When it comes to strengthening a brand, though, Realtors and brokerages need to cover more than the basics. For example, de la Vega has taken to publishing One Life, an in-house lifestyle magazine that is issued twice a year.
“Clients are not always interested in reading real estate statistics; they want to know about what’s happening in their city, the world, lifestyle trends,” de la Vega says, adding that 15-20 percent of ONE Sotheby’s budget is reserved for marketing and advertising. “It’s really important to not provide them only real estate coverage, but also discuss many subjects, especially culture.”
Other creative branding efforts come through collaboration. According to Related Group Executive Vice President Carlos Rosso, Related recent hosted a launch event celebrating the opening of a 35,000-square-foot Equinox gym in its Brickell Heights high rise. Rosso says 500 brokers attended the event. The three-story gym meshes with Related’s “Living in Action” campaign; in an effort to promote healthy living in the city, the building is also outfitted with gardens that produce edible food. The building, completed with Related’s signature luxury look, distinguishes itself from other Related projects through its environmentally-conscious appeal.
For individual agents, adhering to the basics might be as simple as leaning on their brokerage’s marketing. If Realtors want to stand out from the crowd, though, they have to create their own lane, separate from that of their brokerage.
“The brokerage is their foundation, but as an agent, depending upon what you want to do, you can never rely on and use that as your brand,” says Darin Tansey, vice president of Calibre International Realty.
Tansey, who devotes at least 10 percent of his budget to marketing efforts, takes out ads in print publications such as Ocean Drive. He maintains an active presence on social media, and despite the low retention rate, Tansey invests in direct mailing. At $1,000 to $2,000, depending on the print options, Tansey wants to optimize his brand’s exposure. All it takes is one deal, according to Tansey, to recoup that investment ten-fold.
Tracking the effectiveness of any campaign is a difficult task for brokerages and agents alike, especially in a service industry. Rosso and de la Vega say their respective firms trace calls to numbers that are placed in ads. For digital campaigns, de la Vega says ONE Sotheby’s uses Rezora, a program that allows the firm to monitor digital impressions, such as who clicked what and how long they remained on a given page.