As a property manager, your biggest responsibility is to provide the best possible services to your tenants and owners. Even on its own, that’s a tall order to achieve. But your property management company must also go the extra mile to stand out as a professional brand with top-notch services. That’s why you need some real estate branding tips and tricks at your disposal.
This article provides five tips on making your mark and standing out from the crowd in the property management arena. Implementing those tips will help you brand your property management company more effectively and attract more tenants to your property.
Here are the top five real estate branding tips:
- Master a niche
- Invest in the latest proptech
- Communicate your unique selling proposition
- Remember the small details
- Present a cohesive brand
1. Master a niche
One way to keep ahead of the pack is to adopt a specialty and hone it to perfection. Become so good at it that your name becomes synonymous with it — kind of like Kleenex or Jacuzzi (if you’re feeling fancy).
The most significant advantage of mastering a niche is it gives you focus. While the rest of the property managers are scrambling to become everything to everyone, you are out there learning how to ace a particular service, property type, demographic, or location. It allows you to offer specialized services to your tenants and gives you an edge over the competition.
For example:
When a prospective owner/tenant comes looking, which type of property management company will they want in the building: A company with a long list of general services or one with a streamlined brief services portfolio that they have mastered into their routine?
2. Invest in the latest proptech
The property management industry had already adopted technology to automate its administrative tasks – collecting rent, responding to queries, and displaying new listings. And the last five years have accelerated the pace of change, making it easy to explore new tech.
Property management brands with an innovative mindset are investing in the latest proptech for their properties. It not only presents an excellent opportunity for brand distinction but easy success, too. Not many property managers are doing it, and the lack of competition allows you to dominate the market.
Technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, smart appliances, virtual tours, and drones allow you to elevate your brand to a whole new level.
Here’s how you can use proptech to improve your real estate branding:
- Make rental and other transactions much safer and quicker through blockchain technology
- Enable virtual tours for tenants to tour the property without being physically present
- Attract tech-savvy tenants by installing smart technology throughout your property
Watch how ButterflyMX works:
3. Communicate your unique selling proposition
The most effective way to stand out from other property management companies is by highlighting the services you offer that others don’t – your unique selling proposition (USP).
Your USP must answer the question, why you. In other words, why are you valuable to your tenants and the market?
To answer that, start by listing the top three things that tenants should know about your services and property. Then convert them into a statement or a tagline and market the heck out of them.
In the beginning, the USP will work as a beacon that attracts new property owners and tenants. But when you can back that up with consistently good services, it will truly become your brand, cementing your differentiation in the market.
4. Remember the small details
We make quick assumptions and form instant impressions. Every day, psychologists study why we do that. And all of this impression forming occurs instantaneously, with minimal cognitive effort.
As a brand, if you‘re not careful with even the most minor details, your company can get a bad rap.
Prospects are judging you constantly on these seemingly small details:
- Your website
- Your social media accounts
- The way you answer your phone or compose your emails
- The design of your business card
- Even the quality of the paper your flyer is printed on
All of those are viewed as a reflection of you and your property management brand. So, needless to say, you can’t be offhand about any of it.
As such, you should hire professional designers for your website, social media, and other marketing materials. And invest in premium-quality paper for brochures and respond to email queries immediately.
Remember: DIY might not be your friend if your goal is to distinguish yourself from others.
5. Present a cohesive brand
The phrase ‘cohesive brand’ represents two things — consistency and sync.
Creating a visual brand involves having all of your brand elements — logo, tagline, colors, and voice — consistently presented across all communication mediums. But every single one of these elements must be in sync with each other and then the larger brand perception as well.
Easier said than done.
Therefore, before you even start to create your real estate logo design, you must think about the type of brand awareness you want to create. Then, gather all your visuals to represent that idea.
But visuals are only one thing. Everything has to be in sync for people to believe the real estate branding message you’re sending. The way you treat your employees, what your employees think of the company, the quality of services you provide, your communication skills, people skills – all those things must match.
It’s only through cohesion that you can create a property management brand that people will come to trust and tell others about.
Takeaways
Property management and real estate aren’t considered industries that are known for their branding mastery. On the one hand, it gives you a playing field that’s not too crowded. But on the other hand, it can become difficult to break the mold and use the leverage of branding to carve a distinct space for yourself.
Hopefully, you‘ll learn exactly how to navigate these foreign waters by implementing these real estate branding tips. As great advice goes, stay true to yourself, show up to your job every day, and give it 100%.
And it doesn’t hurt to have captivating visuals or snazzy technology to attract top property owners and tenants!
Author’s Bio
Ayesha Ambreen has been a digital strategist and business development expert for over 10 years, providing learning and access to peer networks. She’s passionate about disruption and exploring creative new solutions to changes that underline the marketing industry so brands can stay relevant and agile.