dream location

The Brand Book. How and Why You Should Have One

Brand Books for the Real Estate Industry: The Starting Steps

Establishing a strong business brand in real estate is paramount for survival. Whether you are a long time agent or a new one, implementing brand book strategies will enhance your chances of increasing trust and loyalty amid a sea of potential buyers looking to get a new client.

Fundamentals of Developing a Real Estate Brand Book

Step by step, you are going to learn everything about creating brand books that focus on real estate. First of all, how will your brand stand out? This is so important to define as well as cover some visual elements and messages so that everyone knows what you stand for as a business and can take the business to the next level.

Quick Navigation

  • What is the brand book?
  • Why does a real estate agent need a brand book?
  • What the brand book should contain
  • Rewrite your brand strategy
  • Brand book recommendations from experts
  • Your brand book + Dream Location

What is the Brand Book?

The brand manifestation also known as a brand guide or style guide, is any document that describes the necessary aspects of a brand’s identity as well as the communication strategies and best practices that have to be adopted to ensure irrevocable representation of the brand across all the media.

Why do Real Estate Agents Need Brand Book

Real estate agents find it convenient to work with a brand book and this is an advantage for them. First, it makes sure the various promotional items including business cards, online listings and more have the same look and feel which makes sure the brand gets recognized. This kind of consistency in branding sends a message of professionalism and dependability which is paramount in earning trust and loyalty of clients and business associates. A strong and defined brand also convincing leads and potential clients and buyers to consider the agent as their option over others in the market.

When you take a moment to consider your brand elements, how you carve a position for yourself in an already saturated market and also streamline some of your internal functionalities seem to become apparent. This makes the construction of marketing promotional item much easier as the brand guidelines depict what to do and what not to do during the design process which also favorable in terms of marketing. For work colleagues or assistants, it helps to know what they are meant to follow as it puts everyone on the same page with regards to how the brand is to be represented.

To address the last point, the brand book helps in the maintenance of the brand and its values while also redefining it according to the various trends and markets which means that brand marketing can be flexible but still consistent.

What Functions a Brand Book Should Perform – What Should it Contain

There are five sections of key information about your brand and its identity and for the Case of the Brand Book Template, those five sections are the ones that you should cover in your brand book. If you have not yet set up these components, spend some time to think them through using our branding worksheet.

1. Brand Identity

  • Mission Statement: Your mission expresses your business’s purpose. It explains what you do and a lot of times includes how and why you do it. In most cases it will start with “to” and must be a straightforward declarative sentence.

Here are a few samples of company’s mission statements:

  • Landmark Sotheby’s International Realty: “In all of our transactions every single day, we aim to provide the very best standards of service and results, on par with what would be expected of discerning clientele, no less.”
  • Compass: ”Our mission is to help everyone find their place in the world.”
  • RE/MAX: Global leadership in real estate business, through achieving our objectives by enabling others to achieve their goals. Everybody wins.
  • Vision: your vision explains your target, target achievements, and how you want to affect the market in the future.

Here are some samples of vision statements of organizations:

  • Landmark Sotheby’s International Realty: “We are selling the finest homes in the area and we are the best in the business because we are able to service multi-million dollar properties and market our clients homes efficiently and sell them quickly.
  • RE/MAX: For real estate business builders who want to combine independence, support, and unique competitive advantages, RE/MAX will always be the right place, and for clients who understand why not to have someone like that working for them, they will be the right choice.
  • Unique Value Proposition (UVP): Your UVP explains what sets you apart from your competitors and is a vital component clearer for your target audience. It is factors which makes you stand out in front of the target market, market which is also your potential and important for the growth of your brand. Of course, in even more detail about how to learn how to find and clearly define your own, read here the post that explains how to create a Unique Value Proposition.
  • Brand Story: A brand story is more than a historical account of the growth of the business, but rather the history of the business, why it exists and what it has been through. It wanders away from imprints and figures, goes deeper into the spirit and vision that gives such brand its character. It assists in giving life to the brand enhancing its appeal and memorability to clients, agents or other interested parties.
  • Brand Personality: If your brand had physical characteristics, how would those dimensions look like, like the age or ensemble she would be wearing, like sometimes funny and sarcastic and sometimes smart, sophisticated and serious? Probably, your brand personality is practical, friendly and comical. Or perhaps your brand is sophisticated, knowledgeable and aspirational. Understanding it – and articulating it in your brand book gives you confidence that you will portray yourself the same way and will resonate with the intended audience.
  • Brand Promise: This is more of a said-friendly commitment made by the brand and its clients. Potential customers and clients without experience working with the brand are told how consistent the brand is with its promises and services.
  • Products and Services: Write down all the necessary things regarding the products and services you sell. Domestic and international marketing could also prove to be easy to achieve by defining the audience, as well as creating a good strategy for the business ahead. Of course, you will have to define, or re-define, your goods and services along the years, that is why checking up on your offerings every now and then is critical as well as ensuring your brand offerings are up to date.
  • Target Audience: There are several things needed to be accomplished in order to get to this stage needing to decide who exactly you are targeting and why so that the message you plan to send can be more effective. The PFDD framework is even to be used for identifying the group, it helps define the pain points, fears, dreams, and desires of the customer. Having that valuable information will help your message be delivered more effectively and at a much better time afterward.

