English
Brand Elements: Market Identity
Importance of Branding:
A brand helps differentiate from competitors, supports referrals, and increases inquiries.
Core Brand Elements:
- Mandatory: Business Name, Photo, Font Usage, Slogan/Motto, Phone Number, Domain Name, Email Address.
- Optional: Number of listed phone numbers, Phone answering style, Style of dress, Car appearance, Use of technology, Website, Level of service/efficiency, Accessibility, Work area, open houseโ staging, Quality of property marketing materials, Direct mail frequency, Direct mail quality, Advertising quality/frequency, Signage, Pre-list packet and communication materials, Community involvement, Knowledge of the area and business trends.
Brand Promotion:
Brand elements should be reflected in email signatures, sign riders, websites, team logo shirts, ads, business cards, IVR listings, voicemails, and direct mail.
Crafting the Message:
Effective marketing messages should be memorable and persuasive.
Key Questions:
- Who is the target audience?
- What do they want to know?
- What is the goal (Repeat, Referral, Reputation)?
- What will make them act?
- What impression to create?
- What special offer to provide?
- What tangible service guarantee to give?
The 4 H’s:
Marketing messages should focus on at least one of the 4 H’s:
- Head: appealโ to intellect with facts (awards, statistics).
- Heart: Appeal to emotions (caring, committed). Use stories and testimonials.
- Humor: Make them laugh (ensure it’s not offensive).
- Hard: Offer a compelling deal (satisfaction guarantee, guaranteed sale program).
Focus on Seller Listings:
Generating seller listings can be a primary lead generation model.
Advantages of Seller Listings:
- Economic advantage: Seller listings are less expensive to acquire than buyer listings.
- Lead generation advantage: Marketing seller listings leads to both seller and buyer leads.
Seller and Buyer Listing Balance:
As a business grows, the proportion of seller listings also grows, with a natural balance achieved around $250,000 in GCI.
| GCI | Seller Listings Sold | Buyer Listings Sold |
|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | 4 | 6 |
| $80,000 | 8 | 11 |
| $150,000 | 15 | 16 |
| $250,000 | 25 | 25 |
| $750,000 | 64 | 56 |
Chapter Summary
The chapter emphasizes the importance of branding in differentiating companies and products in a competitive market. A strong brand distinguishes a company from competitors, supports referrals, and increases inbound calls.
Brand elements are divided into two main sections:
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Mandatory Elements: These are essential for creating a brand: \key\\โ\\word-wrapper question-trigger">business nameโโ (easy to remember and reflective of the business), logo (attractive and representative of the brand identity), font usage (appropriate and consistent), slogan/motto (short, impactful, and reflects the USP), phone number (clear and accessible), domain name (matching or similar to the business name), and email address (professional and easy to remember).
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Other Ways to Enhance Branding: These include various aspects of the company’s operations and interactions with customers: number of numbers listed on the card, how the phone is answered (polite and professional), dress code (appropriate for the nature of the work), car, technology usage (reflects modernity), website (content and design), service level/efficiency, accessibility, operating region, open houseโ organization, quality of real estate marketing materials, direct mail frequency, direct mail quality, advertising quality/frequency, signage, pre-listing package and other communication materials, community involvement, and knowledge of the area and business trends.
The brand should be clearly included in all marketing materials and communications, such as email signatures, advertising banners, websites, company logoed team shirts, advertisements, business cards, IVR, voicemail messages, and direct mail.
Marketing messages should be memorable (using catchy slogans or associating with famous people) and persuasive (comparing to competitors, offering guarantees, or providing unique offers).
Key questions for developing the message include: target audienceโ, what they want to know, goals (repetition, referral, reputation), what will make them act, desired impression, special offer, and tangible service guarantee.
Marketing messages should focus on one or more of the 4 H’s: headโ (facts and statistics), Heart (inspiring stories and testimonials), Humor (to make the message distinctive, with caution), and Hard (an irresistible offer like a satisfaction guarantee or guaranteed sale program).
Successful agents tend to build their lead generation model around creating seller listingsโ, as they are cheaper than buyer listings and also attract buyer listings.
Companies should allocate resources to develop and manage their brand effectively, ensure consistency across all customer touchpoints, adapt to market changes and customer needs, and focus on understanding their target audience and crafting persuasive marketing messages. There should be a focus on obtaining seller listings as they attract buyers automatically and reduce marketing costs.
