Branding vs. Marketing: Why Most Real Estate Professionals Are Wasting Money

One of the most common and costly mistakes agents and team leaders make is confusing branding with marketing. While the two disciplines work together, they serve very different purposes.

Branding defines who you are, what you stand for, and why clients should choose you. Marketing is how you communicate that message to the marketplace. When professionals fail to understand the distinction, they often invest significant time and money into marketing activities that generate disappointing results because the underlying brand has never been clearly defined.

In this month's episode of ROI BizTalk, I explain the difference between branding and marketing, why both are essential to long-term business growth, and how a strong brand can make every marketing dollar work harder.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to ROI Biz Talk with Jonathan Lack.

SPEAKER_02 0:09

I thought that, Paul, today we could talk about one of the most important things for any service business, but it certainly plays out in real estate. It's talking about branding in real estate and the difference between marketing and branding, because I think people get confused on what the difference is. I can say early in my career, I was confused. I didn't even know what branding was. I knew what marketing was. I went to business school. I focused on uh marketing. I was very I went to a quantitative business school, the Wharton School, you know, for an MBA, and we learned a lot about quantitative aspects of marketing. But I didn't really understand branding. And it was only after being uh in a lot of service businesses and a lot of turnaround service businesses that I realized in a service business, um, if your people can't walk the talk uh of a brand, of your marketing campaign, then what they're doing is diluting your brand. And um I remember poignantly during one of the Super Bowls back in the my first job out of business school, I worked for MCI, the telecom company, and they did a big commercial that they had held in secret to the 35,000 plus employees that worked there at the time, uh, during the Super Bowl. And uh it was this little girl on in in in Ireland or Britain, somewhere on the coast, uh, and nobody, I didn't understand the ad. And on that next Monday morning, I think you had about 35,000 uh employees who didn't understand the ad because everybody was talking about it. And and and in that time, because it was telecom and uh they could get away with that. Um but in in a business like real estate, uh you can't get away with that because the marketing person, the your your head of marketing, can bottle the the team line team leaders, you know, brand manifesto and image, you're an apple, we're an apple, we're an apple, or that company or that team is an orange, they're an orange. But if your agents and all of your professional staff who are touching the client experience uh are not an apple and and don't know they're supposed to be an apple, and start talking like they're an orange or a pineapple or a banana, then you're diluting the brand. And this is what happens so much. And um, and what is a brand to begin with? You know and and uh and a brand is an emotional promise that that a company is making to its clientele.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

Yeah. Do you is in the case of real estate in particular, do you find that generally starts with your your lead agent and and around their their style and their personality, or is there something more created around an idea versus a person?

SPEAKER_02 3:25

No, it starts around their personality, unequivocally, 99% of the time. Right. And uh because it's very personality-driven uh business. And and what I've tried to do is help them say, okay, what are these what are the attributes of you on your best day? Not on your worst day, but on your best day, that's what we want to bottle. That's that's what we want to template. Um that's what you want everybody to emulate, uh, not being robots, but within, you know, uh uh guardrails of of that description. And once you have that, the marketing person, the head of marketing, has an easier time because they're just cutting and pasting most of the time that image, those fonts, those colors, um uh because they're and they're changing it in and out with new properties. But the people you hire on the team um and the and the messaging that you do has to match the people who are representing the firm because they're representing the brand. They're not doing marketing, they're giving you a business card, they're giving you a brochure, they're giving you a listing presentation. Those were created by the head of marketing, and those are considered quote unquote marketing materials. But the experience that the client has with the agent or someone else on the team impacts their perception of the brand. And did you deliver on your brand promise or not? Um and and that's the difference, and it's a big difference because what happens is uh the brand becomes part of not just the marketing, but the culture of the business. And so you have to be careful if you're saying you're a four seasons type of real estate team, then you better hire people on your team who are high touch full service people. Um and if they're not high touch full service people, then you don't have a match with the people you're hiring and the brand promise that you're making to the public. And if you have a disconnect, you're then then your your your dollars, your marketing dollars are going down the the the drain.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Can you um can you tell us what you mean by four seasons?

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Four seasons are the top-tier luxury uh hotel. And uh they have fantastic service at every level of uh from the house cleaning to the concierge to the to the maitre D, to the people at the bar, uh to the to the um waiters and and and waitresses. And you pay a lot. And you're paying a lot because you expect top-notch A plus plus service. Okay. If you go to a Motel 6 and you're paying 10% or 5% of what you're gonna pay at you pay 60 bucks a night when I was traveling uh taking my son to basketball tournaments uh around the state of Texas when I was living there, we would stay at Motel Sixes. Uh, we wouldn't be staying, I'm not gonna take a 16-year-old and stay at a four seasons for a basketball tournament. No matter what anybody is offering, are you delivering on what your promise is?

