Attention is the new currency.
With membership of the National Association of Realtors at a peak of 1.56 million as of 2021, one could feel a little defeated, thinking there isn’t much to say or do to stand out as a real estate agent these days, and that it’s all been done before. With so few realtors relying on their own personal branding it’s an opportunity that if done well will pay dividends in the long run. It’s about how you deliver your personal brand to your sphere of influence or network that will make you stand out from the crowd and part of that is having an Omni presence across various online and offline channels.
“Stop advertising and start innovating” is world-renowned marketing expert Seth Godin’s advice in his book ‘Purple Cow’. Seth talks about how in an attention-deprived environment, you must have a point of difference so that people can resonate with who you are as a person in order to stand out.
The first three steps to kickstarting personal branding for real estate agents are:
Position Mapping
Mapping out your strengths and using them to define what you do will help with positioning your values when people come across you on social media, in flyers, or on your website. Using my personal example, I can say “I help real estate agents create impactful content and lead magnets to increase referrals and drive a pipeline of qualified leads.” This statement uses a variety of verbs to help define what you do rather than just using nouns like real estate marketing coach. The statement above using nouns alone would sound something like “I’m a real estate marketing coach that helps realtors with lead generation”. This statement wouldn’t fully explain how I help real estate agents do that. E.g I don’t run lead ads for real estate agents which the second statement doesn’t clarify, but the first one does as it gives people more clarity on the offering.
In addition, thinking of skills from past jobs or projects you worked on that you know your clients would benefit from will help with building a strong brand positioning.
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Articulate your positioning:
Almost obvious, but with busy lives, we must show up in the spaces and places people spend the most time on, and that is their phones to occupy their ‘awareness’ on a daily or weekly basis. According to the app, RescueTime, people spend an average of three hours and fifteen minutes a day on their phones. Capturing attention using strategic content designed to set you apart from the crowd and making time to showcase your strengths during the times when you will have their nearly undivided attention is when you can start building a personal brand for yourself. Social media and the digital space is a noisy environment but done right, it can be a powerful use of your marketing budget as it gives three-dimensionality to your message. In this environment, not only can people see you and what you stand for, but they can also hear you, feel your values and personal beliefs and resonate with you as a person. A flyer in a mailbox, cold calling, or door-knocking might work for some people, but ideally, it should be a combination of all of the above creating an omnipresence for yourself.
“You have to take a stand for something in order to stand out”.
Create a plan
Once you have brainstormed your unique skills and abilities, it’s time to start building out a plan to showcase those strengths, points of difference, and knowledge using the leverage of social media, blogs, and email marketing platforms.
If you are not sure what type of real estate marketing is right for you, then take the ‘What Type of Real Estate Marketing is Right for You?’ Quiz, which will help you determine exactly where to start, even if you are just starting out, are an introvert, and if you don’t know what to write or say. Knowing the right type of real estate marketing for you will help you be more authentic as you build a personal brand for real estate
What are the key components of developing a personal brand for real estate agents?
Develop a one-sentence statement:
Use the position mapping example above to position yourself that tells people what you are about. This position statement can be used time and time again on social media profiles and anywhere where you would introduce yourself. It needs to eventually become so ingrained that you should be able to say it out loud in an instant. Here are some tips for working on that.
Instead of using nouns, use descriptive verbs. So instead of saying, “I’m Lesley Wells, Realtor in North Dakota helping families in Fargo find their ideal home,” it would be better to say, for example, “I’m committed to [excellence in service] and [communication], delivering results for you using my years of experience [What you provide them] in .. [Skills gained in a prior life stage, job, life]
Write about yourself and socialize
Social media is meant to be social. Socializing your unique abilities, not just about social media, but the other skills you have will help you stand out and position yourself differently. For example, you might be naturally gifted with home decor, be an amazing artist, or even love horse riding. Connecting with your audience in meaningful ways and weaving in a hook for your audience by telling your story will help you not only create authentic and genuine relationships but also start giving you the confidence you need to achieve significance and success.
Stand for something
By taking a stand for something, you stand out. Whether it’s your approachability, whether it’s your relentless drive to find a first home buyer their perfect home, or an investor the best return on their investment, people need to know what makes you stand out. This is a soul-searching exercise that gets you thinking about what you like doing best. Once you find that, it needs to start playing out digitally. It is all very well to have lead generation companies find out a radius of random people to ‘target’, or a mailbox outreach campaign sending gifts and postcards, but leads are people who will all have a ‘type’ that they resonate with. The more you show up digitally, the better your chances of finding people that resonate with you helping you find your true best-fit clients and then attracting more like your clients.
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