Becoming a real estate agent is a big decision – and with such an important career change, it’s also crucial to make sure you’re doing everything you can to set yourself apart from the rest of the competition.
What is your competition?
According to BCREA British Columbia has over 23,000 licensed real estate agents. Speaking from experience in my close social friends’ group I have 15 realtors! How am I supposed to refer my business without getting any one of them feeling discouraged? I wish I had 15 friends selling houses!
To stand out, the real estate industry should be treated like any other business where you need to know your target audience and be clear about what product you’re selling so people choose and remember your brand.
What does the brand look like for a real estate agent?
Let’s define what branding is:
The practice of giving meaning to specific organizations, businesses, products, or services through the creation and moulding of a brand in consumers’ minds is known as branding.
It’s ok if it sounds vague, abstract or even mysterious. This is why I am writing this article, to help real estate agents (and other business owners) create their own brand and start thinking about their personal business brand.
What your brand meaning should communicate?
Real estate agents help people to sell and buy houses.
A home purchase is one of the most meaningful and expensive purchases any individual will do in their lifetime. This is pretty meaningful, right?
Think again, there are 23,000 realtors in Vancouver thinking exactly the same thing. Sometimes they also decorate their “meaning” with “professional service”, “easy to work with”, “luxury real estate”, “friendly” or “experienced team”.
All of these attributes are very important but I am looking for a soul of a real estate brand that is unique to you and only you.
Does your brand have a soul?
The truth is most real estate agents including small business owners haven’t thought deeply about this.
Sure, there is a rush to jump into business and there is no time to ponder about the abstract concepts I am throwing here. However, trust me, the subject of your real estate branding is what can make or break your business.
Your brand soul will keep you going when you will be feeling like you are ready to give up, it will create a unique connection with your clients and it will serve as a cinderella shoe leaving your clients searching for you.
The human brain mostly operates on non-verbal clues. When your real estate brand is lacking a soul there is no consistency between what you say and how you show up in the world.
A clear defined brand will shape how you show up for your clients every day, how you talk on the phone, express ideas on social media and even what friends you choose to surround yourself with.
How do we communicate brand meaning?
Often we hear that brand design and logo design are used interchangeably. In my opinion, a logo is an important element of branding but narrowing it down to a simple logo design creates a serious hurdle for your brand.
Brand design is a system of brand touchpoints and a visual style guide ( brand colours, different fonts, icons, etc.) which includes a logo of course. Here are some typical brand touchpoints real estate agents use in their branding:
- Real estate logo design
- A business card displaying your logo
- Personalized thank you card with your logo, photo, etc.
- Signages with your business logo and name
- Letterhead with your logo, name
- Email signature with your logo, name
- The website will include your logo
- Social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Linked In, Twitter, TikTok)
- Welcome home gift (will display your logo)
- Personalized holidays cards
- Ads and billboards will include your logo, name
You may have noticed that I pointed out where your logo will be used. Yes, it will be used everywhere, therefore it must be designed with a deep understanding of your brand!
A perfect logo should be simple, professional, and timeless.
I specifically wanted to point out the importance of the logo because I see how many real estate agents choose not to use a logo or opt-in for a quick icon of a house from a stock imagery website.
Did you know that our brain doesn’t remember graphics that display a clear lack of imagination and meaning? Brains are meaning searching machines!
Real estate personal branding: Photo vs Real Estate Logo
Some real estate agents argue that their own photo serves as their “logo” or “personal identity” – but then again think about 23,000 realtors with their photos displayed around the city.
Even though our brains like faces and instinctively look for a face in the crowd or anywhere else (!) we are also drawn to abstract shapes and colours. Therefore, creating a unique real estate logo supported by a fitting brand colour palette will set you apart.
What are your core personality traits?
When working on your real estate logo, think about what is important to you and what makes you unique as an agent. What are the words that best describe you? How do you serve your community, your clientele?
