A new real estate broker can often get caught up in the details that go into entering this profession. Although you have some experience marketing as an agent, advertising a brokerage is a little bit different. You’re not just marketing yourself; you’re promoting your whole business.
Where do I Start?
Either before or after you received your real estate license, your broker may have given you the marketing mantra “discover what makes you fascinating.” You can’t be a successful real estate agent otherwise, considering the large amount of competition within the entire sales market.
The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO) estimates there are over 3 million active agents in the United States. When a home-owner searches for an agent, their options are endless, and rarely do they care what brokerage or team they belong to.
With these facts in mind, let’s figure out how you can create a brand that speaks to your clients.
Use These 4 Steps to Create Your Brokerage Brand
If you already have a personal brand from when you were a real estate agent, it’ll be easier for you to transition to a broker. If you want to start from scratch or perfect your branding, read on.
1. Define Your Target Audience
Establishing a real estate niche is a strategic way for agents to focus on their business. It’s better to put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to defining your niche, as that will suggest you’re an expert. There are 10 lucrative niches that deserve your attention:
- Location-Based: Neighbourhood, city, country, ZIP code.
- Property Type-Based: Single-family, multi-family, co-ops, condos, commercial, historic.
- Specific Buyer-Based: First-time, luxury, commercial, investors, rent-to-own.
- Specific Seller-Based: Multi-family, flippers, investors, for sale by owner, life even.
- Situation-Based: Green, short-sales, vacation, relocation.
- Reo & Foreclosure-Based
- Rental Property-Based: Room, student, full-service, multi-family, single-family.
- Hospitality-Based
- Community-Based: Gated, retirement.
- Exterior Amenities-Based: Lakefront, beachfront, mountain, farmhouse.
Feel free to mix and match your niches to find the type of market you want to sell to.
2. Decide What Makes You Different
Clients want to make sure your personality aligns with their own. Now that you understand your customer’s needs, you can focus on what you have to offer. To do this, ask yourself:
- If I was the client, why would I want to buy a home from myself?
- What are my extensive real estate passions and favorite neighborhoods?
- How do I make the buying/selling process easier for clients?
- What do people say after they buy/sell a home with me?
- How do I maintain relationships with my clients?
- How do I save my clients time and/or money?
Be specific when you answer these questions to understand what you offer or how you can improve on what you already provide for your clients. Emphasize what makes you different!
3. Branding is More Than Visuals
While it’s important for you to choose a consistent color palette, font, and timing for your social media posts, never forget about the quality of your content. You should provide consistent content for your viewers, but they won’t become clients if your readers don’t learn from you.
Building social proof can be tricky, but clients will trust you if you’re providing quality content that elevates your credibility. Remember: real estate is an emotional purchase. If your clients believe what you’re saying, you’ll have an easier time finding their dream home.
4. Don’t Forget to Be Human
A steady stream of clients can only come from transparency, authenticity, and the quality of your website content. Your personal brand must be carefully crafted over time, so start defining your mission and being aware of why people prefer to come to you for home buying advice.
Being empathetic means building a relationship based on honesty, but that won’t happen overnight. With every win your agents make, your brokerage will become more respected.
