A How-To Guide for Branding A Real Estate Business
By Rachel • 8 min read, May 26, 2020
If you’re in real estate, you’re responsible for making the buying and selling process as easy as possible for your client. But before you can work a deal, you’ll first need to sell your brand to potential leads.
Whether you’re just starting out in the real estate business or looking to revamp, having a strong and approachable brand can be the difference between a good or bad realtor.
Deliberate real estate branding will help you:
- Gain recognition
- Boost your reputation
- Make you appear more professional
- Give a great first impression
- Make you stand out amongst competitors
In this guide, we’ll share some real estate branding tips, with some awesome examples to inspire you. Let’s get started!
Pick your niche
A great way to gain brand recognition and earn credibility in the real estate game is to establish your niche. Rather than trying to help everyone, a well-defined niche will make you stand out as a specialist and naturally communicate trust to potential leads.
Here are some characteristics to consider when positioning your brand in the market:
- Geographic area: What community or neighborhood do you want to target? If you’re just getting started, this is one of the easiest ways to position your brand in the market.
- Customer type: Who do you want to help? Are you focused on first time home buyers, business owners, or seniors? This will allow you to narrow down who you want to market your brand too.
- Property type: What kind of property are you looking to represent or buy? The answer to this question will be entirely dependent on your geographic location and customer type.
- Experience level: If you’ve been in the field for a couple of years then you definitely have an advantage. However, years of experience doesn’t make you an automatic expert. Be prepared to back up your years of experience with performance analytics, key learnings, and customer success stories. People don’t just want to hear about it, they want to see proof.
- Your personality: Your personality traits can pull people in by creating a personal connection between you and your brand. Are you driven and persistent? Or family oriented? Use an Enneagram personality test to understand your personality traits and use them in your brand!
- Specific expertise: A great strategy for those who are coming into real estate as a second career. Maybe you have past experience in interior design, construction, contracts, or negotiations. Your unique expertise will differentiate you from the pack!
Know who you’re serving and speak to them
Now that you’ve narrowed down your niche, it’s time to learn more about who you’re serving and how to speak to them.
Some questions you’ll want to answer while researching your desired clients are:
- What is missing in the market right now?
- What are some of the main pain points for your niche?
- Where does your audience consume most of their information? Are they online? Active on social media? Have access to a television?
These questions will help you focus your marketing efforts and create compelling content that your audience can consume. Take some time to develop a brand voice that will appeal to the people you want to work with.
If you’re appealing to first time home buyers, for example, your brand voice should be friendly and informative. These folks will have a lot of questions, and you need to stand out as the one with the answers. Speak your client’s language and you’ll have them hooked!
Pick a name for your brand
The name you choose for your real estate brand is a crucial part of your business. It’s got to stand out! Coming up with a brand name can be tough, and yes, stressful. So to help you, here are a few tips to consider:
- Keep it short and sweet: This will help your brand be more memorable to potential home buyers or sellers
- Research keywords: Some of the biggest themes in real estate business names are “[Noun] + Realty/ Real Estate”, as well as combining two words like “Luxury Agents” or “Home Pros”
- Check available URLs: More businesses, especially real estate are moving online. Having a URL that includes your business name ensures you’ll be easily found online.
- Available trademark: Building a successful brand takes a lot of time and money. It’s worth thinking about what you can do to protect those efforts by applying for a registered trademark.
- Use a business name generator: using a tool like Looka’s business name generator helps you instantly brainstorm ideas, check availability, and see logo designs. Finding a name has never been so easy or fun!
Design a great logo
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- Logo made in Looka
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- Logo made in Looka
Your logo is one of the first things your audience will see so you’ll want to make a great first impression. Learn about the key elements of great logos here.
Design your real estate logo now!
Design a website
Your website is your online portfolio, so its layout and design are just as important as the displayed samples of your work. Think of your website’s homepage as your business card or resume—does it stand out? Are your key achievements easy to find and review? Does it elegantly convey your style and personality? Check out this website checklist for more info on how to launch the perfect website checklist for your brand!
5 Examples of excellent real estate branding
To get you inspired, we’ve listed off some of our favorite real estate brands and why they work.
Brown Harris Stevens
Brown Harris Stevens (BHS) is an example of a real estate company with an excellent logo design. The typography is deceptively simple and immediately brings to mind high-end professional services. Not to mention the first letter of each word doubles up as an acronym for their slogan, “Bold, Honest, Smart.”
Century 21
Century 21 is a top player in real estate branding. After undergoing a rebrand in 2018, Century 21 introduced its sophisticated new logo while staying true to its original gold and black theme.
Halstead
A company that took a more creative approach to real estate branding is Halstead. Their branding stands out from the crowd with their bold and playful colors and typography, while still remaining professional and approachable.
C. Scott & Co Estate Agents
UK-based real estate agents (and Looka customer) C. Scott & Co maintain a perfectly consistent brand across all of their marketing channels. Their website presents a strong visual identity with the indigo and pink-gradient color combination. This color palette is maintained throughout their social media channels as well, giving the brand a deeper sense of legitimacy and professionalism. They’ve also chosen a great logo slogan to convey the mission and values of their brand!
https://instagram.com/p/CAdipywH8O3/
They also regularly share customer testimonials on their social media to establish credibility with future clients.
Life and the City
Life and the City hit a home run with their catchy business name. An ode to landmark HBO series, Sex and the City, these realtors have created a contemporary brand for Toronto city dwellers looking to buy a loft or condo.
Engagement with their current and prospective clients is maintained through a newsletter. Here, Life and the City sends valuable market updates, real estate trends, and some of their favorite listings out to their email subscribers.
Alport Home Staging
People are more willing to give you time and attention when your images make an impact. This applies to your website, social media, email and newsletters, and advertisements.
Looka customer, Alport Home Staging, let’s the work speak for itself through clean, crisp images on their website. All images have a similar feel to give you an idea of their interior decor style. Clean, minimal, refreshing, and bright!
Every real estate branding decision should be made with your potential customers in mind. Think about where your customers will learn about your services. It could be through a sign, your website, social media, content, or advertising. Your brand needs to stand out visually. Remember to design an impactful logo, choose a great color palette, and use clear images and you will definitely stand out amongst your competition!