What are the best ways to build brand recognition BPers?

Question

Ladies and gents, I am in the Atlanta market and I'm looking for new and old grassroots strategies to create and build brand recognition. I have the social media aspect already being taken care of. I am also "listsourcing" some leads to my target group. I thought of the bandit signs but decided against it for quality reasons. What have you all found to be effective for you?

Adam Hershman · Answer

Hey Rhevon,

I'm not a RE expert by any means, so I don't know that these ideas translate well, but I have been a salesman of some sort for most of my adult life (my mother would argue most of my childhood and adolescent life as well). There are a few techniques I have used before for increasing brand awareness in a geographic market that have worked tremendously well. By far my favorite is to find out what youth sports are popular. For example in Las Vegas, where I live, soccer is huge in youth sports. There are over 30,000 kids playing in SNSA leagues (Sothern Nevada Soccer Association). This is gold! This is around 45,000 parents with children between ages 5-12 that you can impress. How? Easy. For me its water bottles, and I suspect this would work well in Atlanta as well due to the heat in both cities. I order 500 or so bottles of water with labels promoting whatever business I'm working for at the time, get myself a giant (i do mean giant, 250 quart capacity minimum) ice chest and give them away. For me its even easier because SNSA has a water vendor to help raise money, I donate the water to the vendor and I don't have to stand around to give it away, plus all the money goes back to the kids soccer. I used to do the same thing at UNLV sports events, but I was working for a company that donated to the school at the time. I don't think they would have been too receptive otherwise, but you can see what I mean. Usually those that are active in community events are more likely to offer recommendations, plus they know more people than you can imagine, which only broadens the reach of your marketing.

I hope that helps and maybe gives you some ideas on how to get out of the traditional "newsletter marketing cycles" as I call them.

Adam

Adam Hershman · Answer

Hey Rhevon,

I do use some more traditional techniques, you said you come from a sales background so most of this will sound familiar though, it is all my opinion not fact.

First thing to do is make sure you have a great logo, and have everything you do branded. That means if you give something out at an event it has your logo and info on it, if you send an email, it has a signature block with your logo and info on it, if you have a company car it's branded, every time, without fail, everything you do is branded. The easiest way to increase brand recognition without spending a dime, is to make sure your brand has a consistent image. The best brands don't even need to use their names anymore for people to recognize their branding (think apple, google, domino's, nike, etc.) Granted it would take serious time and money investments to get to that level, but you can see where I'm going.

Second, if you don't already have one, find a company to design a nice website for you. When I say nice, I don't necessarily mean expensive, or content rich, but something that is aesthetically pleasing and functional, and remember lots of branding. Nothing will kill a persons opinion of a business this day in age like a non-existent or cheap looking website.

If you want to go the opposite route you can spend a good amount of money making your website a fantastic resource, you can then use ad services like Google AdWords to drive local traffic to your site. Its a low cost option but effective option, and if you can gain the reputation of being a resource in your community, it would be invaluable. That doesn't mean you can't become a resource to your community without a website, and I believe in relationship building = value, and you don't get to do too much of that on a website.

You can use all the old strategies like direct mailers, open houses/networking events. etc. but in my experience if you want results that are abnormal, you can't use marketing strategies that are normal.

Adam

Adam Hershman · Answer

My pleasure, I'm always happy to help. There is a quote of Winston Churchill's that is both applicable, and the best freaking quote ever if you make t-shirts for community outreach.

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."

Adam

Rhevon Lewis · Answer

@Antonio Coleman  thanks for your input. I have a pro handling my social media presence and building my website. My partner and I have outlined a plan for what we will do in the market.

@Adam Hershman  we see eye to eye. All your suggestions are things we have outlined or started. Thank you for spending the time to share your thoughts.

Thank you all for your thoughts and suggestions. Rick H. my partner and I are getting new headshots will upload soon. I will check out your book suggestions.

Todd Heitner · Answer

Great suggestions on here.  As was alluded to, keep in mind that branding is about a lot more than just your logo, but also your reputation and the experience you create for clients.  Every interaction people have with you affects their view of you.  Think about every step of the process of working with you, from the initial contact till closed deal and beyond and look for ways to improve the experience.

Rick H. · Answer

Welcome to BP.

You have a unique name. That can work in your favor (or against you should you be associated with a negative message, event and especially an individual in the public eye).

What you really are talking about is good will, not branding. If you want to read about branding, buy the Dan Kennedy book on same in his 'No BS' series from Entreprenuer Press.

If you are looking for info on publicity, study Paul Hartunian. Although his presentation looks dated, the material is timeless.

You won't build up your reputation in a year, although you may already be a seasoned real estate person. Online forums respond to helpful contributions. Suggest you upload a very clear face shot pix and complete all your profile as you want people to know you, your goals and how your posts helps them.

Many, many people post a few times. Grab some attention or help, then disappear. Remember, it's about helping others, not "getting".

Antonio Coleman · Answer

@Rhevon Lewis The simple answer is by creating an educational real estate website to build your brand online. Now you say you have social media taking care of, I will like to know what you mean about that.

Just posting something on there is not going to get it my friend unless you really know who to market. It starts with he website, and do some building of your online presence and maybe a little seo here and there also.

You have to be found online if you want to build any brand locally.

Brandon Turner · Answer

Hey @Rhevon Lewis welcome to the site! Great to have you here! If you haven't checked out the The BiggerPockets Podcast yet, I highly recommend it!

Rhevon Lewis · Answer

@Adam Hershman  thank you so much for your input. From the moment you said I've been a salesman____most of my life... I was like yes! This is going to be good.

I am also a lifetime seller and a lot of my ideas came from selling. That was an idea clearly from outside the box. Personally as a parent I would be impress. Needless to say I will utilize that strategy. I love that it involves giving back to the community also! Have you utilized any of the traditional methods?

What are the best ways to build brand recognition BPers?

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