It’s time to set the record straight — branding is more than a buzzword. Crafting a top-notch real estate brand separates you from the masses and gives prospects a reason to care about what you do.

But if your brand is the first thing people think of when they hear your name, how do you even begin tackling such an integral part of your business?

Modern real estate branding is about more than logos and business cards. It’s about using each awareness opportunity to its fullest potential. And with the right ideas and tools to implement them, bringing your best branding ideas to life might not be as hard as you think.

In this article, we’ve rounded up a series of stellar ideas to help you elevate your brand and build more demand for your services as an agent.

Real estate branding ideas

• Ideas for when you’re just getting started
• Broadening your brand reach on social media
• Extra credit real estate branding ideas

The basics of real estate branding

On the surface, it can be easy to confuse real estate branding with real estate marketing. The two are relatives but not identical twins.

Branding is the first impression you make on a prospective client. It’s your logo, colors, and slogan, personified by messaging that incorporates your unique value proposition.

Marketing is your branding in action. It’s the tactical steps you take to showcase your brand to your audience.

To define your real estate brand, go big picture. 

Start by asking yourself:

• What are my goals (both personally and professionally)?
• Who is my preferred audience?
• What are my audience’s key motivators, fears, and pain points?

Whether you’re a solo agent or the leader of an entire team, your brand should grow and evolve as you do.

Now that we’re clear on the differences between branding and marketing, let’s take a closer look at some of the key real estate branding ideas to consider as you grow your business.

Real estate branding ideas for when you’re just getting started 

1. Customize your website

Agents relying on out-of-the-box bio pages are missing out on a huge opportunity.

Your real estate brand needs a centralized and customized home — a destination where potential clients will discover everything about who you are and what you stand for.

Source: Kris Lindahl Real Estate

Choose a real estate website builder with deep customization features that can account for all your branding elements, from your logo to your color palette to your carefully crafted slogan.

Once your core branding features are in place, you can expand your website (and brand reach!) by offering a resource hub with key features and information important to your audience, such as guides about local attractions, schools in the area, interviews with community leaders, and more.

With a well-branded website behind you, you’ll be in a great position to boost your real estate search engine optimization (SEO), increase organic traffic to your site and get your brand in front of even more people. And with the right lead management system, you can take your branding to the next level and see how prospects are interacting with your site.

For example, with the Follow Up Boss Pixel, you can personalize your CTA with name, image, and phone number. Not only that, you can use almost any IDX website you want, change website providers any time, and stay in complete control of your data.

2. Schedule a lifestyle photoshoot

Just as stunning real estate photography instantly captures the eye and motivates sellers to buy, great portrait photography can go a long way in elevating your personal brand.

While we’re all familiar with the standard head-and-shoulders shot, why not give folks a glimpse into your life as a real estate agent with a lifestyle photoshoot?

Reach out to your local photographers and check out their work. How does it align with the feelings and emotions you’re trying to portray to potential clients? 

Whether it’s shots of you in the act of showing one of your top listings or sharing a laugh with the team in your next weekly meeting, find a professional who can capture you in your element.

As with the rest of your brand ID, it’s important to keep your look consistent. Consider using the same photographer to capture your headshot, plus a series of lifestyle images to use on your website, social media, and other marketing materials.

3. Step up your yard signs

Your brand is 100% unique, but you can still tap into other agents’ creativity to help spark your own ideas.

Is there an agent in your area who stepped outside of the box with their real estate sign and sign rider designs? Go ahead and let them inspire your own.

The trick here is to avoid falling into the trap of repeating what other agents in your area have already done. This can actually backfire, earning you a reputation as a copycat brand. 

Instead, zoom out. What is it about the sign that makes it memorable?

You can also take note of the other yard signs neighboring your listings to pinpoint additional ways to adjust style and color to help yours stand out.

Source

Broadening your brand reach

4. Establish yourself as a trusted advisor

What do you know? And what we mean by this annoyingly vague question is, “What niche knowledge can you share that emphasizes your brand?” 

For example, if you’re building your real estate brand around being the school district relocation agent, you might consider creating a dedicated platform to display knowledge in that area.

The great thing about this branding idea is that you can use any platform you choose to execute it in your marketing. For example, you could launch a microsite for a specific type of real estate lead (first time buyers in your city, vacation homebuyers, etc.), start an expert video series on YouTube or Instagram, or even launch your own real estate podcast diving deep into a specific area of the market.

Find your niche, establish yourself as the expert, and make your knowledge hub easy to find. For example, if you’re utilizing Facebook to share home improvement videos, include the Facebook icon on all your marketing — your email newsletters, personal emails to prospects, everything.

Source: The San Francisco Condo Blog

5. Share social media hot takes

As an expert in your area, you probably have a few updates and opinions to share.

Great news. Out-of-the-box, against-the-grain, or even mildly controversial content is a key ingredient of a strong real estate brand. For example, Tatiana Londono has amassed a 2.5M follower count on TikTok by sharing videos on trending topics like ‘What happened to the Silicon Valley Bank?’ and asking real estate agent friends what they did before becoming an agent.

