Brand Storytelling Ideas for Real Estate Professionals
Choose 5 core values and let your audience know what you stand for by showing how you exemplify them.
Choose 5 descriptive words and tell stories about how they apply to you to define your image to others.
People enjoy spending one on one time with others who share their interests, beliefs, and experiences. Show others what you do when you aren’t working.
Share stories about your community, the people within it, and the charities you care about. Become the go to person for others to find out what is going on in their world.
Your brand is your reputation, and your reputation is your brand. It’s the story you tell plus the story others tell about you. If you don’t know what you want to be known for, the marketplace won’t know why they should choose you.
As a real estate professional, crafting a strategic personal brand starts by knowing who you are and how others see you.
You are Your Brand - Show YOUR Story
Your brand is your reputation, and your reputation is your brand. It’s the story you tell plus the story others tell about you. If you don’t know what you want to be known for, the marketplace won’t know why they should choose you.
As a real estate professional, crafting a strategic personal brand starts by knowing who you are and how others see you. A scary exercise for you, ask people whom you know and trust to describe what you stand for. If the story they tell you is different from the one you tell yourself, you’re not alone.
Most of us have been where you are, in blissful ignorance of our first impressions and reputations.
The GOOD NEWS – I’ve written a Values Brand Storytelling workbook to help you discover your core values and have stories to share with your audience demonstrating those values. Download it today.
Free - How to Tell a Values Brand Story Workbook
Not only do you get to know yourself, but you get content too!
Know Your Values
Without thinking, can you tell me what your 5 core values are?
Don’t worry, most people don’t know the answer or they think they know the answer and rattle off 5 values, then get stumped on my next question.
Tell me how you exhibit such and such value in your behaviour, choices, or philosophy?
When you can answer that question - you'll have stories to share and content to post on social media.
Know Your Strengths
Quick, make a list of everything you are good at. You know, those tasks that you are passionate about and do better than anyone else.
Now that you know what you are good at, you need to tell the story without sounding like a conceded mule. Tell stories of how you helped others with your incredible strengths. Great at negotiating, perfect – Try this – click the button for a story.
You’re the Real Estate Expert in your Brand Story
The market expects you to be an expert in real estate and you should at least provide a modicum of proof that you know what is going on in the market. However, don’t forget, people are interested in more than what their home is worth and what the market is doing compared to last week, month, or year.
If I’m not buying or selling in the next 3-6 months, do I really care what the real estate market is doing beyond the headlines?
What else can you talk about for hours on end? People like to engage with people who have the same interests as they do.
Create an Authentic Realtor® Brand Story
Authenticity isn't about being too casual and swearing because it's who you are. It's about being the best version of you and not trying to be something you are not. If you aren't a slick wall street stereotype, don't try to be one. Just be the best version of you.
Consumer dissatisfaction is due to brands missing expectations. No one likes to find out that the person they have been dealing with isn’t who they say they are, or worse, whom we think they are. Manage client’s expectations by being open and transparent about who you are and what to expect from you. Once you understand your core values and what you want to be known for, telling the story will become easier.
Tip: Before you post something on social media ask yourself, how does this align with my brand?
Create a Memorable Real Estate Brand Story
Manage your customer’s expectations by NOT telling them everything they can expect from you. That is not a Typo, hold something back. Something you can give them during their journey to purchase their new home. Real Estate Agents thank you gifts are always a nice touch, however, they are almost expected now a days.
Think about the different frustrations your clients have during their search for a new home. What can help them make a decision, save them time, or help them prepare their home for a showing? That unexpected extra will make a big impression.
When we receive what we expected to get, we are satisfied, however, when we receive something we were not expecting to get - we are blown away.
Structure Your Real Estate Brand Story
If you aren’t telling a brand story in your marketing, your audience has checked out. However, sometimes when you tell a story, they still check out.
Short and Sweet, like a Tweet!
Know which details are important and which will get in the way. Stay on topic and away from those tangents that seem so important, but aren’t.
What are you trying to say? Have a clear message and make sure it aligns with your core values, if it doesn’t, why are you telling it?
Structure your story with a beginning, middle, and end. Try to bring people back to the point by tying the end with the beginning.
End it with a call to action to let your audience know what you want them to do next.
Show Don’t Tell Your Story
A 15 year old boy was attending his uncle’s wedding. During the reception he approached the band and asked if he could play on stage with them.
The lead singer started the next set by telling the audience,
“This kid is going to come up and play a song with the band. It takes a lot of courage to stand up here and he’s only 15, so let’s be kind and give him a chance.”
While they played the drummer’s mouth was open in awe as he watched the boy and the base guitarist kept shaking his head. At the end of the song the lead singer addressed the audience again, this time he was enthusiastic and full of energy as he said, “Wow, now that is talent. You can play with us anytime.”
That is how my son showed our family and friends he is a rockstar instead of telling them.
People assume a lot when we talk to them and even more when we talk at them. In this case the band looked at the 15 year old kid who’d only been playing a couple years and assumed it would be a painful experience. What they, the family, and friends of the newly wed couple experienced, was unexpected and that is what made the moment memorable.
Social media is a good platform for showing what you do, however, most people only tell what they do and ‘hope’ for a sale, which results in more frustration than sales. How can you show you are a ROCK STAR?
Success in Real Estate is Location, Location, Location. Is Success in Marketing Content, Content, Content?
There is no denying that the internet has completely changed the face of trade for businesses and how consumers shop.
Ask Yourself:
How much time do you spend creating content?
Do people engage with your content?
Do you run into people who have seen your content?
How to get noticed:
With so many real estate professionals competing for homeowner's attentions, you run the risk of becoming lost amongst the crowd.