Do you want to be remembered for being a realtor who is fun and outgoing or one that can build deep lasting relationships? Or maybe, it’s about the trustworthiness of your real estate team or being always available to accommodate your client’s requests? Modern and cutting-edge? Fun and quirky?
When thinking about your real estate logo keep in mind:
Your logo should identify NOT illustrate.
A stock image of a house,or a roof, in your real estate logo will blend you in with the rest of the Realtors who are not willing to ponder and think how they want to be associated with, and how they would like to be perceived.
The logo should strive to be timeless.
Don’t pursue a trendy font or colour. The last thing you want is to look dated in a year or two. Logos designed for you to communicate your brand goes beyond trends because they connect with a deeper meaning you carry out to the world. Such an approach can not be simplified to a time-specific landscape.
Your real estate logo should be simple.
Simple is complex. It is difficult to achieve a masterful simplicity that captivates attention. Communication of complex ideas in a simple manner requires distillment of all other elements that are not as important. We must identify what is essential to your brand based on an understanding of its meaning.
Also, logo simplification will allow a wide range of applications, from business cards to website headers. Too many elements or intricate details will just make it difficult to use and reproduce.
Real Estate Logo Case Study
Let’s take a look at my latest client and reveal the meaning of his brand and how it was communicated in his real estate logo.
Meet Dylan
Dylan approached me when he was joining a new brokerage and was looking to rebrand. Dylan has a vivid personality, excellent communication, outgoing attitude and youthful curiosity about the world around him. His target audience is residential clients in the lower mainland looking to sell or buy real estate.
His old personal brand did not communicate his essence. He used to have a generic photo and a logo from the associated brokerage on his business card, website and signs. There was nothing that spoke of his uniqueness.
At the beginning of the process, I wanted to have a very good understanding of his ideal client. I needed to know who he is selling to and where they live and what are their passions.
Brand workshop #1: who is your ideal customer?
During our initial brand workshop we came up with an ideal client profile that can be summed up as the following:
Ideal clientele profile
Couple: Mark and Mindy
They are both in their mid-thirties currently residing in Burnaby and looking to buy in Vancouver. They are looking for a detached multi-level home with a separate suite that Mark can rent out as an income-generating mortgage helper.
Mark works in IT for a worldwide company with its head office in Vancouver. Mindy is also in IT and runs a successful business that she operates from home.
Mark is a detail-orientated professional who relies on Dylan’s expertise to create and explain competitive market analysis on the recently sold property statistics in the neighbourhoods this couple has shortlisted as ideal areas to live.
Mindy is focused on the kinesthetic beauties of character homes and pays attention to details and elements of architecture that align with her family palette.
Both Mark and Mindy have recently moved to Vancouver and looking for a place they can start a family and join a community based on their interest in art and nature.
Why would they choose Dylan?
Dylan will appeal to them because they like his warm demeanour, attitude, knowledge about Vancouver, personality, and real estate market. He comes across as a friend and someone who would show up with their best interest in mind.
Dylan is a humble intellectual who can toggle between science-driven modality and appreciation of aesthetics, interior design and blending of varied topics. His mastery in emotional intelligence and understanding of human needs is a consequence of years working in a social group support network, building and supporting a team of 75 real estate agents at his previous position, building and selling an IT business, living and travelling to over 40 countries for many years.
Dylan is very good at problem-solving, mitigating stressful situations and coming up with abstract solutions in complex scenarios. As icing on the cake, Dylan is also a helicopter pilot and can show rare unaccessible real estate properties by air!
Branding workshop #2: identify your core brand values
After another brand identity workshop with Dylan, we identified Dylan’s strengths and why Mark and Mindy will work with him. Next my job was to bring this alive in a visual form through a brand identity designed specifically for Dylan to set him apart.
In Dylan’s new identity we wanted to communicate: culture, the essence of Vancouver, nature, real estate, contemporary, modern, youthful, minimalistic, clean, fresh, colours.
Colour was a very important property for Dylan to feature in his logo. He wanted to stand out from an industry classic use of dark blue and black. Indeed, colour can say so much about your brand!
