- Great branding helps real estate businesses stand out from their competitors and to give potential clients a strong and positive first impression.
- Effective branding will give your business an edge through every step of the marketing and sales process.
- Branding encourages clients to personify your business, enabling them to connect with you on an emotional level.
Everything Needs Branding, Even Real Estate
No matter what it is you’re selling, your chances improve dramatically when your product is supported with effective branding. When people think of brands, their minds immediately go to well-known companies selling clothes, bags, watches, and electronics. Though these are all great examples, they only represent a few of the industries that use branding to promote their products. In fact, pretty much every business has a brand - but not all of them have good branding.
Branding in real estate goes beyond the obvious fact of selling nice apartments or buildings. It has to be the DNA that shows the world who you are and is woven into every aspect of the business. Branding is the first impression that you give to potential clients, and it should serve as much more than an introduction. It should also show them why your company is more trustworthy, more talented, and is a better fit to meet their needs than any other company out there.
In a market as competitive as real estate, it’s not a smart move to rely solely on the features of your properties and hope for the best. Real estate agencies shouldn’t limit their whole identity to a link between the buyer and the property. While property features will clearly impact buying and investment decisions, better branding will give your business a reliable and memorable character of its own, serving as a true differentiator that attracts potential clients to you in the first place.
How Branding Boosts Your Real Estate Business
There are many reasons why you should invest in branding. From the tricky process of getting your name out there to making long-term plans for your business to prosper, branding is a huge factor in determining how well you will fare. Even established companies that haven’t given it much thought have much to gain from sound branding strategies.
1. It Helps You Captivate The Market
The number of potential real estate customers available is limited at any point in time. This dynamic sets practical limits on how several real estate agencies can survive. Effective branding is a key factor in determining which of those companies will thrive, helping you rise above even the toughest competition by establishing yourself as the better option. Let’s say you have a fantastic record - use branding to show off your shining credentials. Or maybe your real estate agency appeals to a specific age group, or a group of people with a common interest. You can use this to carve out your own niche in a big, competitive market.
Aside from making your services more interesting to a broader audience, good branding also boosts your credibility. Combined with excellent customer service, branding lets everyone know that your company is a serious, professional business they can trust.
2. It Sets a Benchmark for Future Projects
Strong branding gives you and your team an object of reference every time you start working with a new client (your logo mark, mission and values statements, etc). The same can be said for when your business needs to evolve in response to changing marketplace dynamics. Everything you do and every decision you make should be aligned with the mission and goals of your brand. You can use your brand as a guide for future marketing materials and strategies. The key here is consistency: in your choice of colors, fonts, logo, and the messages you send to the public.
3. It Attracts the Clients You Want
A brand that accurately represents your business will show people what your company values. Clients that feel a connection to your brand are exactly the ones you want to attract. If customers feel that a company shares their values, they will be more inclined to buy from that company. According to an Accenture research, 63% of surveyed consumers purchase more from companies that reflect their own values and beliefs, and will avoid businesses that don’t. Overall, being transparent about your values through branding is a win-win, it lets you zero in on your message and attracts the clients you prefer.
4. It Creates Brand Advocates
Effective strategy and execution build brand loyalty, have significant influence on purchasing decisions, and convert your customers into brand advocates. The happier they are, the more proudly they will promote your brand to others, creating a tribe of people that do your selling and marketing for you. This is the ultimate dream of any company - to have such a strong brand that all of their customers become their sales team.
5. It Establishes and Maintains Your Image
The branding message of your real estate business should be crystal clear. It should be distinct and identifiable even at a glance. Living up to your brand image and promise without fail is what earns the respect and trust of customers. By making every aspect of your business consistent with your brand, you also give your clients a consistent experience. Access Development says that 26% of consumer loyalty is born out of brand consistency. This will assure them of your competency and expertise.
6. It Saves You Time and Money
One of the most significant benefits of property branding is the time and money that you’ll save down the line. It might seem like a large investment at first, and you may not feel its effect right away, but in the long run, you’ll get what you paid for and more. Take the time to find the strategy, messaging, and advertising materials that work best for you.
Great branding comes from a great process - it takes some discipline, but also yields much stronger long-term results than a “shiny objects” approach - chasing the first seemingly good idea that comes to mind and scrapping it when it doesn’t depict good results. Branding should give you a precise idea of where and how you want to position your business for future endeavors.
7. It Raises Advertising Response Rates
The search marketing company, WordStream, found that online ads with branding have a 2-3 times higher clickthrough rate than those that don’t. This means that advertisements that show off the company’s brand get clicked on by curious users 2-3 times more than those that fail to do so. Consistent branding speeds up the buyer’s journey and fosters familiarity. Clients will choose to patronize a familiar business over one that creeps like a stranger in their browser.
8. It Lowers Your Advertising Costs
One example of how branding can decrease your advertising costs is social media. Although you can use paid ads on social media to reach more people, it doesn’t cost anything to simply set up an account for your business. Using branding on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram gives you access to consumers without breaking the bank.
9. It Allows You to Build a Better Foundation for Success
When you invest in good branding, you’re setting yourself up for success. A well-established brand, whether it’s in a niche or a wide client base, is something that no other person or company can take away from you. Picture your company alive and well even after years of strain, with its brand held high. A brand may go through multiple editions and variants, but at the end of the day, its vision and mission will remain the same.
10. It Enables Premium Pricing
In real estate, people are more cautious when it comes to their buying decisions. This is because they see property ownership as a goal and an investment requiring careful consideration. While real estate prices are considered high-end purchases for most people, that doesn’t mean you can’t command premium prices of your own.
With branding, you’re able to justify these prices by positioning your business as superior to its counterparts. Creating a high value perception for your brand gives you the advantage of projecting a specific lifestyle most tenants yearn and are willing to pay for. This immediately sets you apart from competition because the lifestyle experience adds emotional value to the financial value of real estate investment.
Branding tells your clients who you are
Some people might think of a real estate business as just a middle man for them to buy or sell property - a means to an end and nothing more. There is a transaction, but no relationship. With branding, your business becomes an entity that they have common values with, and one they can rely on to get the job done and expertly so.
The difference that branding makes is in how your clients see you. It’s not solely about trendy aesthetics or eye-catching logos, branding even trickles down to a brief pitch of a sales rep.
“YOUR BRAND IS NOT WHAT YOU SAY IT IS, IT’S WHAT THEY SAY IT IS.”
- MARTY NEUMEIER