Being A Brand In 2018
So, you have a business. You are either selling a service or product. In the past, this was enough - this was enough to create a business and a life that was both meaningful and fulfilled. In 2018, this is not the case. With the introduction of the internet and the accessibility to a low cost, global reach of potential customers, businesses are having to become BRANDS to stand out from their competitors. It is not enough just to be "good" at what you do. There are 100 other people that are just as good at what you do, in fact there are probably 100 people within your geographical area that provide a similar service or sell a similar product. It has become extremely important to build a brand around your service or product that can resonate with others and help them in making a buying decision.
Think in terms of what was "cool" in high school. Abercrombie for example. Everyone remembers that was probably the most popular clothing brand in high school in the early 2000's. It was SUPER expensive. They were selling the same exact clothing as other brands such as Old Navy, but at a much higher price point. To me, and I'm not an expert by any means, the reason that they could sell their clothes for 3 or 4 times as much as their competitors is because the customers were buying into the brand that the company had built around the clothes.
The clothes didn't make you any warmer, didn't last any longer, weren't any different in look from other brands, but many of us still forked over our money - over and over. We did this because of the feeling we got when wearing their clothes. So when looking at a local business, like a realtor for example, there are almost 250,000 realtors in Florida alone. Saturated? Depends on how you look at it of course, but right now we are only talking about building brand. You are trying to stand-out from other realtors in your area. Hundreds of them. Hundreds of individuals that have the same license as you. So how do you stand out? You have to build a brand. What I mean by this is, you can't just be a plain old realtor and that's it. You have to build a presence around your business. A feeling. A feeling that people get when they interact with your business. This may include niching yourself to an extent, which will actually help you in prospecting your clients. Maybe you are the "Foodie Realtor" and along with selling homes in the area, you frequent the best local restaurants to give your potential clients an idea of what living in your area is like. It resonates with others to have things in common that aren't business related. If you can be personable the relationship will be much stronger than if it was strictly transactional. Let's be honest, everyone loves a good local restaurant. This is easy. So this Foodie Realtor gets a Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram account, and starts providing valuable content to their followers.
Maybe that is in written word, blogs, videos, etc. the idea is that you are putting in extra work that your other competitors are not in hopes of being seen as an expert realtor and also a provider of local, entertaining information that helps families in choosing the location of their new home. In 2018 you have to stand out. Being a brand is a long term strategy. Video marketing can help build your brand and help you stand out.
Putting out high quality content that your followers want to engage with is extremely effective in not only building a brand, but increasing revenue. If you are interested in marketing your business with video, please contact us today!