Colours can improve brand recognition by up to 80% according to one marketing study. Color is one of the most essential components in attracting consumers’ attention, interest in the product, and encouraging purchase decisions.
Coloured advertisements can attract people to read the advertisement up to 42% more often than the non-coloured advertisement (The influence of colour on memory performance : A review). This demonstrates how colour aids in the retention of information or a message by making it more appealing to the potential client.
Real estate logo design sketch phase
During the creative process, colour became a leading element.
However, in my designs, I introduce colour very last to focus on the form.
In Dylan’s case, I had to think about how I can introduce colours into the design early on. After numerous ideas and sketches, I came up with different concepts in black and white. My main objective at this stage is to explain to the client the design concept behind the brand.
Just a few logo concepts
It’s natural for a client to gravitate to the safest standard solution at first, however as the client builds a relationship with the designer, the client becomes more open to the discovery of new fresh ideas.
Remember, your logo becomes the most precious visual brandmark you will carry everywhere. It will remind you of your brand values and communicate your brand essence to your clientele on a gut feeling level.
Design is a logical process where creativity brings a surprising spark for the audience’s entertainment. This spark makes your mark memorable.
What does the logo communicate?
You can see in Dylan’s logo there is a block consisting of 5 strips. Each strip reminds Dylan of his five core qualities: culture, intelligence, adaptability, love for nature and versatility. The block also represents a highrise while the roof represents a detached home.
One of Dylan’s main objectives in business is to help young families to move from a condo to a detached home so this connection is vital. The door is a symbol of new opportunities and new beginnings. Dylan’s tagline “Welcome Home” gracefully accents this message.
Let’s talk about colour selection
During the colour selection, we went through at least a hundred variations of shades of blues, oranges and purple. Dylan had a strong preference for sunset colours but he also wanted the logo to have a classic minimalistic feel.
Color inspiration for Dylan’s logo design
The final colour scheme is approachable while also conveying a sophisticated and delicate vibe.
Typography is CRITICAL in your brand identity.
You can spot whether someone hired a professional graphic designer by simply looking at their selection of fonts used on a business card. Isn’t it incredible how much can be communicated through fine details of typography?
However, in most cases, most people don’t see these fine details. They just get a gut feeling that they can’t trust you or your business. Something just doesn’t feel right for them.
Typography is gravely underestimated by many small businesses. This is a great example where the good graphic design will help you win over a potential client. I will dedicate an article to the typography but for now, let’s get back to Dylan’s case.
Logo design in use on business card
For Dylan, we picked a combination of bold solid contemporary sans serif font and lighter font to compliment his new logo. The bold font will work well on signs and car decals while the finer font will bring an intricate and sophisticated feel.
At the end of this branding process, Dylan is walking away with a clear understanding of his business values. He knows exactly what clientele to target, what his strengths are and what makes him stand out from 23,000 realtors in Vancouver.
He also has a logo, brand style guide and visual brand touchpoints he will adapt to communicate his core values and keep him on track on the path of success.
Let’s sum up the real estate logo design process key points
If you’re a real estate agent in Vancouver – you’re competing with 23,000 other real estate logos, therefore you must find a way to stand out.
When you design your real estate business brand – think that it will communicate with your clientele through a gut feeling. If your real estate logo brand is inconsistent with you or other brand touchpoints your client may not trust you and walk away.
- Your real estate logo is your brand’s visual mark. It communicates your brand essence.
- Keep your logo simple, memorable, creative and timeless.
- Your logo should identify NOT illustrate.
- Colours can improve brand recognition by up to 80%
- Typography can make or break your business. Don’t underestimate the power of great font! (Consult your designer!)
If you’re looking to brand or rebrand your real estate business, or are just starting in the industry – it’s important to consider everything from your logo to your website design.
At a very absolute minimum – good clear branding will help you to retain at least one client per year! But on average it will elevate your business and let you go as far as you choose to.
If you like my process explained in Dylan’s case study and look for a graphic designer to assist you on the brand journey – let’s connect!
Warmly,
Masha
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