Position Yourself As the Real Estate Agent of Choice

The biggest reason most real estate advertising fails is because the agents don’t do their research first. Rather, they look at what all the other agents in the market are doing and try to copy them. In advertising, the person who’s first has the advantage. Everyone else - all the “me too’s” - has to work much harder, spend lots more money, or be extremely clear why they are considerably better than the agent who was first in order to surpass the market leader.

This principle of “positioning” was first described in 1972 by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their series of articles for Advertising Age called “The Positioning Era.” In these articles, Ries and Trout described the formula for how you could position your product or services in the minds of your prospects so that they think of you first whenever a particular word or topic. They later elaborated in what is now the bestselling marketing classic, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind.

According to Ries and Trout, the biggest problem that consumers face is information overload. (Yes, even back in the early 70s, consumers were bombarded with advertising and marketing messages - imagine how much more so they are today!) Consumers can’t possibly remember every message they see or hear. In order to cope, they filter out messages that aren’t relevant to them and accept what is consistent with their own experiences or prior knowledge. Once a consumer forms an impression about something, it’s extremely difficult to change that belief. (For instance, “all real estate agents are the same” or “real estate agents don’t deserve 6% commission” or “my home is worth $75,000 more than what you’ve estimated. I won’t settle for less.”)

Positioning is the art of getting into your prospect’s mind first - of being the first brand people think about when they think about your real estate niche.

Brands that enter the market second have a much more difficult time competing - and often must rely on comparing themselves to the #1 brand and differentiating themselves through comparison. That’s why Pepsi always compares itself to Coke, Subway advertises the calories in their sandwiches compared to other popular fast food chains, and Avis declares “We try harder” to compete with Hertz.

What If You Can’t Compete With the Market Leader?
If your market already has a market leader - if an agent has been consistently farming your area for years or there’s an agent who gets 30% or more of the listings in your area - then your job is to create a positioning statement that differentiates you from the market leader. Just as McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s can all exist in the same market and successfully differentiate themselves from one another, so can you - but you will need to craft a positioning statement that clearly explains why and how your services are different - and significantly better - than everyone else out there.

In other words, if you simply copy what everyone else does, all you do is reinforce the public’s belief that “all real estate agents are the same.”

Positioning yourself is a lot like crafting a unique selling proposition (USP) to clearly and meaningfully differentiate you from your competitors. You need something that is so uniquely different from the other agents in your market and so relevant to your target audience that when they compare your marketing materials to every other agents’ marketing materials, there’s no question that you are the agent for them.

Here are some examples:

• You target single women looking to buy their first home. Therefore, you position yourself as the agent to go to for single women looking to buy their first home. All of your marketing materials describe your experience helping other single women buy homes. You have many testimonials from satisfied clients and your marketing materials are focused around educating single women about the nuances of buying a home and what they can do to make the process smoother.
  
  
• You target a specific neighborhood. Therefore, you position yourself as the agent of choice for that particular neighborhood (not that neighborhood and each of the 5 surrounding counties). All your marketing materials focus on the history of your neighborhood, its demographics, its school systems, the different housing models, flooding issues and other potential hazards in your area, and any future building projects that are scheduled. By reading your materials, prospects see that you are dedicated to this neighborhood’s community.
  
  
• Perhaps you used to work as a financial planner. You now target young couples looking to buy their first home together and are looking for a good investment opportunities that won’t bankrupt them. Therefore, you position yourself as the agent of choice for budget conscious couples. All your marketing materials offer money management tips for new couples looking to start their lives together - and how they can overcome their money differences to live together in harmony. (This is also a great strategy because money is a top reason why couples fight - if you continue to offer financial tips in your newsletters and correspondence, you have a valuable follow up tool well beyond their real estate purchase.)