What’s in a brand? In real estate, a brand is essentially how someone feels about you or your product based on their feelings, associations and experiences. Creating and leveraging a brand is an important way to stand out, but many agents make the mistake of making it about them. And that can be a stone-cold killer for your business.
This may be an odd analogy, but I recently gave the eulogy at my late uncle’s funeral, and it got me thinking about the difference between ho-hum marketing and marketing that breaks through the noise. An obituary gives the facts of a person’s life – it’s a bit like a life resume. But a eulogy tells a life story; a good one infuses memories and shares the impact a person had on others.
If you want to create a memorable brand, showcase how you make people feel and convey the impact you have on your clients and community, here are three tips.
1. It’s Not About You
I hate to break it to you, but it’s not all about you. In fact, the more you make your marketing about others, the more effective it’s likely to become. In any campaign we develop at the CENTURY 21® brand, we always look at it through the lens of “how can we make this something our network of over 132,000 agents* can take and add their own stamp to it.”
Agent tip: What resonates with your clients and prospects? What do they need? What unique ways can you help them? Jessica Beggins Houston with CENTURY 21 Beggins Enterprises in Tampa, Fla., embodies this idea. The content she shares on social media is all about providing valuable insights for her network. From custom neighborhood newsletters to tactical hurricane preparation advice ahead of recent natural disasters, everything she does is through the lens of engagement.
2. Own It
In the business of real estate, we spend our days talking about the power of owning a home. We should take our own advice. Don’t underestimate the power of owning something in marketing. Too often, we try to be all the things in all the places, but sometimes doubling down and finding something unique to fully own can create more impact than a wide net.
Consider the iconic gold jacket that agents affiliated with the CENTURY 21 brand strived to earn, which still remains a prevalent status symbol particularly with the CENTURY 21 global network. Heck, in an episode of “Friends” Chandler even mentions our “cool gold jackets” in a chat with Ross in Central Perk. If that’s not cultural relevance, I don’t know what is.
Agent tip: What is something you can lay ownership to in your branding? Is it a slogan? Is it a relationship with a local organization? Is it a uniform? Is it an advertising channel? Collin Bray with CENTURY 21 Cityside owns the Boston city life and even uses a townhome in his marketing logo to drive that point home.
3. Do you feel me?
As we prepared for the launch of the new marketing campaign for the CENTURY 21 brand in the coming weeks, we did an extensive audit of past consumer campaigns to understand the common thread that weaved through all of the past messages in the brand’s 53-year history. One distinct element stood out. It was a feeling of optimism, a feeling of joy. There were celebrity cameos, jingles, humor — it all made you feel something. Marketing is really just telling a story compelling enough to move someone to take action. Appealing to the emotional side of the brain (the side that actually influences final decision-making) rather than the rational side, changes the conversation.
Agent tip: Looking at your marketing through the lens of “what does this make my audience feel?” is a good gut check for what will be effective. CENTURY 21 Curran & Oberski broker/owner Adam Oberski focuses his social media content on highlighting what it feels like to work at the company by showcasing their culture of shared success. He also inspires his agents to go above and beyond by showing just how much heart he puts into everything. Recently, he led a group of CENTURY 21 network members to complete the Ironman Michigan 70.3.
Do I still have your attention?
If I do, here is my parting advice: Don’t let your marketing be an obituary, a resume of homes sold and transactions closed. Strive to make it a “knock ’em dead” story that moves people by unlocking the moments that illustrate the impact you have on the lives of your clients, the connection you have to your community, and the way your expertise makes a difference. First time a marketer has started an opening about death? Morbid, maybe. But it got your attention, though, didn’t it?
*data current as of 06/30/2024
English (US) · 