Build your business. Brand your brokerage.

dotloop

May 21, 2018 | comments

Creating a strong brand awareness is easier than you think with the right digital tools

Consider the companies that come to mind when you think about beverages, shoes or cars. Coca-Cola, Nike and Lexus, for instance, are three very different brands, yet they share one important ingredient.

These companies don’t just offer products; they have created memorable brand awareness that resonates with their customers on an emotional level. Nike isn’t just selling shoes; it’s selling motivation. Lexus isn’t just selling a car; it’s selling luxury. And Coca-Cola isn’t just a beverage; it’s selling happiness.

To leverage this same awareness in the real estate industry, you should aim to build strong branding that reflects your brokerage’s cultural identity. Here’s how:
 

4 Ways to Brand Your Brokerage

 
Branding can help a real estate broker attract the right talent and retain existing employees by establishing a sense of alignment and loyalty within the organization.

Agents want to work for a brokerage that they’re proud to display on their business cards. Having a name that local buyers and sellers recognize adds to their credibility and, quite literally, opens doors to new customers.

Here are a few ways to help you build your brokerage’s brand:
 

1. Understand Your Audience

 
Before you dedicate time to developing your brand, start by defining your target audience: Do you want to work with buyers, sellers or both? Are you targeting specific populations, a particular life stage or demographic?

Maybe you’re a brokerage like Vera Realty in South Florida, who specializes in overseas investors. Or your specialty might be relocating young families in a community with a great school district. Perhaps your brokerage is defined by types of property inventory, such as luxury real estate, sustainable architecture, in-city properties, fixers, new construction developments or condos. Are there gaps unique to your local real estate market that your organization could fill?

Metro Atlanta Brokers, for example, is dedicated to pairing homebuyers with their perfect community. On the brokerage’s website, there’s an interactive list that lets clients easily explore the history, highlights and hotspots of each neighborhood.

Whatever corner of the market characterizes your specialty, your branding should position you as an authority in that area.
 

2. Craft a Compelling Story

 
Every organization has a story to tell, and a brokerage is no different. Who you are and what you stand for will define your brokerage’s brand story and how it’s viewed by others.

Don’t think of your brand story as just another addition to your marketing materials. It’s more than an ad – it helps generate trust and showcase company values from the beginning of any client relationship. A brand story should inspire interest and help foster a connection between you and your customers.

Consider these great taglines and the story they tell in just a few words:

• Right Tech. Right Terms. Right Now. – Real Broker LLC
• Expect Better – Metro Atlanta Brokers
• Move Boldly – Nest Realty

GoPro leverages its brand story to captivate current users and spur interest from new users. Founder and CEO Nicholas Woodman describes it well on GoPro’s website:

“GoPro helps people capture and share their lives’ most meaningful experiences with others – to celebrate them together. Like how a day on the mountain with friends is more meaningful than one spent alone, the sharing of our collective experiences makes our lives more fun. The world’s most versatile cameras are what we make. Enabling you to share your life through incredible photos and videos is what we do.”

When people ask who you work for – your brand’s story should be your answer.
 

3. Agents as Brand Advocates

 
Encourage your agents to share their connections to your brokerage’s brand story on their social media channels. Personal stories are humanizing and help create additional recognition for your brand, making it easier for customers to relate to your agents on an emotional level.

Agents can also serve as brand advocates by requesting customer testimonials. Solid online reviews that detail customers’ experiences working with your agents help broadcast your brokerage’s brand in a positive light. These are the insights that new customers actively look for in an agent. Plus, most customers who are satisfied with an experience are happy to share with others.

Your agents can efficiently procure post-close reviews by integrating their dotloop account with Zillow’s Premier Agent. Once linked, the agent simply needs to click a button, which triggers dotloop to send a review request to the client, rather than require the agent draft a new email to every client. You can then leverage these testimonials on your website, social media channels and marketing materials to reinforce your brand.

Dotloop also offers another seamless opportunity for agents to share your brokerage’s branding. When an agent shares documents via dotloop for Teams or dotloop’s Business+ products, your branded tagline automatically displays on every document shared with co-op agents and customers.
 

4. Ensure Your Brokerage Has a Digital Brand

 
Giving your brand a digital presence will make your brokerage easily identifiable on multiple owned social channels like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. By leveraging the social media channels where your customers are most active, you can build brand awareness for your brokerage without the need for expensive TV or print advertising.

It’s important to develop brand guidelines and maintain a consistent style throughout your various platforms. One way to establish consistency and brand awareness is to use your company’s logo as the profile picture on all of your social media channels.

It’s also essential to use a logo or watermark when sharing blog posts or images of properties. Someone browsing online will then visually align your brokerage with the content.

Remember, great brand awareness doesn’t happen overnight. It takes cultivation and prioritization at all levels within your organization.

Tell us about your brokerage’s story and how you create brand awareness in the comments below.