No matter what business or industry you are in, branding is a vital ingredient for success.
It is also equally applicable for those in the real estate industry since your brand reflects your relevance and importance to your professional network.
Your primary goal is to get people not only to recognise you but to also trust in your brand, which is why brand awareness should always be a focus if you want to grow your business in the long term.
Having the right brand and building it well can greatly help in growing your business.
What’s in a brand?
You must build your brand by establishing awareness that resonates with people. As with any other business, branding demands key values to make it work such as integrity, honesty, credibility, reliability.
And before you know it, those who follow your brand can become your ambassadors.
Making it count
In real estate, a good brand is one that people trust, recognise and rely on, not only with buyers and sellers but also with those connected to your professional network such as service providers, contractors, mortgage institutions, etc.
If you expect people to go to you for anything that reflects your brand, you must deserve and be worthy of it, which means you should make people relate to it.
It’s more than just about advertisements, commercials, and promotions, rather it is making a connection with people that matters most when building a brand that works and resonates.
Remember that those who made it big in the real industry right now had their share of difficulties and struggles when they started, which is something that should inspire and motivate you to do more than just buy or sell a property for your clients.
Branding goes beyond marketing
Yes, marketing matters and, of course, it’s important that you get to sell yourself and your business effectively to make it work.
But remember that branding is more than just marketing because without people ‘recognising’ the brand, it all amounts to short-term effects and could not sustain your reputation or image in the long run.
So, what’s the solution? Stand out from the competition.
What will make you stand out and set you apart from others in the business? These are important aspects to consider when you want to make it big in the real estate business.
What can you offer that others can’t? What solutions can you provide to your audience? Are you a people person and how do you make connections with people? Are you innovative, resourceful, and a problem-solver?
These are just some of the questions to ask yourself. It all boils down to knowing who you are as a professional, what you can do, and what are you capable of doing that could benefit your audience.
It is not about you
People often make the mistake that branding comes from equipping oneself with the tools and resources that are at your disposal to make it work for your brand. You invest in capability-building, write good content, have the best solutions for real estate issues and problems, know how to analyse and recognise real estate business intelligence, etc.
All of that is good, however, when it comes to branding, every one of those mentioned above may work for you, but will it benefit your audience?
Remember that at the end of the day, your branding would matter if it is focused on your audience, clients, and network, and not about yourself.
After all, your true impact can only be felt by those who benefit from what you provide and offer.
For instance, it’s about connecting with your clients even after you have bought or sold a home for them, such as droppi9ng by with a box of cookies to celebrate a special day, sending out a greeting card during a wedding anniversary, sending your clients birthday greetings.
On a more professional level, you can spend a few minutes of your time to say “Hi” and ask how they are doing on their real estate journey, or if they need help with a problem about finding good landscape contractors or refer a reliable handyman to help fix the garage door, etc.
Start building your brand by being authentic and consistent. Always remember to reach out and connect to people, because this is how you are going to be recognised and establish your brand.