As a real estate agent, you know that your personal brand and style can make a big difference in attracting and retaining clients, referrals, and partners. But how do you develop and refine your unique identity and voice in a competitive and dynamic market? Here are some tips to help you create and enhance your personal brand and style as a real estate agent.
The first step to developing your personal brand and style is to identify your niche and target audience. What kind of properties, locations, and clients do you specialize in? What are their needs, preferences, and pain points? How do you solve their problems and add value to their transactions? Knowing your niche will help you craft your message, tone, and image that resonate with your ideal clients and set you apart from other agents.
I tell new commercial real estate agents that unless they are in a small market they must specialize. Be known for something. Typically, agents will migrate toward a product type first, such as industrial, office, retail, or multi-family. In larger markets, those agents further segment into landlord leasing, tenant representation, or sales. The goal is to become famous for something. If I need to find more office space, I will search out the best office tenant rep broker in the market. Provide an identity to the market.
The next step is to define your value proposition, or what makes you unique and desirable as a real estate agent. What are your strengths, skills, and expertise? What are your values, vision, and mission? How do you deliver exceptional service, results, and experience to your clients? Your value proposition should be clear, concise, and compelling, and communicate how you can help your clients achieve their goals and dreams.
This is one of the most important things in Real Estate and in sales. However, this is the last thing that Realtors do and most of them never have a clear value proposition. What makes you standout from the other 80,000 Realtors in the GTA? I always tell my agents to show value to the client and they will never cut your commission and they will be your customer for a lifetime.
Throw-away line "what are your values" but one that makes you uniquely you. Mission, service, technology, marketing, fees and everything else can be easily replicated. Your values set you apart. The hard part? Transparency makes you vulnerable and few agents will embrace that. Which is why it's such a USP.
Your visual identity is the way you present yourself and your brand through your logo, colors, fonts, photos, videos, and other elements. Your visual identity should be consistent, professional, and appealing, and reflect your personality, niche, and value proposition. You can use tools like Canva, Adobe Spark, or Fiverr to create your visual identity, or hire a professional designer if you have the budget.
Your online presence is the way you showcase your brand and style through your website, social media, blog, email, and other platforms. Your online presence should be informative, engaging, and interactive, and provide value to your audience. You can use tools like WordPress, Squarespace, Mailchimp, or Hootsuite to build your online presence, or hire a professional developer or marketer if you need help.
The biggest objection Realtors have, is that they don't have time for this or they are not good with social media. I recommend using a company like socialagentz.com because they create and automatically post daily content and video to the Reators Instagram, Facebook, Linked In and TikTok. We like them because their content is focused only on Real estate and the price is only $49 per month and you get a free 30 day trial period.
Understand that your prospect is going to "Google" your name even if you were personally referred. Your Linkedin profile should be updated, but having my own WP website really remains the cornerstone in attracting new clients. With helpful, evergreen conversational articles with original photos or short videos specific to your town, neighborhood, beach, ski slope, or ideal search term, you will (in 6 months) be a familiar authority whom people will want to contact. They do call, but most likely will email you with a lengthy description of their plans.
Your network and reputation are the way you connect and communicate with your clients, prospects, referrals, and partners. Your network and reputation should be authentic, trustworthy, and supportive, and demonstrate your expertise, credibility, and personality. You can use tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Clubhouse to grow your network and reputation, or join a professional association or community if you want to expand your reach.
The final step is to evaluate and improve your brand and style on a regular basis. You can use tools like Google Analytics, SurveyMonkey, or Testimonial Tree to measure and monitor your brand performance, feedback, and satisfaction. You can also use tools like Udemy, Skillshare, or Coursera to learn new skills, trends, and best practices. You should always be open to feedback, experimentation, and innovation, and adapt your brand and style to your market and audience needs.
As the sole proprietor of a small business, you wear every hat: you are your own CEO, COO, CMO, and CTO. But you can't outsource your authenticity or the demonstration of your knowledge and skills. When it comes to your brand presence, your personal voice should come through in all of your digital representations. Don't automate the most important piece of your marketing- your authenticity and personality.