The UK’s real estate market is booming in 2022, and it looks set to surpass its turnover generation of over £6.8 billion in 2021.
For estate agents, this offers a unique opportunity for you to grow your business and offer your target market the services they need.
While service offering, expertise and market insight are all important, the key is branding. Without a strong brand, you can’t show homeowners looking to sell, landlords, tenants or potential home buyers that your business has any of the skills they expect.
How To Build A Strong Real Estate Brand
Building a strong and trustworthy real estate brand takes time, commitment and persistence. It also requires a targeted strategy that
The key steps to building a strong brand for your real estate business are:
1. Identify your target audience
When you first started your real estate business, you might have established it in one niche, but as you grew, you might now have multiple target markets. For example, if you initially only offered home buying and selling services but have since moved into landlord support and managed property services, then you need to adapt your SEO strategy and branding accordingly.
2. Start a website or optimise an existing one
Most modern home hunters and sellers start their search online, so make sure that your company has a strong digital presence. The centrepiece of any digital footprint for a brand is its website. Your website is effectively your online storefront, so if you don’t have one already or it’s not ranking for your main target location keywords, you need to set one up or optimise your existing site. The first step in setting up a new site is to use the IONOS domain generator to select a domain that showcases your business name in URL form. Then you can start to start putting together written content that contains your target keywords and working with website builders to create a cutting-edge site for your business.
3. Focus on mobile optimisation
As 72% of home buyers use a mobile device to conduct research, you need to make sure that your website is accessible for home buyers and tenants searching for properties on the go. Many individuals think of scrolling through property listings as a fun pastime, so if your site looks good on a mobile device, then you could reach a large demographic, namely younger home buyers who are busy and those who are simply shopping around for a new property without much urgency.
4. Use videos on your listings
While images remain important for property listings, videos can also be a great way to highlight the benefits of a property and get more interest from potential buyers or tenants. Video is the future, and while only 9% of real estate agents currently create listing videos, these solutions can be the difference between selling a property and keeping it on your books for months, so they can be worth investing time and money in.
5. Keep adapting
The property market is fast-paced, and there are new trends every few weeks. Prices change and regulations are updated, so you need to make sure that your brand is always at the forefront of these developments. As well as implementing changes within your business, you need to show your clients what your business is doing by updating your website, sharing blog posts about new developments and putting insight on social media. You’ll then be able to highlight your company’s commitment to innovation and dedication to staying one step ahead of the property market, which will entice anyone who is looking for a quick sale or great rental services.
Building A Brand Will Set Your Business Up To Take Advantage Of Favourable Market Conditions
Ultimately, there is no guaranteed formula for success in the real estate market. However, as HMRC’s recent property transaction data shows that the UK’s residential property market is slowly rising, with transactions among UK residents at 1.6% higher than in April 2022 and non-UK resident transactions at 6.1% higher than in April 2022 in May this year, there seems to be little sign that the market is slowing down.
So, branded real estate businesses have a unique opportunity to grow and prosper during this flourishing market. However, with so many transactions in the offing, other businesses in the real estate market are stepping up their games and will be focusing on offering clients the services they expect at the right price to tempt them into working with them. The rise in online estate agencies that charge a flat fee paves the way for increased competition and a focus on value in the future.
Going forward, many industry experts predict that house prices will continue to rise, but at a slower rate than before. So, there are still many opportunities for real estate agencies that want to grow and prosper, but you need to make sure that you create a strong and trusted brand that can entice new customers away from the major players or cheaper options on the market. This article should help you to understand the importance of branding in the real estate market and give you insight into how to start enhancing your brand so that you’re ready for whatever the future holds.