2. Visual Identity

  • Logo: Each one of the brand’s book would definitely contain the photograph of logo as well. Logos are a crucial part of a visual identity section. Apart from the logo itself, it is also wise to suggest policies concerning why, when and how the logo should be used as well. The dimensions requirement for various print and web applications, what colors may be adopted in designing the logo, as well as what practices should be avoided are also matters to be discussed. These can be included in the main part of the brand book or other supporting documents, branding guides, style guides, or press packs intended for the logo application.

A small number of industries have a requirement for photographs and other suitable logos in their documents. One good example is if your logo is a full word mark of your brand name , it is possible that your brand might have a short word logo , in letter or symbol which is useful for greater clarity and in situations need a ratio of 1:1. In this case it’s important to write down rules dealing with by and where each logo is used. If you are looking to create a new or modernize an existing logo, we have a collection of the coolest logos of real estate companies, check this list.

  • Color Palette: The section about your color palette should include your tactile senses, instructional senses, sight, speech, sequence, and whether they each had an impact on the clientele circle. Most importantly, you’ll let everyone know what colors are, by providing us with some precise details such as the hexadecimal codes used, pantones, CMYK, and RGB numbers, etc. This ensures that your brand colors are tampered with in all assets, as they should be. Also, stating the passes color combinations can be helpful.
  • Fonts: After choosing the best specific brand fonts, information on how and where to use them should be provided. Detail what font or fonts should beused for headings and what font or fonts should be used for body texts. whether or not a muted, light, or italic version can be considered perfectly acceptable.

3. Imagery and Graphics

  • Photographic Style: The photographs of the brand and its products must try to highlight certain personality traits and values of the brand, and therefore be stylistically and visually acceptable to the target audience of their communication. For example, a lifestyle oriented brand might prefer high gloss and high contrast images while an upscale brand might prefer somewhat informal and casual images.

Would you prefer utilizing natural or artificial lighting and what kind of atmosphere ambience should the lighting create like bright or soft? Besides, what do you picture appearing in the images? This can detail people from different ethnics, distinct emotions and activities, product displays from multiple angles and settings and many more. Make sure to add your specific instructions on how to use filters and color grading so every photo can be standardized.

  • Illustration Style: The image and aesthetic instructions about illustrations that are applied in brand communication correspond with how the character of the brand is whether it is jolly, sober, simple, or complex. Advise on colors that ought to be included in illustrations but ensure that they conform to the color scheme of the brand you have. Further recommend the areas illustrations should be placed and how, for example in marketing collateral, social media, websites and presentations.
  • Graphic Elements: As well as composition, there are additional graphics and imagery to consider such as items that represents a brand such as textures, shapes, borders, patterns and more. Give guidance on shape and border application, such as geometric shape and lines and frames. Describe the styles, thickness and colors to be applied.

4. Tone of Voice and Messaging

  • Brand Voice: This is the impression of the company that comes through when the company is being spoken or written to. Go back to the segment dealing with the personality of the brand and see whether the two are consistent.

Is the brand formal, friendly, authoritative, humorous, or innovative? Stress the importance of voice consistency across all channels and touchpoints to enhance brand recognition and trust. Observe whether the brand voice is in tune with the audience’s expectations.

  • Taglines and Slogans: Taglines are phrases that are always associated with the brand due to their ease of recall since they are short. Your brand book must state the use of taglines and slogans in boosting the brand and distinguishing it from competitors. Add more on how to come up with these tag lines and slogans.

For more information about Dream Location and to search your dream property, please visit Dream Location on Google Map. Contact us today to know more about the best real estate deals in Delhi and North India; we will connect you to the right property investment.