Let’s say you’re a real estate agent.
No, not a designer.
A real estate agent.
And yet…here you are, drowning in personal brand advice and marketing options that feel endless and time-consuming.
Meanwhile, all you want to do is radiate professionalism to prospective clients by maintaining consistency across your social media profiles, local SEO page on Google, and offline marketing.
You’re not alone in this personal branding nightmare
Having easy access to coaches, advice, and made-for-us tools provides endless possibilities for developing a strong personal brand, or at least in theory. But…even with all these tools, so many of us end up spinning our wheels.
Hoping there’s some real estate marketing alchemy where we stay top of mind without being annoying, without burning out, without neglecting other tasks, without alienating clients, and without spending too much money.
Yikes. What’s a Realtor in this situation supposed to do?
Thankfully, there’s an intuitive answer that relies on what you already know deep down.
It’s called the Vibe Method.
The Vibe Method of Real Estate Branding
The Vibe Method is an easy, 5-step process for the non-artsy among us. Use it to uncover your personal brand and guide your marketing strategy by following the vibes you already resonate with.
Throw out the jargon. Stop worrying about niches. Zero in on branding that works.
Let’s dive in:
The Vibe Method process
Gather information about:
- Your market area’s vibe
- The people who vibe with your market
- The designs and trends that resonate with you Then get out of your own way:
- Be brave + try things on for size
- Be okay with changing things up
That’s really all there is to it!
Good marketing and branding isn’t a grand mystery that can only be uncovered by Virgos when Mercury is in retrograde.
You as an agent already have a really good sense of what your brand is. You’re feeling stuck because you’re following advice that over-complicates personal branding strategy or throws around words like “authenticity” without explaining what that means in a real estate context.
You truly just need to follow the vibes to bring it all out into the open, and this method gives you the tools to do just that.
Let’s get started.
1. Take inspiration from the market area you serve
Take a look at your market. You have a well-defined geographical territory you work in. Describe it. What’s the neighborhood or city’s vibe?
Is it a coastal beach town, a suburb, a college town, or a homesteading haven?
If you’re having trouble finding the right words, ask:
- What’s it known for? (If you’re blanking text a friend, message your Tinder match, or ask me in the comments. Ask literally anyone to get going.)
- What do people tend to move there or visit for?
- Ex. an industry, attraction, famous person, historical event, amenities, or weather
- What’s a one to two-word label or slogan that can be used to describe it?
If you’re still stuck, look up “things to do in [your market name]”, or visit your municipality’s website for ideas.
Now you have your starting point for who your brand needs to resonate with. From here we flow into step 2, your audience.
2. Define who you want to work with
“Everyone who wants to take part in a real estate transaction” is totally valid. Except…have you ever tried reading a woodworking magazine?
If you, like me, have no idea what joinery refers to then you know it’s not something that’s written for you. But, if you came across a blog post about an affordable DIY shelf that doesn’t require power tools…that might get a click.
It’s the same very general topic, but these two pieces of content are at completely different levels.
In the same way, “everyone” is just too broad of a group for you to talk to. So even though you’d happily take on anyone needing real estate help, who are the people most likely to be interested in your market? Who are the people in your circle of influence?
For example:
- Coastal town = retirees, or Airbnb hosts
- Great school district = young families, people looking to downsize
- Vibrant downtown = young professionals, folks looking for rental properties
These generalizations give you a guideline of what will resonate. Are potential Airbnb hosts going to be interested in posts about managing an estate sale before selling? Probably not. A round-up of the best neighborhoods for tourists would likely get their attention though.
A lot of marketers will tell you to create personas, where you basically create a Sims-style persona complete with a name, a career, and a house. If that doesn’t work for you, you can throw the suggestion out. You’re not an ad agency creating a campaign for Kellog. You don’t need it. This exercise gives you enough information to narrow in on keywords for your content strategy and marketing efforts.
3. What designs speak to you?
Alright, enough about other people. This is your own personal brand, and it should reflect you.
If you’ve never really thought about what kind of design you like, that’s okay. We’re going to figure it out right now.
Ask yourself:
- What interior design trends do you love or hate? Any strong feelings?
- Are there any logos you love or hate?
- What colors stand out to you?
No worries at all if you look at that list and think, “I have no idea”. Here’s how to learn about your own tastes:
- Create a Pinterest mood board that’s a collection of images that catch your eye.
- Take a quiz, like our Create a mood board to discover your real estate brand aesthetic.
- Look in your closet for colors you like to wear.
- Browse a furniture store website for interior design looks you like.
- Go on TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram and look at what the algorithms are serving you.
These are all ways you can actually see evidence of your taste. Now that you have this, at a glance – what are the colors, trends, or themes that repeat? These repetitive trends you like are a great way to include a personal touch in your brand.
