Real estate branding: How to build your brand

According to the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials (ARELLO), there are more than 3 million active real estate licensees in the U.S. On top of all the competition, real estate is a very personal industry: Individual real estate agents are often the face of their brands, prioritizing customer service and partnerships in a deeply human way. Coupled with just how emotional the journey to homeownership can be, it becomes clear just how important real estate branding is to building a successful business.So as a realtor, agent, or brokerage, how do you stand out from such a large crowd? Creating an eye-catching real estate logo and taking out some advertisements are certainly good places to start, but those elements are more effective when a strong, meaningful brand stands behind them. This guide to real estate branding shows you how to build your own brand to achieve more success in a crowded marketplace.

What is real estate branding?

Real estate branding differentiates you and your agency from all the other options available to homebuyers. Like branding for any other service, real estate branding shows the consumer why you’re the best choice for their needs. How is your practice different from the other options? What makes your service valuable? 

Branding involves recognizable elements like a well-designed logo and consistent colors or typefaces. Ultimately, those things all work together to evoke certain emotions in a customer. At the same time, they build that all-important brand recognition needed to attract potential homebuyers and build partnerships in the community.

10 essential steps for real estate branding

Now that we’ve uncovered the elements of a brand, let’s discuss the crucial steps to branding your real estate business. 

1. Decide your mission and vision.

The first step in branding is to define your business’s vision and values — the heart of your brand. Once these principles are clear, they’ll influence your mission statement to the world and help you establish your unique selling proposition to potential clients. 

Your mission statement is more of an internal guiding document that shapes the “why” behind your real estate practice. People want to work with businesses that share their values, which is why it’s important to share what makes your work meaningful to you. The brand statement, which you’ll publish on your website and on other public-facing material, tells customers why they should choose you over your competitors. Today, with endless customer options, you need to stand out from the crowd in order to attract clients. 

2. Research the competition.

The best way to know how you stack up against potential competitors is to understand what they do and how they distinguish themselves. Begin by examining the websites, social media pages, and advertisements of other real estate brokerage firms or agents that may compete with you. See how they talk to clients, how they promote their homes for sale or rent, and how they use their brand to stand apart from others. Save the posts, graphics, and logos that speak to you, and use these materials to create a “mood board,” or simply to have all the elements you like in one place. When it’s time for you to make your logo using a free logo maker, you’ll have creative direction if you get stuck.

Remember, imitation isn’t always flattery, so be sure not to directly copy anything you observe. Rather, use this information to check your own brand development process against what’s already out there.

3. Define your target audience

When you have a business, it’s all about the customer. Every business is selling something, whether it’s a service or commodity, and knowing your main customer is essential to shaping your message. Certain colors, shapes, and other design elements subtly (or not so subtly) communicate your core purpose, and the more you know about your target demographic, the better you can connect with them.

Your target audience can be defined by basic demographics such as age, gender, income, or marital status. For example, if your real estate brand’s mission is to help families find their forever homes, you’ll want to demonstrate that you understand the specific needs of parents, like knowing the best school systems or showcasing properties with big backyards so kids have space to play. You’ll also find real estate branding that builds its reputation on serving certain communities, such as LGBTQ+ individuals or first-time homebuyers.

This is all a part of your brand’s strategy, which serves as your roadmap. It establishes your future goals for growth and awareness so you can maintain your identity as your goals evolve.

4. Market your values as a benefit for potential buyers.

All companies have values or goals, but how do those values translate to helping potential buyers? Maybe you spend time learning about their plans for the future, and you always have toys on hand for the kids to play with while viewing spaces — or maybe you even provide daycare during open-houses. Identify those value-adds and tie them into your brand for an especially powerful impact on those looking for their forever home.

5. Build your messaging strategy.

Photo by Brands&People on Unsplash

Now that you know your unique selling points and have defined your target audience, it’s time to develop a messaging strategy to effectively and consistently communicate your brand. In a messaging strategy, you’ll include your positioning statement and support points that serve to address your audience’s potential difficulties and the solutions you offer them. These support points emphasize the singularity of your positioning statement. Then, you can communicate different variations of this messaging in email campaigns, website copy, social media posts, advertisements, and other “touch points” in which potential buyers may interact with you or your brand.

This messaging strategy is a function of your brand’s personality, which is like the personality of an individual. It encapsulates all the traits that make your brand unique, like tone of voice and use of color. 

6. Create a timeline to check in on your brand.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same goes for your real estate brand. It’s perfectly natural for things to change over time, including your target audience and the competitor landscape. As you put together your brand-building plan, set aside regular check-ins with yourself and some trusted colleagues or friends to make sure that you’re on the right path. Consider whether anything should change as your needs — and the needs of your customers — evolve. You can schedule these check-ins monthly or quarterly depending on what works best for you.

7. Pick the right people.

We’ve covered the importance of finding your target audience, but there are other people to consider, too. When building a brand, you’ll need a variety of assets for a fruitful marketing campaign. And, if you’re a realtor, you probably don’t moonlight in designing brand logos, so you’ll need help making your carefully crafted vision a reality. 

Enlisting the help of professionals can go a long way in helping you get started as you build your real estate brand. But if you’re a new business owner or real estate agent, you can still produce quality work without investing thousands of dollars in professionals, thanks to tools like Namecheap Visual: the one-stop shop for logo creation and website building. 

