“A brand is not a logo. A brand is not an identity. A brand is not a product. A brand is a person’s "gut feeling" or “perception" about a product, service, or organization.”
Marty Neumeier - author and speaker
In today's world of marketing, "Personal Branding" is becoming a mandatory part of the equation. Consumers will increasingly want to know more about the "person" before entering into a business relationship. They want "confirmation" before "introduction." Most people research every product, service, or person before they engage further. They want “social proof” or “evidence of success."
Personal Branding strategies are above and beyond what you decide to do with your “3 Rocks of Marketing" (Lead Gen strategies). Team, I could spend hours and hours talking about this topic. It is that important. In fact, my personal initiative in 2021 is to teach myself how to be a better brand builder with the intention of teaching it and coaching it at a higher level. It's so important that I am going to dedicate a year to it.
Some of the biggest success stories that I have seen in real estate brokerage include a consistent and effective personal branding strategy.
As a real estate broker, there are several ways to build your brand. Today, I’d like to talk about 3 of them:
Social Media:
The 2 most productive platforms for real estate brokers are Instagram and Facebook. (Tiktok, LinkedIn and Pinterest can be effective, too.) For advanced users of video, building a YouTube channel would be effective.
Instagram is rapidly becoming a search engine for all products and services. By searching and following #hashtags, a consumer can research and educate themselves on a product or service they are in need of. If a person likes your content, they can follow you without needing to be “friended” like you would on Facebook (unless you have a private account). Once they follow you, they can get to know you, like you, and trust you based on what you post on your feed and in your stories.
Facebook is like a “cocktail party” with your friends and your chosen sphere. You need to be active here because, most likely, your clients and sphere know more than one real estate broker. If you are not active and do not have a strong relationship and database management strategy, you clients will wander.
So, the question I get the most about social media is “What’s the formula? What should be my strategy?”
People hire who they "Know, Like and Trust," correct? So, I have found it really important that brokers use the cost effective social platforms to do just that...go 1/3 "know you", 1/3 "like you" and 1/3 "trust you." Social media marketing and branding is not just for prospecting; it is important for your past clients to see that you are still active in the business and having success.
To "Know You", the consumer must see your market through your eyes. Educate your future clients on what is like to live in your market. Do video, use Instagram stories and your Facebook feed to tell really specific "stories" about what you love most about your market. Restaurants, boutique shops, the people, the infrastructure, architecture and the physical beauty of your market. If your future client lives in another market, let them live vicariously through you. In my opinion, consumers will use the top search engines to browse listings and educate themselves on specifics, but they will increasingly start using Instagram to search for their agents. Brands matter and being with Sotheby's International Realty is a huge plus for all of us.
To "Like You", the consumer must get to know you personally. What are your hobbies, your pet's name, where do you like to eat, where are you from, how you take care of yourself are all ways that your future clients can get to "virtually" know you. I could tell you story after story that agents have gotten hired for things like being a dog lover or because they are from the same part of the country originally.
To "Trust You", the consumer must get a sense that your are good at what you do. They need to see evidence of success such as sold listings, just listed properties, great photography and terrific marketing. Instagram stories are a really terrific method of "showing" properties on the fly. Testimonials and online reviews (see below) are quite powerful as they relate to "trust."
Suggestion: Jump on Instagram and follow particular agents that use social media well to build their brands. Start slowly, build a content calendar, experiment with video and photography, increase the frequency of posts once you know what your market will respond to most often. Using social media should be considered a long game. Your brand will grow the more consistent and skilled you become.
Elevated Marketing of Listings
In the Bravo and HGTV driven world we live in, more and more people are cruising real estate search engines looking at listings. Just like social media, well marketed properties gain attention not just for the property but for the listing agent. If you are going to spend marketing dollars anywhere, upgrade the marketing on your properties. On all of your listings, use Drone videos, property tour videos and Matterport as just a few ideas to set the properties and your personal brand apart from your competitors. You have to remember the "1st showings” are all online.
Testimonials/Ratings:
Brokers should strive to build a catalogue of testimonials from their clients after each sale. In fact, it is best to get the testimonial from the client once the property is almost assured of closing (lender clears to close or all contingencies have been met) and before it actually closes. At this time, the client is excited for their next chapter and have not yet "moved on" post close.
The effectiveness of testimonials is rooted in the concept of “social proof,” which states, basically, that people are more likely to do something if others who they consider as better informed are already doing it. Social proofs in marketing today come in various forms, including case studies, data or numbers, social media posts and comments, online reviews, and testimonials.
Of these, testimonials resonate the most to real estate clients. Hearing good things from people who have worked with you gives potential clients the assurance that you’re someone they can trust. Testimonials provide a window through which clients can visualize what it’s like to do business with you. They can even highlight your strengths and specializations. And in the crowded and competitive real estate market, this can set you apart from the rest of the field.
On the flip side, not presenting testimonials can lose you clients who look to reviews in qualifying their choice of Realtor. These clients will move on to other agents who can present social proof, whether or not these agents actually provide better service. Excellent sources of testimonials also include positive social media engagements, and letters or emails of thanks from your clients.
Team, if you have not put ample time into building your personal brand, you should make it a priority in your business plan. It can no longer be a “nice to have." Those who don’t build personal brand equity and good will, will find it harder to complete. It is a lot of work, you will not see immediate results, but trust me, people will start following you and one day you’ll get the call or direct message:
“Hi, I’ve been following you and was just wondering if you are taking on new clients. I’ve loved your content and feel like you’d be a good fit for us.” At that point, there is no going back. The challenge will be to get there. Most will not want to put in the thought and the work but trust me, it will be worth it for you to build your personal brand.
