Building your real estate business is as much about generating leads and closing deals as it is about creating a brand that customers can identify with you and your services.
If you’re curious about what it means to create a good brand, there are countless examples to choose from. But let’s look at one iconic brand in particular.
Apple, Inc.
Apple is a tech giant that has grown into a worldwide brand that is easily recognizable, most people have a positive feeling about the company, and people can quickly identify its products.
In other words, people know what Apple produces, most have a positive association with the brand, and it has cultivated a culture that people want to identify with.
You don’t have to become a global brand to be successful, but you want to create an easily identifiable brand that has a good reputation in your market.
The key is creating a great personal brand to get people knocking on your door, and you win the listing before you arrive.
So how do you build a personal brand, and what can it do for your real estate business? I have 9 tips that will help you build the brand you want and one that will constantly be top of mind for people regarding real estate services.
To start, you need to understand the importance of a personal brand, how you can build one that works for you, and the keys to maintaining it successfully.
What Do You Mean Build A Personal Brand
A personal brand is a conscious and deliberate way to build a reputation in your market.
Again, think about Apple. Who doesn’t remember the dancing videos and celebrity cameos of people listening on the original iPods? Paired with great marketing and sleek, glossy white product packaging and design, people that bought an Apple product knew they were getting a quality product.
When you’re building your personal brand, think about how you want to be perceived by the community. For example, for a real estate agent, you want others to look at you as someone who knows the market, gets their clients the best deals, and is helpful, providing outstanding service.
Your objective is to build a name for yourself and your business so people can identify a specific quality and service. The more effective you can do that, the better off your business will be in the long run.
Why Create Your Brand?
A personal brand is essential because, unlike your broker’s brand or other team members’ brands, your brand is something you can carry with you and use in your future marketing.
Real estate is a relationship business, so creating and cultivating a personal brand is crucial as you develop your following and expand your sphere of influence.
Building your brand is important because building a brand and creating a brand strategy stays with you, making it easier for you to market whether you move to a new brokerage or remain with the same one.
Thinking about your personal brand, take a good look and decide on the following;
Find Your Value Proposition–what separates you from others?
Identify Ways To Communicate–what is the best way you can project and communicate your value proposition?
Write A Strategy–create a plan to showcase your value.
Be Consistent–always be consistent with your personal brand.
Get A Coach Or Mentor–get someone more experienced to help guide you and hold you accountable.
- Find Your Value Proposition
To find your value proposition, you need to understand your audience. First, define your typical client; what are their hopes, fears, and dreams? Identifying these needs and what you can do to assist them is what separates you from others in your local market. The key is identifying your target client, their pain points, and how you can help them.
For example, perhaps you are working in a market with a lot of turnover due to a shifting employment situation. As you dive into what your potential client may need, you identify that they need two services. 1) They need to list their home and sell fast; 2) They need help moving and relocating.
Your value proposition, in this case, is that you design your brand so that you’re the go-to expert as the relocation specialist for your target client and market.
Once you have your value proposition, which is a fancy way of saying what makes you unique, find a strategy to communicate that and, most importantly, be consistent in that messaging.
- How can you communicate that value?
Once you’ve established your value proposition, start to strategize how you can market your services.
Decide what type of content is best for your brand and where you will reach your target clients.
- What Is Your Strategy?
Crafting your brand and marketing it effectively will require you to create a strategy about how you’ll grow your brand and, more importantly, be a roadmap you can hold yourself accountable for. By documenting your strategy, it’s something you can share with others, whether it’s new team members or a coach and mentor.
When writing your brand strategy, you want to detail a long-term strategy for growing your brand but be clear to include the following;
Your value propositions
Your target clients
Standards for your brand–visually and tone
Growth strategies
- Consistency Is Key
Building a brand takes time and effort. Being consistent in every aspect of your brand, from the types of visuals you use, the type of content you produce, and how often you are including your brand in all content, is crucial.
Think about major brands like Apple, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, and Amazon. Without even looking them up, most people will identify these brands and what they have to offer.
Build your brand’s foundation, and stay consistent with the messaging and images, even if you think it’s not working at first. As I said, developing a brand and brand recognition takes time.
- Get A Coach And Mentor
There are things you do well in your business and things that you could do better. Having someone with the experience you lack and who can look at your brand and see the areas you’re unable to see as problems is the point of having a mentor or coach.
As you’re trying to build your brand and become a successful real estate agent, a mentor and coach is someone that has the experience you lack and insights to help you get to where it is you want your business to be.
Your coach and mentor will be able to help you with your brand strategy as well as hold you accountable for your goals.
- Find What You Are Good At
Once you decide what separates you and how you plan to communicate with people, you need to find the best way to message that out. Then, see what you’re good at, and do it some more.
Logo: Having a logo that you can splash on your business cards and in your other content is one way to get your brand out there. If you choose a logo, make it something that is unique and identifiable but not too unique.
For example, as we already have talked about Apple, their iconic Apple logo with the bite taken out of it is both unique and extremely identifiable.
Website: Building a website is a good idea. With a website, you can link to your social media platforms, build a blog, and build an audience that will identify with your brand.
Video: The single best way to connect with your targets is through video. By posting a video on your website or social media or creating a YouTube channel, the benefit of posting consistently with video is that people will see your face and begin to identify with you. By becoming more recognizable, you also become more identifiable.
Let me explain. The more people see you and hear your voice, the more they recognize you and your brand. As they become more familiar with you, the more they identify with what you offer, and you become top of mind when real estate services are needed.
Blog: If you’re uncomfortable on video, you’re not alone. Video is incredibly powerful, but maybe you need to work on it to become more comfortable.
If that’s the case, you can still build your brand through a blog. Building an audience with a blog allows you to showcase your knowledge and provides your target clients with a place to see your brand and learn about your services.
Social Media: Outside of video, the second most important thing you can do to build your brand over time is to use social media. Look, social media is everywhere, and you can use it however you want, but a strategy that combines video and social media is one that you can quickly build your brand.
- Create A Community
Your branding aims to create a reputation as the go-to expert for all things real estate. And to really pump your real estate game up to another level, you want to use your brand strategies to build a community you can interact with, share market updates and trends, and nurture for future leads and referrals.
Creating a community requires that you are willing to provide helpful information, and updates on the local market, highlight local events and special items of interest, and be interactive.
If all you do is post content and walk away, creating a community you can build your brand on is challenging. But, if you’re posting content and interacting in a way that places a spotlight on your brand, you’re expanding your sphere of influence while also prospecting subtly.
The more precise you are about your brand, your services, and how they can assist your potential clients, you must develop a clear strategy and consistently market that identity.
Remember, building your brand takes time, but with a good strategy, some outside expert guidance, and always being consistent in your brand, your real estate business will soon be widely recognizable.