How do you make sure that your Realtor® brand are not just being seen but are actually getting noticed by your target market?
The answer lies in creating a strong content marketing strategy. Building one isn’t as difficult as you might think.
By understanding each platform and how people consume content, you can build a web of content to catch leads as they move along different platforms. A strategy ensures your web is effective and whole. Keep your web strong and fix any holes by mapping out where your content is being posted. Drawn out you can see how each piece leads your audience to other pieces of your story until it hooks them and they start seeking out new pieces for themselves.
Create a Realtor® Brand Storytelling Strategy
Real Estate Marketing Strategy
Create a vision statement
Develop a value proposition
Determine your unique selling proposition.
Prepare a 30-second pitch to use when talking to new leads
Have a unique signature item or a distinctive look
Choose marketing channels
Select tools to implement the plan
Measure performance
Get a professional headshot.
As you create your strategy you will discover brand stories to tell
Talk about your goal setting process
What is your vision statement and value proposition
Describe your best lead and ask if anyone knows someone like them
Create graphics, video, and images with your distinctive look or signature
Have a little mascot? Take photos of it around town & in listings - Elf on a Shelf
Explain why you chose the marketing channels you did
Write reviews of the marketing tools you are using
Share your headshot and a behind the scenes look
Real Estate Marketing Ideas for the Real World
Try experiential marketing - Event Marketing with Digital Interaction
Host a show on zoom for people to drop in
Host free seminars on topics concerning buyers or sellers in your area.
Partner with local businesses for community outreach
Create a referral partner system
Volunteer for leadership in community organizations
Join Toastmasters or start your own group
Leverage traditional media by sending PR Media kits to Journalists
Create a standout business card - or digital ecard to share
Organize a zoom group to watch Televised events like Academy Awards and the Super Bowl - Send out fun games like bingo sheets to engage people
Provide a complimentary moving truck
Send handwritten home anniversary notes throughout the year
Sponsor local events
Set up a fundraiser during a Charity's Month
Deliver Daffodils in April
Deliver Pumpkins in October with Carving sets
Deliver Turkey's in October (Canada) November (USA) or December
Celebrate Cultural Holiday Events at Your Office or Home
Advertise your business and listings in local media
Run an open house & invite past clients to drop in for a free coffee, treat, etc
Invite past clients to drop in to a local coffee shop to catch up
Create a physical high-quality mailer
Write a consistent column for your local media
Attend local events and network
Start your own networking group
Create a Loyalty points system to encourage engagement online and off
Realtor® Brand Storytelling Ideas from Real Estate Marketing
Brand Stories happen naturally when you are participating in the real world. Any one of the points from the Real Estate Marketing Ideas list will give you lots of content to tell your brand story with.
Step One: Pick an idea from the about Real Estate Marketing Ideas in the Real World List
Step Two: Determine the objective - what you want the result to be Start with the End in Mind
Step Three: Create a detailed plan or partner with someone with kick ass skills
Step Four: Create a content story plan by drawing out the storyboard
Step Five: Execute the marketing campaign
Step Six: Capture the event using photos and video
Step Seven: Create the content and start posting
Step Eight: Follow up with leads ask for referrals
Step Nine: Measure Results
Tip: Before you post something ask yourself, how does this align with my brand? If it does hit post. If it doesn't.... ask yourself, why am I posting this?
Other Brand Stories for Real Estate Professionals on APeeled
People are Choosing to Live ALONE
Its getting harder to find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, so hard many are giving up and embracing the independence of single life. Stats show single occupant homes has more than doubled over the last four decades and this trend is only continuing to grow in Canada and the US. The living alone trend began in the 1960s as the baby boomers valued their independence from parents, women wanted careers of their own, and divorce rates began to rise.
According to Stats Can, “Since the beginning of the 20th century, the average size of households in Canada has decreased, from 5.0 persons in 1901 to 2.4 persons in 2016. Along with smaller households, the proportion of one-person households grew rapidly, from 7% in 1951 to 28% in 2016, the highest level on record.” In the US, the trend was very similar, “In 2020, approximately 36.2 million people were living in single-person households in the United States.” (Statisca.com)
The trend continued over the last thirty years with ... Read more about living alone
What is a Personal Brand?
It is you, your story, your image, and your reputation. The hardest part of creating a personal brand is knowing yourself well enough to be able to tell your story honestly, positively, and consistently. Once you know what to say, you will discover content everywhere you go.
Narrow Your Message
You are better off with a few followers who are actively engaged with your content than a lot of followers who never see you. Engaged followers spread your message and tell others what you do. I am lucky to have a handful of people telling people how wonderful I am at what I do. However if they don’t know what I do, the message can get lost in the details and the person they are talking to becomes too confused to be interested in my services.
Marilyn Anderson, goes to various events in Vancouver to meet new people and find the right connections for our clients and myself. It is important ... Read more about Personal Brand Storytelling
Learning about SEO to Rank for Brand Storytelling
To know what to write about, you need to know which words people are typing into the search engines and that takes research. I started studying SEO back in 2005 by taking the Moz courses and following Rand Fishkin. Over the years, I'd dip a toe back into the SEO waters to learn how Google changed the rules to improve searchers experiences and to penalise those who tried to game the system. With every major update two things consistently remained of top importance – Keywords and Backlinks.
Sitting here in my bubble overlooking downtown Vancouver, I couldn’t even start to guess which words people were typing to find people who created content to tell brand stories, let alone if anyone was searching. Which words would bring me the traffic I needed to obtain clients who wanted their own digital magazines and readers for those magazines?
