A strong brand can set you apart from the competition, keep you top of mind, and help you grow your business. But how does one begin to build a brand? As the team behind the brands of many of the nation’s top-producing luxury real estate agents, we’re sharing exactly why brand building is so important and the strategies we use to help our partners succeed.
Find It Fast
Why do you need strong real estate branding?
A strong real estate brand shows potential clients why they should work with you and not any other real estate agent.
Your personal brand separates you from the pack. It demonstrates your personality, the niche you serve, and what clients can expect when they work with you.
Luxury clients aren’t looking for a generalist. They want to be assured that you have the perfect real estate industry experience, connections, and past success for their needs. They want to connect with you and your values. So, how do you do that? By mastering real estate branding.
How do you create a real estate brand?
A successful real estate branding strategy requires careful planning and execution. It involves understanding your target audience, developing a unique brand identity, and creating an effective marketing plan.
To start creating and building your brand, follow these steps:
Define your goals and values
These are the heart of your brand—your guiding lights. Where do you want your business to go, and what are you not willing to compromise to get there? Dialing these in helps you determine the type of brand you want to build.
Find inspiration
Spending time examining other brands is extremely helpful in giving you a sense of what you like and what you definitely don’t. Set up a file or folder and save logos, websites, and realtor pages you admire. You can decide whether you prefer a corporate vibe or are leaning toward a more personal, unique brand.
Create realistic timelines
Creating cohesive and distinctive real estate branding takes time and effort. Just as you can’t build an enviable reputation as a broker overnight, you can’t magically make a brand identity appear. Give yourself a realistic timeline and set goals based on it. Think about:
- When do you need your website to be complete?
- Is there an event that you need to be ready for?
- Do you need to factor in getting new brand photos?
- How much time do you have to devote to your branding project?
Define your target customer
Who do you want to work with? The answer to that question will determine a lot of your branding. Consider factors such as age, stage of life, income level, location, and lifestyle. Is your ideal client a single tech entrepreneur looking for a smart home in Silicon Valley? Or are they a small family on the hunt for the perfect condo in a great school district? Knowing who you’re talking to and understanding their pains, fears, dreams, and desires is half the battle.
Develop a brand identity and assets
Once you’ve defined your values and who you’re talking to, you can start putting together the brand assets for your real estate business. These include your logo, website, and other marketing materials. Consider what design, colors, and typography will resonate with your target audience, as well as what content will help them connect with you. (If you’re feeling intimidated by this, don’t worry! We’ll explain how to find the right team to help you create your brand identity in a bit.)
These assets can make your brand more identifiable without extra marketing spend. For example, 91% of consumers surveyed correctly identified Coldwell Banker by its color scheme.
Identify how to best reach your ideal client
Once you have your website and social media profiles ready to go, it’s time to use them to drive new business. Consider investing in SEO, organic social, video marketing, and other real estate marketing strategies to get your unique talents (and properties) in front of the right potential clients.
For the best results, you’ll likely use a variety of marketing strategies to help you stand out. Case in point: a staggering 85% of buyers and sellers prefer to work with an agent who uses video marketing, but only 15% of agents are actually using it. This makes video marketing a smart and effective way to differentiate yourself.
It’s also important to take the time to understand how to manage your marketing expenses.
Find the right team to build your brand
Creating your ideal brand identity and developing effective real estate branding is a huge undertaking. That’s why many real estate agents, teams, and brokerage opt to partner with branding experts. The benefits are twofold: you get high-quality branding that helps you stand out, and you free up time to focus on other aspects of your business.
Of course, it’s important to make sure you’ve found the right partner to help you build your brand. This is something we do at Luxury Presence for many top real estate professionals. Our branding services include:
- Custom logo design: Logos are the cornerstone of your brand and a key factor in making a good first impression. Our experienced team of designers creates a custom logo that captures the essence of your brand and helps you stand out and stay memorable. These include designs for horizontal and vertical logos and a favicon in both light (white) and dark (color) versions.
- Typography selection: We help you select the perfect fonts and typography for your website and brand. Our team is experienced in choosing typefaces that reflect the tone of your business, are legible, and create a strong visual hierarchy. Font file recommendations will include a free font and a paid font (based on your budget).
- Color palette: Our design team creates a unique color palette to distinguish your brand from the competition. This includes a digital color board with color codes, custom patterns, and illustrations.