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Right. So just to take the metaphor out, you're you're a four seasons agency, high quality, you're you're staging, you're you're doing everything, everything top tier. That that as being part of your marketing brand is going to inform the kind of hires you make.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

Absolutely. Yeah. It should. And if it doesn't, and if you don't hire people that are willing to go the extra mile, people who want to be pushed to be better, they are not culturally the right fit for your team. Not a value judgment, but it is a business uh judgment. You know, if you if you're in sports and you want to win the national championship, um, you have to get people who want to be the first there and the last to leave, uh, not people who are showing up late to practice and dogging it during games. It's not any different than uh in in business. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

So um as fractional COO, you come in, and I would imagine if there isn't a clear m brand positioning, you're helping to create it, and that might even mean making suggestions around um the team and who's gonna be able to do that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 8:38

Um it's uh when I come in uh to Teams and do an audit, uh the first thing I do is interview everybody on the team in confidence. And then I so I learned the culture of the team very quickly. And I'm asking people on the team, whether they're an agent, a staff, management, uh, what do they like about the team? What you know, other than a paycheck, why are they there? Um, what do they think could be improved? And what do they think needs to be killed? And um I learned the culture of the team, and then I look at the the market that they're in to see if the culture matches the market, the culture of the market, and I find gaps. Um, and when we find the gaps, then the the next phase is to say, well, how do we close the gap? And I also do a brand audit then to see if the marketing message matches the cultural message. And one of the exercises that I encourage uh team leaders to do is to say, you know, who have had hundreds of clients, is I ask them, write down all of the words that describe your 10 best clients. Can't can't tell me what they look like, you can't tell me what the price point was. I'm talking about the relationship of working with them. The 10 best ones describe those words. And then do do the same thing for the 10 worst clients that you've had. Not what they look like, not the price point, but but the experience that you had. And and then give me those words. And then I look at both sets when I'm looking at their marketing, and what I inevitably find is they're not using the words for their 10 best clients in their marketing materials, and they're often using words that are attracting the clients that they don't want uh in the materials. And so if you don't want sharks, don't put out shark bait. And you know, um, it's it's it's pretty simple, but it's fundamental. There's an aha uh because they see it, they have to see it. If they don't see it, then it's it's not uh believable. And many times I make a recommendation for a refined tagline, because I'm thinking of taglines not only for the public, but I'm thinking of it for the uh internal team, that the internal team can use that tagline as uh aspiration to of the level that they need to be at. Um high touch, full service, uh, you know, elevating luxury, luxury, you know, elevating living. These are these are types of taglines that have created where it it was also for internal purposes to market to the team internally of here's our North Star. We have this it's not a market, it's not a jingle just for the public. It's it's a standard that we need to maintain. Otherwise, the jingle in the public will be just a jingle. It won't it won't become reality.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yeah, yeah. That's and that's all part of the brand positioning. It's it's you're re you're reinforcing the brand internally to that people are kind of monitoring on it at the end. That's exactly right. That's right. What's your what's your take on um the plethora of um media assets and use of social media and how how is that how is that playing a role in the real estate industry, maybe compared to 15 years ago? Or or is it playing a role in the real estate industry? Does it does it should it drive sales?

SPEAKER_02 12:29

It it it can drive more awareness than direct sales. Um and uh I think one of the biggest mistakes that people make in social media, the more mediums we have ex uh expose, uh uh, you know, uh email, uh newsletters, digital newsletters, uh social media on different platforms, uh, traditional postcards, uh traditional advertising, um, the more opportunities there are to dilute your brand. Because everybody who's touching those is putting their own spin on it. And if you don't have tight brand standards, uh uh you have one brand and 30 uh mediums, you have 30 times one, you you got 30 brands and 30 different mediums.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

