?

The short answer is yes, Zillow leads are still worth it in 2021. With 221 million average monthly unique users on its site as of early 2021, it’s an excellent opportunity to find serious leads.

However, how successful you are with Zillow leads will depend on where you are in your real estate business and how strategically you use the platform. For example, it might be harder for new agents who don’t have a large budget or strong enough reputation on Zillow to compete with other Realtors.

First, when you’re deciding whether or not to become a Premier Agent, you should be sure to never rely on Zillow as your primary source of lead generation. Instead, it should only act as a supplement to the other methods you are pursuing.

This is because these leads are significantly more expensive than other lead sources like Facebook lead ads, especially if you live in an area with higher home values.

If you rely just on Zillow, you will constantly be burning through your budget. Furthermore, you won’t receive as many leads as you would if you relied on traditionally successful lead generation methods like cold calling.

The other benefit to finding leads on Zillow is that they are more motivated to follow through and work with an agent. If someone is browsing homes on Zillow, chances are that they’re more committed than a lead from Facebook. So while the leads are more expensive, their intentions are more serious.

With that being said, Zillow leads still need to be qualified to see if they’re worth pursuing. There’s still a chance the lead could wind up being unqualified or uninterested.

Fast Follow-Up is Key

To make being a Premier Agent pay off, you should try to be strategic with how you use the platform. For example, if a particular zip code has a lot of competition, look for a neighboring zip code that is cheaper but still has a high demand.

With less competition, there’s a higher chance that you could be the dominant agent in that area, and Zillow will send all the leads in that area to you.

Lastly, the most important way to make Zillow leads worth it for your business is to have a fast speed to lead time. If you aren’t good at responding to leads as soon as they contact you, they will simply move on to the next agent on the listing. 

If you want to set yourself apart from the competition, you’ll need to be sure you always answer when a lead contacts you.

Don’t Forget The Reviews

The key to success on Premier Agent is a strong Zillow profile with a lot of great reviews. For this reason, you probably shouldn’t invest in Zillow ads if you don’t have a solid profile yet because it will be harder to compete with the agents that have a stronger reputation.

So before you sign up to Premier Agent, work on collecting reviews from your clients, and go for quality over quantity. Once you have a high enough rating, you can consider investing in leads on Zillow. 

Final Thoughts on Zillow Leads

While there are some pros and cons to using Zillow leads, overall it’s certainly worth pursuing if you have a large enough budget, location, lead follow-up strategy, and reputation on Zillow.

Zillow leads will probably work best for more established agents with a stronger Zillow profile, but newer agents can make the system work too if they have the right budget and live in an area with low competition.

Are you a Zillow Premier Agent? What has your experience been like? Let me know in the comments below!