- Mood board: A mood board is a visual representation of the concept, theme, and overall feel of your brand. It includes images, logos, typography, color palettes, and more elements that represent the look and feel you’re aiming for.
Build relationships
We all know that relationships are everything in real estate. While online assets are a vital part of your branding strategy, networking with other real estate professionals and making connections with potential buyers and sellers remain extremely important. Consider these an opportunity to further promote your brand. That may involve on-brand printed materials, or just sharing where they can find you online.
What are the best examples of real estate branding?
Harnessing personal branding can give potential clients a window into your world and the opportunity to make a connection before you even meet.
New York agent Phillip Salem gives a masterclass on how to do this with his #NotYourBasicBroker ad campaign. You can hear what he has to say about building an authentic brand in this podcast with Luxury Presence CEO Malte Kramer.
Ryan Serhant’s refreshing authenticity is another prime example of a standout real estate branding strategy in the fiercely competitive Manhattan luxury market. By incorporating humor and quirkiness that reflect his personal style, he has created a relatable and memorable brand that leaves a lasting impression on his audience.
Other strong real estate agent brands include Jade Mills, Liza Story, CL Residential, Kelly Jo Gonzalez, and Vannessa Kaufman.
What makes a great real estate brand?
Real estate branding should help you stand out, resonate with potential clients, and make people feel confident in their decision to work with you. This includes building trust through transparency, providing exceptional customer service, and offering unique value propositions that set you apart from other businesses. Additionally, it’s important to maintain consistency across all channels so customers can easily recognize your brand no matter where they encounter it.
Do you need real estate branding?
The short answer? Yes. If you’re looking to grow your business, branding should be a priority. Investing in your brand helps you stand out in an increasingly competitive market and gives buyers and sellers a reason to seek you out.
DIY vs. DFY
When it comes to real estate branding, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer as to whether you should do it yourself or have it DFY (done for you). It really depends on the goals you have for your business and the resources at your disposal.
If you have the time and skills to create a professional brand identity, then doing it yourself can be a great way to save money and ensure that your brand reflects your vision. However, if you’re short on time, don’t have the necessary skills, or prefer to work with experts who have a track record of success, it’s worth partnering with a professional branding agency to help you create a unique and effective brand identity.
How do you choose a real estate branding design firm?
Your brand identity is obviously an integral part of your business, so you want to know it’s in good hands. When choosing a real estate branding agency, here are some things to look for:
- Experience: Have they worked with similar businesses? Have they driven impressive results?
- An established portfolio: Can you see examples of quality websites they’ve built? What about case studies?
- A good reputation: Do you know anyone who’s worked with them? What do their reviews say? Can you talk to any of their past clients to get an idea of what it’s like to work with them?
The real estate branding process
Different agencies may have slightly different methods, but here’s how we approach the branding process to capture your vision and build a brand that reflects it.
Our process is broken down into three phases:
Phase one: Discovery phase (5 days)
To get started, we’ll gather info from you about your vision, goals, and anything else we need to know. We’ll dive deep into understanding your existing brand identity, target audience, competitors, and the goals you’d like to achieve with this new branding.
Phase two: Brand design phase (5 days)
Next, we’ll begin crafting thoughtful concepts for your brand. Every iteration will be presented with screen recordings and descriptions so you can understand the purpose and origin of each design detail and make informed decisions.
Phase three: Brand finalization (5 days)
At the end of the process, you’ll have a fantastic new brand guidelines package, along with comprehensive instructions on using the materials we’ve crafted. We also provide these guidelines to our Implementation and Product teams so they can apply them to your semi- or fully-custom website.
How much does real estate branding cost?
Prices for branding services can vary based on experience, quality, and your goals. At Luxury Presence, you can select from 3 packages:
- Pro Designs
- Custom Website
- Brand Identity + Custom Website
For more information, click here.
Build your real estate brand with Luxury Presence
If you’re ready to capture your vision with a unique brand and custom website, you’re in the right place! As the marketing team behind over 20 of the WSJ Top 100, we know what it takes to craft compelling, memorable brands.
And unlike some other branding agencies, we focus exclusively on the real estate industry, meaning we have deep knowledge of the market, up-to-date real estate marketing trends, and what works for real estate professionals.
Reach out today to start the conversation about working with our in-house creative team to establish your brand identity, design your logo, and craft a stunning custom website.