Real Estate Branding Tips for New Agencies
As a new real estate agent, your primary aim is to make a name for yourself starting from day one. Your reputation and recognition are largely determined by your branding. Invest your time and effort in building your brand and you will make a lasting impression on target clients that sets the stage for continued business.
The challenge lies in figuring out how to establish a brand as quickly and affordably as possible. Zeroing in on your target client base will certainly help yet narrowing your attention on specific clients is not enough in and of itself. Let’s take a look at how new real estate agencies and professionals can strategically build their brand.
Start by Defining Your Target Client
Your branding will be largely shaped by your target client. Take some time to determine which specific individuals you want to provide real estate services to. The needs and desires of this target audience will determine the nuances of your branding. The best way to define your target client base is to create a client persona. Sit down with pen and paper and write down the characteristics and other identifying factors of the individuals most likely to benefit from your real estate services.
Once you have defined your target client, you can create marketing materials geared specifically to them in full confidence. Above all, continue to think like your target client. Prioritize what these individuals covet, emphasize those key value points in your marketing materials and you will heighten the chances of making a truly indelible impact with both inbound and outbound advertising campaigns.
Identify Your UVP
UVP is an acronym that stands for unique value proposition. Your real estate agency’s UVP is central to your identity and branding. The UVP should center on how you will surpass your competitors’ value proposition, ultimately motivating your target client to choose your agency over others. Don’t rush into identifying your UVP. Take some time to think about the market’s current state, how new entrants can create a unique identity and what is necessary to capture market share from the competition.
Once you have identified an opportunity to capture market share, consider whether you are capable of providing that value with consistency. If you are confident enough to provide the value in question, your UVP is firmly established and the time is right to start touting that value to prospective clients.
Create Your Brand Design
Now that your target audience has been identified and your UVP is established, it is time to develop an idiosyncratic brand design. The subtleties of your unique brand design are particularly important. If you rush through your design or create one that has a plain aesthetic, it won’t make an indelible impression on your target audience. The design you create should be tailored to your specific target clients.
If you aren’t completely sure the design you have in mind will make the intended impact, present it to your audience for feedback. Carefully consider the responses, shape your brand design accordingly and you will be able to move forward with a new design that makes the intended impact. Above all, the brand design you select should make a lasting impression. Everything from the font of the text used to the colors and the image you choose matter a great deal in the context of memorability. Choose a style, hues and lettering that prove indelible and your target audience will immediately recognize your brand every single time they see your logo or name.
Design a Unique Logo
Your real estate agency logo is central to its overarching brand design. Create a truly artful logo and it will be easily recognizable. Ideally, your target audience will immediately recognize your logo at first glance as it is distinctly yours and cannot be confused with that of another business. The logo you create should emphasize the uniqueness of your real estate agency. However, this is not to say you should completely avoid analyzing all other real estate agency logos.
You’ll find the challenge of designing great ideas for real estate logo design is that much easier after studying those of other real estate agencies. Taking a look at the competition’s logos also presents an opportunity to ensure your logo doesn’t look similar to that of other local real estate agencies. Draw inspiration from other successful industry logos when developing your own and the end result will make a meaningful and lasting impact on your target audience.
Invest in Marketing Materials
Now that you have created your own unique brand design and logo, it is time to shift your attention to creating marketing materials. Your website, social media, blog and other components of your online footprint are certainly important yet they are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to marketing. Your marketing campaign should include much more than inbound channels on the web. Expand your marketing campaign to traditional outbound advertising and you will find it helps reinforce your inbound marketing efforts.
Marketing your brand in a truly comprehensive manner requires signs, business cards, flyers and even gifts of gratitude to clients such as magnets featuring your logo. The money you invest in your marketing materials has the potential to provide exponentially greater returns in the months and years ahead. Develop highly effective marketing materials that make the intended impact and they will steer that much more business your way in the short-term and also as time progresses. Your marketing materials should feature your company name, logo and contact information, making it that much easier for your target clients to reach out to you for real estate service.
Double-down on Referral Marketing
Word-of-mouth advertising is still one of the best ways to spread the word about a real estate agency. The challenge lies in building momentum for referral marketing in the first place. Surpass client expectations, encourage them to communicate the value of your real estate services to friends, family and colleagues and it won’t take long for word to get around about the quality of your unique value proposition. You’ll move that many more prospects through the metaphorical sales funnel as word continues to spread throughout the community about your real estate business. However, referral marketing will take some time so be patient and focus on exceeding client expectations.
If you find your agency struggles to build momentum in the context of referral marketing, do not hesitate to ask your satisfied clients to post reviews to online review directories, post about your high-quality service on social media and pass on your business cards to those in their social and professional circles. Keep in mind, referral marketing is completely free. There is no need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on marketing materials and advertising pushes when your satisfied clients can spread the word about the merit of your services for you. In turn, these referrals will tout the value of your services to their friends and colleagues, extending your reach even deeper and setting the stage for a steady flow of business across posterity.
Referral marketing is that much easier when you strategically implement visual prompts. Examples of such prompts include free magnets featuring your logo for satisfied clients to put on their refrigerator, a note added to a holiday mailing and even a line in your email signature. Providing positive reinforcement to those willing to refer your agency to others will also help build momentum. Express your gratitude for referrals or send a small gift such as flowers as a “thank you” for the referral and your satisfied clients will have that much more motivation to refer you to even more prospective clients.
Be Consistent in Your Branding
Clients are looking for consistent brands. Fail to provide this consistency and they’ll question your merit as well as your sincerity. Use the same logo, brand colors, slogan and overarching design throughout the entirety of your marketing materials. Present your brand with consistency and you’ll enjoy a higher conversion rate while simultaneously convincing clients that your company is worthy of their continued business as well as the business of others throughout the community.
Your Brand is Your Launching Pad to Success
Your real estate agency’s branding is just as important as the quality of your service. Some industry veterans even go as far as arguing that branding is even more important than the merits of service, largely because clients are more likely to remember brands that present their name, logo and other identifying components in a manner that is easily remembered.
Invest the time necessary to perfect your real estate agency’s branding, couple that branding with high-quality service and it won’t take long to build the momentum your startup needs to build a loyal client base. These satisfied clients will perform referral marketing on your behalf, ultimately helping your agency develop the “critical mass” necessary to expand your client base without devoting a large percentage of your available capital to marketing.