4. Be Brave & Try Things on For Size
With branding, we always talk about cohesion and yes, it matters. Your website, social media, ads, business cards, client gift giving, and mailers – it all needs to have repetitive elements that collectively make up a recognizable brand that potential customers connect to you and your business.
Colors, font, logo, image style, these are all parts of your brand. Repeating these helps build a strong connection between the things you put out into the world and your business.
That’s all true.
But most of us take this idea to an extreme. It’s also true that it’s okay to experiment.
In fact, before you start rebranding everything, you should try out your brand to feel whether it fits and has the positive impact you want it to.
Start by just changing up your social media accounts. Post about the topics you identified that would do well with your audience. Switch the colors in your social media templates, and just see if this is right for you and your clients.
Don’t fall into the trap of feeling like you can only ever present highly polished ‘final’ versions. Because you know what? You might not get it right the first time. Or maybe you went with what worked at the time, and it just doesn’t represent you anymore.
You can try on a brand without plowing a ton of time and money into it. Then, if it fits your business goals well, you can take it further as needed.
Low-cost ways to try on a brand for authenticity:
- Put out a few Instagram posts, and see how you like the experience of generating content and representing yourself with that branding.
- Release a social media ad with a small budget, and evaluate the engagement.
- Before investing the time and energy on long-form content, try bite-sized messages to see how they resonate with your target audience.
Doing this is so easy to type, but it means putting something out into the world before it feels complete.
You might not feel like you’re ready. Be brave and do it anyway.
5. Be okay with changing things up
I was recently listening to the Marketing Bar podcast where host Chelsea Petersen talked about spending time and money on a redesign, only to realize it wasn’t working out.
She ended up going back to an off-the-shelf template she’d used before because it just worked. Her story stood out to me because of her willingness to let go of something that’s not working.
So many of us stick it out even when our marketing and branding isn’t serving us. After all, it’s really hard to walk away when you’ve invested time and money. The Vibe Method teaches you to change things up until you land on something that works.
Do it even if it means walking away from something you put resources into. After all, we care about the output. We care about what comes to us based on the image, the content, and the energy we put out into the world.
This method is all about putting forward more of what works, instead of fixating on your past choices. This means being okay with letting go.
And that’s all there is to it! The vibe method helps you gather information and gives you the license to get out there and find the branding and marketing that work for you.
The Vibe Method in Action: Sample Personal Brand Exercise
Now let’s put it into practice. In this hypothetical, I’m going to say I live and work in a coastal beach town.
Step 1:
- My town is known for its accessible marinas.
- It has temperate weather, and folks move here to retire.
- There are also lots of part-timers that come to get away from the snow in winter.
Step 2:
- Based on this, my target market includes retirees, people looking for a vacation home, and Airbnb hosts.
- This group of people usually already owns property.
- I don’t need to educate from the ground up like a first-time home buyer, but there may be a lot of interest in downsizing, amenities within walking distance, and tourist hot spots.
- My broker mentioned that Nextdoor and Facebook groups are used most by our clients, so I’ll focus there.
Step 3:
- I personally love the maximalist grand-milennial trend and Euro-inspired cottages.
- My favorite color is blue
- Even though my competitors lean into the ocean vibes, I think I’ll choose a palette that better reflects those preferences
- I’ll pick a traditional, book-inspired font
Boom. I have my brand. I have my real estate marketing topics.
My brand will have organic-feeling colors like steel blue, brown-toned green, and a pop of color like orange, or purple. I’m going to pick out flowy, organic social media templates. Like ones with irregular shapes and lines.
If I like using those, I’ll find a website template and print business cards with that theme. If it doesn’t feel right when I create a post, I might look for a more rustic design next.
Thinking of retirees, I’ll create posts for people who live elsewhere but want to retire here. I remember based on past conversations people want to have easy access to daily needs without a car. They want to know what assisted living and other options are but want to live independently as long as possible. So, I’ll publish posts on:
- Most walkable neighborhoods
- Round-up of retirement communities
- Round-up of senior-focused activities and groups
I don’t just want to sell to retirees though. For the Airbnb hosts or part-time occupants, I’m thinking of what a call with such a person would be like. Based on that, I might do a round-up of:
- Most popular attractions, and the closest neighborhoods
- Roundup of maintenance companies for remote owners
- Municipal ordinances that could affect them
I can post a mix of these topics combined with some personal stuff.
None of these topics are mutually exclusive. While they’re aimed at one group, it’s information that’s still relevant for a broad audience. Basically, I’m not so niched down that I feel suffocated by limitations, but I’m still addressing the right people.
Try it and share your thoughts
Whether you’re DIY-ing or plan to hire out your personal brand discovery and real estate marketing, this method is for you.
Follow those vibes and blend it all together like a delicious smoothie that’s trending on TikTok*.
*Shiny hair and amazing skin not guaranteed.
