Read time: ~10 minutes

Welcome back.

In this edition, you'll learn how to get more leads from your existing website traffic with one simple change, a tool to create better listing posts in less time, and how AI-use has become the industry standard in 18 months and what that means for you.

If you're new here, don't worry. We've got you covered. Our previous editions are a treasure trove of tips, tools, and news. Check them out to stay ahead of the game.

Or, if you’re caught up, let’s jump right in.

In this, and every, edition you can expect…

…and to get at least 1% better at generating more of the right type of leads.

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Start flowing free

Here's a compelling truth about most real estate websites…

76% of people who start filling out your contact form never finish it.

They click. They type their name. Then they see "Phone Number (Required)" — and they're gone.

The data on this is striking.

According to WPForms research, making the phone field optional instead of required can improve form completion rates by up to 35 percentage points.

That's not a marginal gain — that's potentially doubling your leads from the same traffic.

Why this matters for real estate:

You've probably been told: "Always require phone numbers so you can call them immediately."

That advice made sense when leads were scarce.

Today?

The math has changed. You're paying for traffic through ads, SEO, social media — and then losing 3 out of 4 potential leads to form abandonment. Most of those people would have converted if the barrier was lower.

The counterintuitive strategy:

1. Make phone optional, email required

Here's the psychology: Visitors are increasingly protective of their phone numbers. They fear spam calls. But they'll give you an email — and that's enough to start the conversation.

2. Use progressive profiling instead of asking everything upfront

Instead of a 7-field form, try this sequence:

You get the same information — just in stages, after they've shown commitment.

3. Optimize your form placement

Research from Crazy Egg shows that forms placed within 300 pixels of the top of a page convert 25% better than those buried below the fold. On listing detail pages, that means your "Schedule a Showing" form should be immediately visible, not hidden in a sidebar.

4. The 3-field maximum rule

HubSpot's research found that reducing form fields from 4 to 3 can increase conversions by 50%. For your home search registration, that means: Email, City/Zip, Price Range. That's it. Get the rest later.

The exact implementation:

Go to your website right now and count the required fields on your main contact form. If it's more than 3, you're leaving leads on the table.

Here's what to change today:

The math:

If your website gets 500 visitors/month and currently converts at 2% (10 leads), improving to a 4% conversion rate from form optimization gives you 20 leads - 10 additional leads per month from traffic you're already paying for.

At a 2% close rate and $300k average price with 2.5% commission, that's potentially $15,000 in additional annual commission from a 15-minute form change.

Your next step:

Log into your website and make your phone field optional. Remove any field that isn't absolutely essential for that first touchpoint. Test it for 30 days and measure the difference.

The agents getting the most leads from their websites aren't necessarily getting more traffic. They're just not losing leads to friction.

Delta Media Group just released their January 2026 AI adoption survey, and the numbers tell a clear story: AI is no longer optional.

The headline stats:

The survey covered 100+ brokerage leaders representing two-thirds of U.S. real estate transactions.

What this means for you:

1. AI literacy is no longer a competitive advantage - it's table stakes.

When 97% of agents are using AI, the question isn't "should I use AI?" It's "am I using it as well as my competition?"

2. The use cases are clear: listing descriptions and content creation.

If you're still writing listing descriptions from scratch or staring at a blank screen for social posts, you're working harder than you need to. These are the two most common AI applications — and they're easy to start.

3. The next wave is AI that takes action.

Half of brokerages are planning to deploy AI that doesn't just suggest — it executes. Think: automated follow-ups, intelligent scheduling, lead qualification conversations. This is coming fast.

4. Importance ratings jumped from 5/10 to 8/10 in one year.

Brokerage leaders now rate AI as an 8 out of 10 in importance for future business. Last year? Just a 5. The industry mindset shifted dramatically.

How to respond:

The bigger picture: We've crossed the adoption threshold. The 3% of non-adopters are now outliers. The question isn't whether to use AI — it's how well you use it compared to agents who've been refining their AI workflows for the past year.

Don't be in the 3%.

Quick recap:

Forward this to an agent who could use these tips.

The Real Estate Marketing Update Team @ imFORZA