How Can An Agent Develop Their Brand Effectively?
Colleen Pye, real estate agent with RE/MAX Realty Center in Cypress, TX, decided to have her truck wrapped back in 2009, meaning having her picture and contact info “wrapped” on her truck to make her presence known throughout the Houston area, and it’s been a great investment as far as her real estate career is concerned.
“I’m seen where ever I go, and people think they see me all over town,” says Pye. “It’s probably been the best investment of my business. I have seen some Realtors copy off of me, but then I have seen some take them off, because you do need to know how to drive politely when you have a wrap on your car. It took me a year to drive politely before I got the wrap.”
She says the wrap on her truck pretty much paid for itself the first time she drove down the road. One of her first clients she had in response to her wrap was from a former colleague who had a friend that just fired his Realtor that day. Pye became their Realtor, and because of the profit she made from that transaction, the truck was paid for.
Pye not only advertises her brand by driving her wrapped truck through Houston, but she has also seen great success by advertising on Zillow and Trulia, as well as on shopping carts in local grocery stores.
“One time I stopped putting my advertising on carts in one store, and someone asked me if I had quit the real estate business,” says Pye.
Kornhauser’s strategy for brand effectiveness is a collaboration of sorts, working with her two assistants, the head of public relations for John Daugherty, and their advertising department, to analyze the demographics of the neighborhoods she sells in.
“I look at who the target market is depending on the home I’m working on. That will dictate what publications I advertise in, what type of open houses I do, what my target will be for mail outs,” says Kornhauser.
She also does themed open houses, where there will either be a drawing or a lunch served, to try to attract new clients that would have never thought to come view her listing.
What Items Should An Agent Have In Their Branding Package?
While advertising in local publications such as Paper City in Houston, as well as school publications and football schedules has done the trick for Kornhauser, she has also found that banners with her picture on baseball fields in the areas where she sells homes has helped her business.
“I try to see where the people go in the neighborhoods that I sell in,” says Kornhauser. “I have to think how buyers think, whether they are 20 or 70.”
Pye’s marketing strategy is more about getting to know people wherever she may go, whether it be the local Starbuck’s or at a bar’s happy hour.
“What I used to do is buy someone a cup of coffee when I go to Starbucks, or buy someone a drink when I go to a happy hour. You make somebody’s day, and they never forget it. I have gotten so many listings because I bought someone a cup of coffee,” says Pye.
She coincidentally bought a husband and wife separately a cup of coffee two days in a row, and ended up getting a listing because of it.
“The wife called me and said it must have been a sign, because they were arguing over two Realtors, and she said ‘You bought us coffee two days in a row, so we decided you’re going to list our house.’ And from that couple, I had gotten eight referrals. So, sometimes it’s the little things,” says Pye.