What does branding mean to you? Your brand strategy is what gives you the edge in increasingly competitive markets. Growing your brand can help you stand out in a crowded field of real estate agents. Everyone knows someone who is in the real estate business. It’s important to determine what makes you different from the competition. What makes you stand out from the crowd?
Develop A Cohesive Brand Image
Whether you outsource your branding or do it yourself, remember that YOU are the architect of your brand! Your brand is the key to all communications to your clients and potential clients. Your branding will show up in all you do, from your business cards, sales materials, website, social media, and even administrative forms.
Branding is more than creating a logo and color scheme. Your brand architecture is how your branding unfolds into the marketplace and looks to consumers. Brand architecture is the big picture – all of your logos, colors, fonts, taglines, tone, and manner combined. It’s important to make your branding cohesive across all of your digital platforms. People will come to recognize your branding and associate it with you. If they are used to your branding on your social media platform but then visit your website that looks totally different, they may get confused.
There are three key elements and steps you should take when developing your brand. Each key element will help you define your brand architecture into something amazing. Your clients and potential clients will easily recognize you and make you stand out as a real estate agent.
#1 – Visual Elements
Before you even get started, you should have a clear idea of who YOU are (what you do, what makes you unique in your business, etc.). You should also have a clear idea of your target audience (your ideal client, where they live, etc.).
Your visual elements can include photography, graphic design, video, animation, fonts, and color palette. Your personality should show in your visual elements. If you or your business have a comical personality, your visual elements should reflect that.
Your color palette is part of the intricate details of your branding. Your brand colors should be something that appeals to your audience, not just your favorite colors. You can browse Pinterest and search for color swatches and color combinations that you like. You can also browse other businesses’ Instagram feeds or websites to get an idea of what you like and dislike. Narrow your likes down to a few colors that go best with your personality.
The typeface of your brand is the collective name of the fonts you select for your branding. Choose a font that is easy to read and fits the personality of your brand. You can choose a primary and secondary font to use on all of your brandings.
#2 – Messaging
Your message is crucial. You want to have clear communication across all of your branded digital platforms. Your message is found in the headlines, taglines, copy, and quotes. The tone and manner in which you communicate are also important. Your messaging and communications (written, verbal, and video) should have a consistent tone and manner that compliments the visual elements.
#3 – Positioning
This is the image or identity established in how consumers should perceive your business and you as the business owner. Positioning is to create a perception or image in the mind of consumers of your product or service. When you see a well-known brand, such as Starbucks, how do you perceive it? Is it simple or complicated? Is it memorable? Good positioning provides an easily understood perception of your product or service and differentiates you from your competitors.
Do you have a positioning statement? This is what the perception of your product should be to your target market. Your positioning statement can be a work in progress, but it will serve as a roadmap for your overall marketing strategy.
Keep Your Branding Authentic
Marketing yourself and your business can be daunting at times. Sometimes we try so hard to be professional in our marketing that we forget to be authentic. Showcase your true self, personality, and brand values (what you stand for, what you are passionate about), and this is the number one thing that will cause you to stand out from your competition. There is only one YOU. While you may get ideas from other competitor’s marketing, copying someone else will not seem authentic to your clients and potential clients. Your brand will communicate a message to them about who you are. They will get to know, like, and trust you through the brand message you communicate.
How are you doing with your brand building? If you would like help defining your brand, contact me. I would love to help you get started!
