The 2 Things Needed For A Killer Real Estate Branding Strategy

Looking for a killer real estate branding strategy that separates you from the herd of agents? We’re going to talk about the 2 things needed to do just that and attract lots of referrals on this post!

Why is branding your real estate business so important?

A good real estate branding strategy will allow you to emotionally connect with others and stay top of mind with your database. Let’s be honest, your database isn’t as loyal as you think.  They don’t think about you 24/7.  Staying in front of your database has been a problem because you aren’t sure how to do this without regurgitating some kind of boring real estate related topic.  Sound familiar?

Do you feel stuck when it comes to consistently marketing your database and local community?

What do you say?

How often do you need to say it?

How do you stay in front of your database without ALWAYS talking about real estate?

A good real estate branding strategy doesn’t always talk about real estate, but rather infers you’re in real estate.  I’m talking about a real estate branding strategy that accomplishes two goals.  First, is that you create marketing content people are excited to consume.  Secondly, is that your content reinforces, in the minds of your audience, that you are one bad ass real estate agent. The key to growing a referral based business is to build a brand amongst a network of people who know, like, and trust you.  When people trust you, they refer you.  The key is in building the audience!

It’s not your database’s job to send you business, it’s YOUR job to remind them to.

The goal is to be everywhere all the time and take on a multi-channel approach so your brand is the first one thought of when the term “real estate” comes to mind. This is possible if you do these two things.

Thing #1- You Must Define Your Story

First, you must realize you’re a brand.  I know it feels weird thinking of yourself as a brand because you are just one person, but if you were to open up a clothing store, wouldn’t that be a brand?  How would you market that brand?  Most likely, you would first start by defining your audience.

In real estate, your ideal audience is your database and local community because last year 66% of buyers found their agent from referral or they used them in the past. Creating a marketing strategy that encourages referrals and repeat business from your largest source of business is essential.

Don’t overthink this.  It’s really that simple.  This is an excuse to keep your brand in front of your database without necessarily having to talk about real estate.  An effective real estate branding strategy is about creating content THAT REPRESENTS YOUR BRAND and then placing that content in front of your audience CONSISTENTLY. It all starts by taking your story and creating a visual logo that represents it.

The Logo/Brand Visual Story

Meet Emilio.  Emilio wants to be known by his friends and network as the go to resource for everything locally.  Emilio is not, just a real estate agent, he’s a resource.  His new visual story (logo) now accompanies him everywhere. This is the visual reminder of what his brand stands for!

When people think of real estate logos they often take their initials and put a roof over them.  When we design a new logo, we make a story out of it.

If you don’t have a logo, get one ASAP and read the blog post link above.  If you already have one, does it reflect your story? Does it reflect who you really are?  I believe your logo should be able to describe everything about you without saying a word!  The brain processes images 60,000 faster than text or verbal communication so trust me, branding your logo is essential.

Which do you think would be more memorable?  Emilio Solano, Realtor  or Ask Emilio?  Here are some other brand story examples.

Thing #2- Adapt A Consistent Video Strategy

Once you have dialed in your brand strategy, let’s put it on video!  Video is an amazing communication strategy to brand building.  Video doesn’t generate leads, it converts them.  It allows people to see who you are and how you roll.  The most important concern consumers have of their agents is if they trust them.  The key is connecting.

Does it make you uncomfortable feeling like you have to talk about real estate with your marketing?

Then don’t.  This is when it gets fun! Video is a personal way to stay in front of your database and local community without you always having to talk about interest rates or market updates. I’m not saying don’t talk about real estate, I’m saying tell stories that infer you’re in real estate instead.

This is especially true for your social media marketing efforts. People aren’t going to Facebook to look for real estate, so you need a marketing strategy that keeps your brand present without turning people off by being too salesy.  I believe the same is for email as well as direct mail.  Are you starting to see how this works?

Your brand’s story will be the central message conveyed in anything you talk about.  That’s why it’s so important to have a real estate branding strategy that’s matches up to your values and passions. It no longer feels like work because you begin creating content about things you personally enjoy!

You’ll also…

• be more excited about creating video content
• avoid getting the video jitters because the videos aren’t even about you
• come across more authentic
• always have a marketing strategy to keep you in front of your database and local community in a more personal way

Let’s take Ask Emilio for example.  Emilio is positioning his brand as the go to resource amongst his database and local community.  He is going to start a video series called Ask Emilio.  In it, he is going to conduct small business owner interviews with establishments he believes are the go to spots in their niches.  None of his videos will necessarily be about real estate, but rather put the focus on the business owner and why Emilio believes they are the best at what they do.  The content he creates will be used to video email to his database, post on his social profiles, create an additional blog post on his site, and run Facebook ads to it for further brand awareness.

This “show” becomes the excuse to keep his brand in front of his ideal referral sources and local community.

The goal of this series is not to generate leads, it’s to generate the attention of his audience.  Attention creates leads.

The reason why this works is very simple.  We know that 60-70% of consumers generally use the first agent they come into contact with.  At the same time, we also know that 10-15% of the population is moving this year and that 100% of them knows someone moving they can refer you to.  An effective real estate branding strategy will establish top of mind awareness amongst your database and local community to capitalize on some of those opportunities!

I believe real estate is a popularity contest.  The more people who know what you do, the more opportunities that open up. People are attracted to authenticity! These videos allow you to humanize your brand and connect with people.

Small Business Owners Are Gold!

One of the side benefits of doing small business owner interviews is that it helps you establish a relationship with a potential referral source. Small business owners represent a small percentage of the population that can become great referral sources.  They will also go out of their way to help promote the content you create for them.

When was the last time one of your posts received over 22 shares and over 2500 views out of a reach of 3500 people?  People like consuming this kind of content!  Remember what I wrote earlier in this post.  People are not on social media to search for real estate, so do you really think creating Craig’s list types ads are the way to go?  Video story telling puts you in the position to have more conversations.  Stop selling and start storytelling! Here’s the video that produced the results above.

Consistency is key!

If you decide to adapt a real estate branding strategy like this, you need to set a schedule no differently than any other kind of media.  You have to look at your business like it’s a media company because it is. It’s your media that builds your brand, but that’s impossible to do without consistency.  Think of it no differently than direct mail farming.  You must continue to publish your content to keep that constant presence amongst your database and community. It’s the repetition that brands you as the go to agent of your market.

Once you have defined your brand’s story, you just need to pick a frequency of times you’ll be creating this video content.  Then, just stick on schedule.