If you're in a large agency or brokerage, your branding naturally dovetails with that of the team. Still, no matter if you work independently or within an organization, you should keep an eye on how you present yourself to potential customers — especially online.
Branding may sound complicated, but it's simply the process of communicating in a thoughtful and consistent way to help people understand the three biggest things they need to know about you:
No real estate agent is perfect for everyone, yet newcomers to the field often cast a wide net. They worry that if they get specific about what they do, they will alienate potential customers and get less business. The opposite is true: When your brand is specific, you attract more of your ideal clientele.
In the first year or so, any real estate agent will spend plenty of time learning the ropes. It's not out of the ordinary to be unsure what kind of customers you want to work with or what problems you enjoy solving. After some experience, it's essential to start tackling these big questions.
The sooner you do, the sooner you can go from chasing leads to attracting referrals.
Every interaction you have with the public or customers has the potential to influence their perception of your brand. Of course, we can't control everything and shouldn't try. But understanding your vision for your brand will help ensure you're upholding your values and aspirations.
Here are some ways to come to grips with real estate branding:
Leverage the Right Technology to Make Branding a Natural Part of Your Business Workflow
Branding for real estate is a big topic, but having the right technology on your side can help. When you use a real all-in-one solution like DeltaNET®6 to manage your relationships, you'll spend less time figuring out where people are and more time giving them the value they expect.
Contact us to learn more about how real estate marketing can enhance your brand.
What sets you apart from your competition? No matter the size of your market, you're not the only game in town for real estate clients. With millions of registered agents all over the United States, the reality is that your potential clients always have a choice. Your branding is one of the most important ways to communicate the things that set your business apart, build trust, and establish your identity with your target audience over the long term. Creating a branding strategy is complex, but the effort you invest can ultimately help shape the future of your real estate business.
Know Your Audience, Shape Your Brand
Who are you trying to reach? With branding, it's hard to be everything to everyone and equally difficult to set yourself apart from the competition using generalities. Effective branding starts with knowing your audience, and understanding what they're looking for from a real estate business.
Whether you cater to young, first-time buyers, luxury real estate clients, people searching for vacation homes, older clients looking for the perfect place to retire, or any other niche, your unique value proposition is at the heart of your branding.
So, in what ways do you serve your target audience better than the competition? When faced with other real estate options that serve a similar niche, why should they choose you? Answering these questions is the perfect place to start shaping your brand. And when you answer those questions through branding in a way that resonates with your target audience, your business can benefit for years to come.
Branding in the Digital Age
In today's digital world, the reality is that most real estate prospects begin their search for real estate services online. A consistent, reliable online presence is one of the biggest keys to ensuring that your brand reaches as many people as possible.
Traditional Branding Tools for Real Estate
Digital marketing is excellent, but that doesn't mean that more traditional marketing methods don't have a place in modern branding. There's a good reason that "For Sale" and "Sold" signs are still ubiquitous on the lawns of homes around the country. Because they work! And if your target demographic isn't so active online, then tools like direct mail and traditional advertising can help you reach them. Even for a more modern audience, traditional marketing tools can provide a valuable complement to your digital branding efforts.
Building Your Brand to Last
In the end, effective real estate branding requires a holistic approach. When you understand who you're trying to reach and which factors differentiate your real estate business from the competition, you can use that information to shape all of the other aspects of your branding. While some parts of your brand will likely remain the same long term, remember that it's also a good idea to be nimble and experiment. Finding new ways to reach prospects as branding tools evolve will help you build a brand that can outlast any trend.
Are you doing everything you can to turn your agents into the best possible representatives for your real estate brand? Just by the nature of the job, your agents are always representatives of your brand because they are the primary point of contact between your clients and your brand. But there's a difference between representing a brand and being a true ambassador.
Agents who are brand ambassadors recognize that promoting your larger brand is just as beneficial to them as it is to your real estate businesses because building a trusted, reliable, recognizable brand means more business for everyone. But agents are busy, so they may simply need some guidance and a nudge in the right direction. Here's how to turn your agents into valuable reps for your brand.
Start By Making Sure Agents Are Informed About Your Brand
In order to be great promoters for your brand, agents need to understand exactly what your brand means. That means going beyond logos and branded marketing materials to help agents understand the core values, standards, and benefits of your brand. An agent with an understanding of what your brand is will be better equipped to share that brand with the world.