But keep in mind, sharing a well-structured opinion requires more than rattling off a few off-the-cuff remarks then hitting the share button.

Ask yourself if the information you’re about to share aligns with your brand values. If yes, why should your audience care?

The content you provide should reflect your original thoughts and ideas, backed up by information from reputable sources that delivers real value to your followers.

Once you’ve identified your social media-friendly real estate topic, be sure to draw a clear line between your hot take and your audience’s key interests or pain points. This way you’ll be regarded with purpose, rather than seen as an uninvited guest.

6. Level up your video marketing

Videos are emotive by nature. People connect with real estate professionals when they see your face, hear your voice, and get a sense of who you are.

But uploading some listing photos with an animated text overlay isn’t enough. Video marketing has become a key branding tool for many leading agents, but as the game of video becomes more sophisticated, you’ve got to know your audience better than anyone else.

What do viewers want from your video content? Will subscribers look for thorough walkthroughs of your listings? Interviews with local business owners? Answers to their key real estate FAQs?

Select the real estate video marketing tactic that best aligns with your branding strategy and commit to showing up consistently.

A quick pro tip here, one major benefit of prerecorded YouTube videos and Instagram Reels is that they hand the reins over to your audience, allowing them to ask your advice in their own time versus hoping to catch you live. This can lead to a higher number of evergreen engagements and a wealth of great ideas for future content.

Source: Kyle Whissel’s YouTube video series

7. Make your open houses epic

Speaking of leveling up, when was the last time you updated your open house flyers and sign-in sheets?

From social media to videos, there are more ways than ever to market your open houses, but that doesn’t mean your printed branding materials should fall by the wayside.

The right flyer is still a great first introduction to potential future clients. With strong open house branding, you can make sure every touchpoint from then on serves to build a deeper connection between you and them — from the moment a prospect sees your Facebook announcement to the moment they sign in.

Start by exploring open house flyer formats that align with your brand aesthetic, then carry that through to your open house sign-in sheets for a consistent look. From there, all that’s left to do is make sure your open house scripts and follow up strategies are in line with the brand message you’re trying to convey to prospects and visitors.

8. Launch a branded real estate newsletter

Another commonly overlooked area for better real estate branding is your email newsletter.

Set yourself apart from the dozens of agents blasting listings alerts to their databases by giving readers a reason to engage with your brand. 

You could include additional information that prospects at all stages of the real estate journey might enjoy — for example, information on community events, market updates and advice, home improvement ideas, or even interactive elements like a fun quiz or poll.

If you’ve already launched your resource hub, video series, or other key campaigns, your email newsletter is a great way to bring it all together to give prospects a complete picture of what your brand is about.

Source

Extra credit branding ideas

9. Get active in community groups

Agents with strong real estate brands tend to be networking machines. 

Joining community groups for networking purposes is an easy way to grow your brand by word of mouth while expanding your sphere of influence (SOI). Just be sure to choose groups that align with the unique values and messaging your brand is trying to convey.

For example, if you’ve established community housing as a brand value, you could get involved with your local NeighborWorks organization. Or if your niche is selling older homes, you could join your local historical conservation group.

Passion inspires change. Taking an active interest in the values you care about will fortify your brand authority and bring you a sense of personal satisfaction knowing that you’re doing the right thing for the right reasons.

You could take it a step further by embracing leadership opportunities in your core community groups. Your name and brand will stand out even more when you’re confidently building connections in an active and guiding role.

10. Protect your brand with reputation management

Buyers and sellers are more informed than ever, taking a heavy magnifying glass to the industry professionals they choose to with.

Knowing what people are saying about you on social media, websites like RateMyAgent and Zillow, and Google reviews is key to strong reputation management.

What exactly is reputation management? It’s the act of actively monitoring the online reviews from past clients, your replies to these ratings, and even how accurately your information is listed throughout the internet. How you respond to reviews, positive or negative, speaks to your values as a business owner and is an essential brand element.

But keeping tabs on your online brand reputation can be time-consuming. Tools like Birdeye or ReviewTrackers can help you automatically detect information and give you every opportunity to protect your brand. 

Keep it consistent with Follow Up Boss

When it comes to real estate branding, there’s no shortage of good ideas. But resist the urge to roll out too many ideas at one time.

Some of these tactics run congruent (e.g., your website and professional photography) but others deserve a clear and focused ramp up period to make sure you’re able to execute consistently.

Because above any shiny new logo or snazzy video content, your prospects trust consistency. When you show up with the same care, support and empathy each and every time, that’s when your branding efforts begin to pay off.

Follow Up Boss is the robust lead management platform that helps you build genuine connections with each individual in your database. Get your free 14-day trial today and find out how features like integrating dialing, texting and email, plus personalized automations based on real lead activity, can bring you closer to prospects and clients.