8. Establish your online presence.

Everything and everyone is online these days. You can have a killer brand identity and positioning statement, but people need to know about it. In real estate, potential buyers are looking for high-resolution images, quality video, and other enhanced content available to them around the clock online. 

A website is an excellent resource for realtors or real estate agents. It allows you to direct potential clients to one convenient resource where they can find your credentials, testimonials, and most important, your listings. It automatically bolsters your credibility. Use an easy website builder to save time and money when it comes time to put together a real estate site for your business. 

You’ll also need a logo to reproduce your branded content across materials and identify yourself to consumers. With Namecheap’s free logo maker, you can create one yourself, and use it to brand your venture with a totally unique, clean, and well-designed identity. Like every other aspect of your brand, this visual identity must be consistent, so make sure the proper use of color, typeface, and imagery is detailed in your style guide.

9. Be consistent.

An effective brand is a consistent brand. As you expand your reach and put your messaging out into the world, it’s essential that all touch points with customers strongly communicate who you are and what you do. Not only does this help build brand recognition and customer loyalty, but it’s vital for standing apart from your competitors. This is where a style guide comes in: It acts as a guiding light to ensure that your brand looks and sounds the same whether you’re posting on Facebook or designing a print ad for a local magazine. 

10. Get social.

Photo by dole777 on Unsplash

Potential homebuyers use social media to engage with potential agents and discover intriguing listings. Meet your customers where they are! Being active on social media gives you the opportunity to connect with existing and potential clients and to expand your reach. It’s also another chance to show off your brand’s personality with more succinct and potentially witty messaging. By using hashtags and following the right people, you’ll be able to speak directly to your target audience. But remember: Be consistent with your messaging. Keep it professional and relevant to your business. 

5 real estate branding examples 

Now that you know the components of a brand and the key steps for building a brand in real estate, it’s time to start brainstorming your own ideas. In branding, the best way to learn is from examples. Here, we’ll show you five excellent real estate branding examples and why they work. 

1.The Jills Zelder Group 

This Miami-based real estate business proves that it’s possible to make your mark in a big market. Through eye-catching colors, a simple but effective logo, and clear brand positioning, The Jills Zelder Group establishes itself as the premier destination for luxury Miami real estate using consistent messaging and impactful words like “Experience” and “Innovation.” Their website is easy to navigate, and their use of testimonials highlights their credibility to potential customers. 

2. Weiniger Realty

Weiniger Realty, a New Jersey-based real estate company, demonstrates the importance of substance over style. They implement simple design elements in their branding, but their messaging is personal and informative. They make it clear that if you go with Weiniger, you’ll be guided through the home selling and buying process. They also have a clear passion for the central Jersey area, which comes through in their town guides and helpful insights on the school system (an incredible benefit). The biggest takeaway from Weiniger is that content is king — cater to your audience and make it personal.

3. Luxury Portfolio International

As a realtor or real estate agent, you’re usually the face of a business, but a logo is the most recognizable part of your brand. It’s easily incorporated into all of your marketing assets, and it’s a symbol that helps in your quest to stand out. With all of that being said, Luxury Portfolio International’s logo is a perfect example of a simple yet dynamic design. The design utilizes the initials LPI in an elegant and timeless representation of the brand. The logo itself gives off the impression of luxury. Incorporate the idea of simplicity and timelessness into your logo design using a free logo maker.

4. Brown Harris Stevens

Brown Harris Stevens is another luxury real estate agency, but it has reputation and time on its side. Established in 1873, BHS goes way back, but they know that longevity isn’t everything when it comes to remaining relevant. They worked with a branding agency to usher BHS into the present day — and the effort was certainly a success. Their site is clean and elegant, which is automatically associated with luxury, and their new logo and slogan work well together. Both are identically stacked, and the slogan uses the same first letters (BHS). This, in turn, acts as a mnemonic device, forcing the viewer to not just think Brown Harris Stevens — but also Bold Honest Smart.

5. Century 21

Similar to Brown Harris Stevens, Century 21’s real estate reputation is enviable, but like BHS, they weren’t afraid to rebrand for a fresh and relevant look. Century also implements an elegant typeface and a gold and black color scheme that emphasizes opulence without being flashy. They’re consistent with their use of color in all ad campaign materials, which pulls everything together and reminds the public of who they are and always have been. A takeaway from Century 21 is to not be afraid of evolution and always look ahead concerning brand elements.

Promoting your real estate brand

We’ve covered the basics and given you real estate branding ideas, so now the rest is up to you. How are you going to take what you’ve learned about real estate branding and apply it to your company? Even if you’re a smaller business or an agent working for an agency or brokerage, you’re still a brand. As a brand, standing out from the crowd in a market of more than 3 million competitors is a lot to conceptualize, but knowledge is a powerful asset. And now you’re armed with ideas, tips, and tricks. 

Plus, Namecheap Visual offers simple and affordable tools to make your brand come to life. With their free logo maker, easy website builder, and business card maker, you can save time and money building a professional-looking brand. Thanks to tools like Namecheap Visual, you don’t need to be a designer or professional website developer to master the art of effective branding. 

So get out there! Build your real estate brand, establish your unique selling point, cultivate a marketing strategy, and stay consistent. There is an audience out there for you to capture and win over with your brand’s personality.