Many real estate professionals live in a state of confusion. They have trouble defining two major components of their brand that are a critical part of doing business with clarity. First, they struggle to define their ideal customer. We’re not talking about buyers or sellers; we’re talking about a thorough snapshot of exactly who they want to attract. They should know more than just the demographic information. They should know their phase of life, lifestyle preferences, types of cars they drive, ages of their children, etc.
Second, they have a difficult time determining their point of differentiation. The truth is, we each have multiple points of differentiation, so agents need to decide what they stand for that will also be meaningful to their ideal customers. When those two very basic things are not identified, it can cause confusion, and you can’t calculate the cost of this confusion. It is a double edged sword that affects you and your business in two different ways.
CONFUSION
You cannot calculate the cost of confusion. Especially in the real estate business, where you have a million options flooding toward you at once. You’re surrounded with shiny objects that you’ve been told will make you wealthy with very little effort. Sometimes it feels like you don’t even know where to start. Where should you market yourself? What should you say? How much money should you be spending? Your brand is actually what sets the tone and direction for everything you do in any kind of marketing. When it’s not clearly defined, and when you feel like a deer in the headlights, it causes procrastination at best and doing nothing at worst.
FRUSTRATION
If you are like most agents that we hear from, you’ve tried numerous marketing channels, lead generation platforms and even a ton of coaches and trainers. But it seems as though none of them work the way they should. The first thing that many of us do is blame those marketing platforms, coaches and trainers. But a lot of that is unfair blame. There are a lot of great marketing tools and fantastic coaches and trainers out there. Their job is to teach you how to use their marketing tools and systems, but it is not their job to differentiate you. That’s where personal branding comes in. So keep that in mind when you’re so frustrated because you’ve tried so many things that haven’t worked. It’s most likely not the marketing tool, coach, or trainer that is at fault. It is the way you’re using it, and how you are expressing what sets you apart. What is your message? What makes you different from everyone else who is using those same marketing platforms and systems?
OUT-MARKETED
When a competitor gets deal after deal and you wonder what’s in their magic sauce, you begin to feel defeated from a marketing perspective. This may come as a result of longevity in the market or simply being out-spent. However, most of the time the problem stems from the fact that your competitor’s brand is better defined. Whenever they market themselves, they stand out. These people are known for something, which means over time they attract clients because of exactly what they’re known for, and that’s when you get out marketed. You can’t control all aspects of marketing. There will always be someone with more signs, more listings, and a bigger marketing budget. But having a well defined, developed and displayed brand can often catapult you ahead of your competition regardless of their length of time in the market or the size of their budget.
OUT-SOLD
The worst part of getting out-marketed is when the prospect actually chooses your competitor over you. You’ve not only missed the ability to get on their radar, but now it’s too late! So you’ve not only been out-marketed, you’ve been out-sold. We realize this sounds brutal, but that’s what many agents experience. If you haven’t focused on building your personal brand first (before you market yourself) you probably don’t truly know how to sell yourself, who to sell yourself to, or where to sell yourself. All of those things are dictated by your personal brand and what you stand for, which is why it’s critical that you spend time on those things first. Whether you just started in real estate or you’ve been in it 30 years, it does not matter. If you don’t know who your ideal customers are, what sets you apart and what significant value you bring to those customers then, how on earth do you know what to put into your marketing?