Nearly 70% of buyers and sellers work with the first real estate agent they contact. A recognizable and trusted brand increases the chance that you will be the first person they reach out to.
So many agents I speak with do not believe that creating a brand is important to their career, even after we discuss the stats they dismiss the opportunity with a simple rationalization that they tried it and it doesn’t work. They then say that they prefer cold calling and networking, or my company does not allow me to market/brand myself other than through the company platforms. While I am a firm believer in cold calling and networking it’s harder to scale then if you also creating your own brand. A combination of cold calling, networking and brand building is the trifecta for your business growth.
The real estate brokerage business is very saturated with agents in almost every market across the U.S., as of 2024 There are approximately 3 million people holding active real estate licenses in the United States, of these, about 1.5 to 1.6 million are Realtors, meaning they are members of the National Association of Realtors. With this kind of competition standing out in a market can be difficult and a good brand will do that very thing for you. The ability for you as an agent to create memorability and stay at the top of the mind for potential clients in your market will drive the much desired inbound calls/leads as well as referrals from your branding.
Lets discuss how you can build your brand:
The first step is to define your brand’s core identity, you want to clarify your mission, your values and your unique client proposition, you want to be sure your brand resonates with the audience you want to reach.
The next step is to create a great logo and color scheme. Be sure you do a lot of research on these before picking one as they are critical. Just choosing the wrong color palette can give the wrong message to a potential client. Be sure that your logo, color scheme and all visual elements are consistent across all your platforms so they are easily recognizable.
Your brand story is something you really want to take time to consider, effectively communicating your brands value proposition needs to emotionally connect with the customers that you want to reach.
The next step is to get your brand in front of as many of the right people as possible, this will sound like a lot and honestly in the beginning it is but once you get the hang of it you will be able to grow your following and if done right, more business/revenue will follow.
Let’s start with the new website, once the logo and color have been picked then it’s time to build your website, keep it simple and clean. I always recommend a blog be on your website as studies have shown that blogs drive approximately 55% more traffic to your website, plus, when you put out a weekly blog you can use it as an email to your client base and use social media to have more people sign up to your blog, reinforcing your brand.
Next you want to decide which platforms you will be posting your digital content on, I recommend :Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook and if you like X it can also work well. It’s critical that all platforms have the same look and feel. It’s important that you remain active, consistent and relevant to your market when posting. Don’t forget to also throw in some personal posts so people can get to know your personality. I would recommend a minimum of 3 posts per week. I know this sounds like a lot but if you create 3 pillars to focus on, say one on your market, another on your asset class and another on you personally is a great way to start. Remember your goal here is to position your brand as an industry authority.
I see so many people do all this work and create a great brand but then they miss one of the key components of building your brand, you must foster engagement and create loyalty. If you encourage people to give you reviews and testimonials they can be a great piece of content that will help cement you as the authority figure in your market place. I make a point to respond to almost every comment on my social media as I am thankful that someone took the time to respond, yes, some will be negative but that’s part of the process and I still respond, usually with a question as to what I can do better, they seldom respond but a couple of times they made a good point.
Keep in mind, you are in this for the long haul, stay consistent, bring value and remember that this is critical to your success as a real estate agent, adding this to your cold calling and networking will move you to being #1 in your market.