How Marketing Tools and Technology Help Agents Rep Your Brand
The vast majority of agents will want to be great ambassadors for your brand, but they only have so much time to devote to actively representing your brand while still handling all of the day-to-day details of their work. That's why it's so important to provide them with the right tools and technology to make representing your brand a simple, streamlined process that they can easily integrate into their busy day.
Where Will Your Agents Take Your Brand Next?
Every agent should want to be a valuable rep for your brand, but it's up to you to provide what they need to succeed in that role. With the right mix of knowledge, tools, technology, and motivation, your agents will have everything they need to be outstanding reps for your brand.
Compared to all the other real estate professionals in America, what makes you special?
Phrased that way, this might feel like an intimidating question. But rest assured, there is an answer. The way you respond shapes your business in profound ways.
Here are examples of ideas other real estate experts like you have had:
"I'm special because nobody else knows the Borough of Brooklyn like I do."
"I'm special because I truly understand what goes into senior downsizing."
"I'm special because I bring years of negotiating experience to my clients."
The question is, how can you communicate your advantages so your leads will know and remember them? The solution is found in online branding.
Online branding is crucial because the majority of your future clients will find you online first. They might read about you on your website weeks or months before they actually expect to reach out to a real estate agent.
The first impression you make helps determine whether you're the one they eventually choose.
Exactly What Is a Brand, Anyway?
To clear up confusion, it helps to understand what branding is not:
Branding isn't just about your values, even though your values are part of your brand
Branding isn't just about your visual identity, such as your logo, color scheme, or fonts
Branding isn't just what you say about yourself, but also what others say about you
You can think of branding as a structured and intentional approach to communicating what you want others to know and remember about your business. Branding isn't just visual; it's everything you put out into the world, including how you interact with people professionally.
Likewise, things other people say about you — such as reviews on third-party sites like Yelp — become part of your brand when someone learns about you by reading them. But if you've taken time to think deeply about your brand, you'll be able to positively influence even the factors you don't directly control.
What Do You Want Your Brand to Represent?
There are several questions you can ask yourself to get to the heart of your brand:
Three Ways to Express Your Unique Brand Online
Once you have clarity on your brand, here's how to bring it to life online:
With best-in-class marketing automation, Delta Media Group helps you showcase your brand with confidence. Contact us to learn more.
In today's market, it's about becoming the resource for your clients while creating your personal brand.
The Internet has become an important resource in the home search process. Real estate agents who do not have a website will miss great opportunities. In the 2018 Properties Online Real Estate Tech Trends, almost 95 percent of home buyers search for homes online. There is a huge shift to a mobile internet, agents need to stay in the game by increasing their web presence.
It's important to establish name recognition and brand awareness through your website. Having your own real estate website is the best way to generate quality leads and maximize the growth of your business.
Your personal brand is one of your most important assets as a real estate agent. Building a lasting, memorable brand doesn't happen by accident. It takes time, effort, and an understanding of what people want to see from their real estate agent.
Delta Media Group has years of experience helping both experienced agents and those just starting out building their personal brands. Here are four methods we use to help you build a brand that stands the test of time.
Building a memorable, trustworthy brand for your real estate business is as important as ever, and online marketing provides the opportunity to demonstrate the value of your brand to a large, diverse audience. One of online marketing challenges is that you need to maintain brand consistency across multiple platforms so that potential clients get the same experience no matter where they encounter your brand. Let's take a closer look at these five tips to maintain brand consistency across all of your real estate marketing platforms.
As a real estate agent, building your sphere of influence through social media should be a top marketing priority. It takes effort and practice to build your social sphere of influence, but it's also familiar for many agents because of all the work you do to build your sphere in the communities where you do business.
Building your social sphere of influence really depends on translating those relationship-building skills to your favorite social platforms while taking advantage of online tools to make the process more efficient, effective, and enjoyable for everyone involved.
Creating a memorable brand should be at the top of the to-do list for any real estate business, whether you're just getting started or looking to build upon the good name you've cultivated. There are a number of ways to build an effective real estate brand through both traditional and digital marketing channels. Today, we're going to reveal some key steps to building an effective real estate brand.
Building a memorable real estate brand is about more than the name on your business card, or the listings on your website. The reputation that you have built over time by working hard for your clients, delivering results, and closing deals is the foundation of your brand. Communicating that reputation to prospects and new clients is where your marketing – and branding – play a starring role.
An effective real estate brand is unique, easily recognizable, and clearly communicates your value. Real estate branding is our passion at Delta Media Group, and we've got some simple, proven tips to help you build a memorable brand for your real estate brokerage.