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When creating a brand, professionals often get caught up in the aesthetics — the trendy font, the eye-catching color scheme or the unique logo. While those things matter, four branding experts said the secret sauce lies in creating a distinct, authentic feeling that homebuyers and homesellers won’t forget.
Agent Upgrade co-founder Kevin Knight asked the Inman Connect MARTECH — short for marketing tech — crowd to imagine walking into a grocery store and going to an aisle with rows and rows of brightly-colored bags of chips. Many of the chips on the aisle are made with the same ingredients and have similar taste profiles. But what makes you choose Plain Lays potato chips over another brand? Or what makes sour cream and onion Ruffles the right choice for a family barbecue instead of Cheetos?
“Who are you marketing to? Who’s gonna buy your products? Spoiler alert: it’s not everyone,” Knight said on Tuesday while standing in front of a screen emblazoned with rows of chips. “What attracts that audience to you, right? For the barbecuing dad, it could be the sour cream and onion ridges on Ruffles that resonate with him and that’s what attracts it. That would be a value.”
“Then you’ve got your style, how you present yourself, how you communicate. It’s what you drive. It’s what you wear,” he added. “It’s how you talk. And then you’ve got the essence. And the essence is, ultimately, that feeling that you leave people with after every interaction with your brand.”
Sydney Miller and Kevin Knight | Credit: AJ Canaria Creative Services
Knight and his business partner, Sydney Miller, pointed to Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, REI Co-Op, Mercedes Benz, BMW and Volvo as shining examples of branding done right. Each company, they said, has a clear vision of its target consumer and has built a brand that connects with its consumers’ pathos.
“REI is a brand that [reflects its values] extremely well,” Miller said. One of the campaigns that they did that I think really shows their values is a campaign they did a few years back called Opt Outside. Basically, on Black Friday, they shut their doors, which is unheard of, right, for like a big retail store.”
“They said, ‘You know what? Instead of going shopping at REI, we’re gonna be closed. Go outside,’” she added. “And what does that show you? It shows you that REI values its values more than even making sales … That is how they’re able to really build this loyal community around them — because they stand for something.”
Miller and Knight said setting company values and boldly following through on them — a la REI — is what gives a company name or logo meaning. To prove the point, they flashed logos for Mercedes Benz, BMW and Volvo and asked the audience to yell what words come to mind.
“Luxury!” someone shouted for Mercedez Benz. “Performance,” another person said about BMW. “Safety,” another attendee said about Volvo.
“People ask me who the strongest brand on earth is,” Knight said. “I think it might actually be Volvo because it doesn’t matter how big a room I do this in, anywhere in the country, when I show the Volvo logo, everyone sees safety.”
“To Sydney’s point, you don’t have to say it necessarily. This is not a tagline or a slogan or something like that,” he added. “This is how you communicate your whole self in every single interaction.”
Moderator Katie Kossev with Griff O’Brien and Elias Astuto | Credit: AJ Canaria Creative Services
In a separate session, Estate Media co-founder and CEO Griff O’Brien and #TEAMFAST Powered by eXp Realty Director of Sales and Coaching Elias Astuto said video content is the most effective and dynamic way for agents to strengthen their brands and stoke growth through authenticity.
“The opportunity is for us to speak our voice, our purpose, our cause, our crusade, our mission,” Astuto said of video content. “When you’re aligned with that, then what happens is that you have a sense of freedom. But I feel like we all battle at some level when we’re starting out in this game with the imposter syndrome.”
“Well, the moment that you can get rid of that imposter syndrome and just be whoever the heck you are and be comfortable with it, I think that’s when the freedom comes in,” he added. And now you’re free to be yourself; it’s like being in a good relationship. But don’t chase the vanity…”
Astuto said agents need to focus on providing substance in their videos, which gives your sphere of influence a clear, realistic picture of who you are and what you bring to the table. O’Brien said that focus on substance extends to the visual mediums agents choose to connect with their audience.
“If you try to force someone right into a medium, or a series, or some piece of content that they are not excited about, it’s going to show, and it’s going to come through on screen,” O’Brien said. “So we’re really focused on creating IP and assets with talent, whether that’s a newsletter, whether that’s a podcast, whether that’s a video series, it might be [an] option for television.”
“It always starts, again, with what you are an expert in, what you like, and what challenges you are currently facing,” he added. We always start from that central premise of, again, what you have perhaps wanted to do that you have not been able to, and how can we then help get that done?”
Although most agents’ goal for video content is monetization, both men said agents must have other motivating factors, as growth may come slowly. Once agents are clear about their main motivations and who they want to connect with, they can stick to a plan that provides satisfaction and long-term success.
“As you’re starting out, ask yourself a very simple question. Who is this video for?” Astuto said. “If you’re a mom and you’re balancing being a mom and a wife and an entrepreneur, create that type of content because then other people see it like, ‘Wow, if she can do it, I can do it.’”
“At the end of the day, it’s what’s in it for them, and then leveraging other people’s audience,” he added. “If you’re out in a community, you’re shooting a video at the local bakery, or wherever it is, you tag that company, and your hope is that they repost that. Then their audience gets to see your face.”
“I’m like, ‘Oh, I like that bakery. She likes that bakery. I might want to follow her,’” he added. “Then they go to your page and they see your lifestyle. They see the things that you are doing with your family, who you are as a human. And you know what? Now I want to stay.”
If this sounds daunting, both men said agents can start by building a robust email list that’s not subject to wild algorithmic changes on social media sites and creating content buckets that make it easier to generate posts. Some of Astuto’s favorite content buckets are inspirational, educational and conversational — each one creates a dialogue between an agent and their audience.
“How can I produce something that is shareable, saveable and of substance?” Astuto said. I don’t care about the vanity metrics. I want to know how many people are actually going to save this, come back to this, and how much value that is. When you stop chasing vanity, then you can start to be more yourself.”
Email Marian McPherson
