The future for Realtor marketing is to dominate Non-Linear Internet Marketing. What does that look like? The local Realtor needs to shift their thinking to the simple formula of Brand Technology.
Its that simple.
Brand, for Coca-Cola and brand for John Doe the Realtor are two different things. For Coca-Cola or any other national or global brand, branding is time plus money. Given enough money and time, someone can say the words, "Set it and forget it," or "Have a Coke and a..." and you, the reader would know exactly what was being advertised or know exactly how to complete the sentence.
For the local Realtor, who doesnt have more money to throw at the problem of less sales, the definition of Branding is quite different. Its word of mouth plus sales. Repeating, branding for the local Realtor is word of mouth plus sales. In other words, if your sales are good, your brand is good. Theres only one thing you need to monitor no matter what your sales are - word of mouth. Word of mouth today is where sales will be tomorrow.
So, for the local Realtor, branding is about stimulating the right kind of word of mouth BEFORE someone chooses a Realtor. Its not about the experience a client has with the Realtor - that happens after the selection. The absolute key to word of mouth is stimulating prospects to at least call or email.
And yes, a selection of properties and listings is important, but lets fact it, once onto any website, a prospect has access to the MLS. The question is not about listings, its about branding. And branding as defined for the local Realtor is about stimulating word of mouth to the point that it influences the selection of a Realtor. By this definition, branding is nothing more than creating a point of difference in the mind of the prospect between you and all other Realtors.
Being a Re-Max agent or a Keller-Williams agent isnt enough anymore. The local Realtor needs more. The local Realtor needs an edge. The local Realtor needs a point of distinction that creates a positive selection advantage over the other Realtors in their market.
Being a big Realtor - selling more homes - is one way of doing that. And big is a factor in brand. Big can be leveraged to create an advantage. The problem with "big" as the sole linchpin for a brand is someone else always seems to have another way of measuring "big." So, "big" as the sole support for a brand often gets lost in the confusion of the marketplace.
The battle for brand is a battle for distinction and the battle for distinction is simply a battle for perception. In that crowded, over-mediated marketplace that is the world of the local Realtor, the perception is the reality. And reality is something youre either controlling or being controlled by. There is no middle ground for perception. And the fact is, no one is going to drop out of the sky and name you tops in what you do. You have to create it yourself, then hang onto it with all you have. Thats branding for the local Realtor.
Next time, well talk about the second half of the Local Realtor Marketing Formula, Brand plus Technology.
