Tips For Realtors to Build Their Brand and Online Reputation

As a Realtor, one of the most important skills to have is the ability to market yourself and your services online. Many realtors will work under a real estate company's brand without differentiating themselves from other agents, while the most successful Realtors have established a brand for themselves, alongside what their company provides for them. Here are some tips to build your brand and online reputation:

• Build Your Brand - Stand out from the competition with your own personalized brand showcasing your style and what makes you different. Think about how you want your target audience to perceive you and use elements that convey your personality and working style. Once you establish a brand, be sure to stay consistent, standardize your designs elements such as logos, colors, styles, icons and fonts, so that people will remember and recognize your brand.

• Build Your Reputation - Ask for reviews and feedback from satisfied clients. Online reviews and testimonials are increasingly important with the majority of buyers saying that they check reviews and testimonials before making a purchase. Showcase your good reviews on social media and your webpage. Use the positive feedback to reinforce what you are doing right and make adjustments from your negative reviews. You may be able to turn a negative review into a positive or improve your business from collecting the feedback.

• Share and Create Relevant Content - Brand yourself as the local expert by creating relevant content that is unique and useful. You can also share relevant content from other professionals, but be sure to add your own comments or take on a subject instead of simply re-sharing. You can also ask others to share your posts and they will be likely to do so if you have also shared their posts in the past.

• Leverage Social Media - Many realtors get stuck in the habit of just posting templated MLS listings and market reports that many people do not want to see on social media. Instead, you should try to create personalized stories of a home-buying process, client testimonials, video market updates and local community activities. Be sure that you do not get too personal to where your profile becomes unprofessional. You may want to create two separate accounts one for business and one as your personal account.

• Personalized Website - According to the National Association of REALTORS®, 82% of agents who made more than $150,000 last year had their own websites. Your website should have more than just an IDX feed. Your website should tell people who you are and why someone would want to work with you. You can accomplish this by creating interesting content like neighborhood information, distinctive property descriptions, virtual tours, real estate resources, professional photos, market updates and videos.