Marketing is core to what real estate agents do everyday, and something I’m intensely focused on as Compass’ chief creative officer.

At Compass, I lead a nationwide team of more than 100 world-class marketing specialists, designers, producers and content experts tasked with helping our agents become the best marketers they can be.

Real estate is a personal business. Agents build relationships with their clients as they help them make the most significant financial and emotional decision of their lives. That’s why I believe that personal stories should be core to every touch point of agents’ brands.

These are the steps I’ve seen the best agent marketers take to build a great brand.

Start with what sets you apart

At Compass, we encourage agents to think about four core things that set them and their business stand out.

We use an interactive “Agent Branding Handbook” to help agents uncover those personal insights. Maybe it’s a property type or a neighborhood they specialize in. For other agents, it’s their backgrounds in music, sports or even their personal fashion that set them apart.

The characteristics that distinguish you should come to life across every piece of your marketing collateral. Your brand should reflect you, your life and your business.

Focus

In today’s marketing world, choices are abundant. Whether through Instagram ads, Facebook retargeting, print brochures, mailers or door knocking, the best agent marketers have a clear plan on how they handle the leads their marketing generates.

One of our agent teams at Compass divides its team members’ time evenly across different marketing channels to improve focus on each. One team member works on Google ads, another on Facebook, another on email, and one on Instagram.

All of the team’s content drives traffic back to one destination, optimized to capture interest and convert traffic into leads.

Too often agents send interest to different locations. Focus on one.

It’s more than a logo

When people think of branding, many think of a logo. The reality is that everything you do defines your brand. If you spam people with email they don’t want to receive, it will hurt your brand, even if you have a great logo.

Don’t get me wrong, a logo is important, and we design beautiful, unique logos for our agents, but their brand is so much more.

The materials you present at an open house, the food you serve, the signs you place in a neighborhood are all part of the experience your potential clients have with your brand.

Photography is everything

One of the most overlooked aspects of branding is photography. The best agent marketers are thoughtful about integrating art direction and photography into their brand.

Much of the content that tells a brand story in industries outside of real estate is based solely on photography and video storytelling. Those images and their quality create an experience for prospects no matter the medium — social posts, emails, print ads, videos and beyond.

Challenge what you know

The nation’s 2 million real estate agents could probably continue their current marketing and be just fine, at least in the near term. It’s true, much of what agents do today has been done for many years. What makes the best brands better, however, is constant improvement, something agents should strive for.

The world of real estate will continue to change. I believe that the agents most willing to challenge what they know will break through and connect in a world of infinite choices. Explore the things you can do to set yourself and your business apart with your brand.

Learn more about Compass and its marketing offering here.

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