So this is the vulnerability to social media is that you have young people who know the technical part of social media, how to post, how to do a story, how to do a reel. Okay. They know absolutely nothing about branding and the psychology of branding, and they don't know how that fit fits in to the rest of the brand. And the point is that uh they may get lucky and and get a client from it, but you have to have sustainable luck if you're gonna run a business. And what people will realize is that all of your marketing touch points at any given time are gonna be the lead touch point. Social media is not always, for all people, the first touch point that they see with a particular brand. Um, and so if they don't like your postcard or they don't like your website, or they don't like your for sale sign, or they don't like the ad that they saw, or they don't like you the way you're dressed at the grocery store, many of those people are never going to go to social media because they'd have no reason to go to your social media. Okay. And so uh for some people, social media platform, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, you know, et cetera, can be the first touch point. And for other people, it's the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth touch point. And so the point is that uh it isn't gonna be their only touch point if if if you're gonna keep them as a client, uh, because you have to have a personal touch point with them. And if your personal touch point doesn't match what you're putting out on social media, it's the there's a disconnect right there. Um so this goes back to having your brand defined and using the mediums, uh TV, radio, print, social media, um, digital um marketing aligned. And to me, that's the more important than what the latest social media platform is. There's always going to be somebody killing it on that platform, and the vast majority of people are gonna try to figure out how did they do that. Yeah. Um, and and they got lucky. That's how they did it. Or they went after a certain demographic or psychographic that liked their angle. Um, but the question is, is that big enough and effective enough to run a successful business off of by itself? And I would argue um, yes, you have influencers and individuals who have beat the odds, but the vast majority of people, if you're if somebody's in real estate, their expertise is not social media, their expertise is real estate. So social media is going to be a complementary medium for them, not their primary strength. Uh uh otherwise, they'd be an influencer and do a better job of selling their influence than selling real estate.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Uh I know you've worked with some with some realtors who don't know or care anything about this. And I know you've worked with some realtors who are already um considered somewhat media media personalities in their you know, in their market. Um and I'm curious when you come across that. I know that you've you've worked on some, you've helped develop some some other revenue streams around around um around your clients' brands. Did you want to kind of speak to any of that? Well, the what's happening now with the uh is it AEO is the the the term people are are are using Answer engine optimization, yes, would be the the the the the the new the new SEO, the new search engine optimization, so that so that we're we're we're finding and being found in um in in AI uh result queries, you know, uh along with search engines.

SPEAKER_02 17:40

And and that requires uh more content than than um most traditional service businesses um or even product businesses would be creating. Right. Right? Because, you know, if I sell plumbing services, how much content do I want to put about a plumber? Or, you know, my my I can put beautiful houses on site for but but that's pictures. That's still not enough content to be effective. And um the trend now is for uh real estate teams to create blogs or websites that that are content rich, not tied directly to properties for sale or sold, but indirectly tied to the client experience, whether the client experience is based on the front end, they they want to learn about the community that you're selling a home in, because they had to decide whether they want to live in Mayberry RFD, and so what kind of content can you provide to get them excited uh about that community? And then also uh post-purchase, uh now that that uh if they're a first-time home owner, uh what are all the services uh and and product companies that can elevate their experience in that home or on that lot, meaning it could be landscaping companies, interior design companies, you know, uh kitchen upgrades, bathroom upgrades, you know, window companies, all the companies that s sell products and services tied to your home.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

It seems like that would include not just um vendors that are associated directly with their house, but the neighborhood you're moving into and and just your general lifestyle questions. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Restaurants, uh schools, uh houses of worship, uh playgrounds, uh hiking, facilitating hiking, you know, exercise uh uh venues, you know, every everything that impacts the quality of life of people who are going to move into that neighborhood. Um, you know, the the chambers of commerce today are not the same as they used to be. There are a lot of them have become lobbying organizations for companies, not the not the uh, hey, welcome to our town uh type. And so I think it's the opportunity now is for for uh businesses and particularly real estate teams to provide that type of content uh through the agent's eyes and their experience, uh, because they're supposed to be an expert in that particular area and and and sharing their experiences with the general public so that someone in the general public says, I like what I'm seeing and I like that agent uh through that content experience that they provided, whether it was a video or whether it was a a reel or a story that they can relate to. You know, and that's that's gonna become more and more of a trend. Yeah and that and then that's what these AEOs are looking for so that when someone types in them instead of a search engine, uh all of that content that we just spoke about uh helps elevate them uh sooner in in the posting of whatever questions somebody asked. Right.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

And this is all this is all part of your this is all part of your auditing process when you come in. You're gonna be able to do that. That's right. You take a look at what what what what the what your clients are already doing. And it's uh equal to um analyzing whether a team member is on brand or not, you're also looking at these at these opportunities.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

There's two parts to this brand concept. One is are you on brand? Okay, you're an Apple, now you everything says you're an Apple. Then it's uh scaling it so that more people know that you're an Apple. Uh so first you Know instead of coming in and telling people to scale it more, well, why scale it if it's confusing what you are? You're just wasting money faster. And I say, well, let's figure out what you are, let's clean it up so that if somebody does look at it, they know you're an apple, if you say you're an apple. And now once you cleaned up, let's go scale it to people who want an apple, who appreciate that you're an apple. It doesn't do any good if you don't like apples to go promote it and try to convince them. Uh that's not very effective.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah. Do you do you is it common for um an agency to have, you know, already on staff marketing professionals who understand this? I imagine that that's part of the challenge too, either needing to outsource potentially or to get or to get some of these internal marketers up to speed. Guys, they're in the real estate world more than they are in the marketing world.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

Well, people come into marketing from uh different journey paths. Uh a lot of people get into marketing because they were a graphic designer and they work their way up. Okay. And they're very good at graphic design and creative, uh, but they're not very strategic. Yeah. And they're not asking the tough business questions. Okay. And then the yeah, people who are coming more at it from the business angle who say, you know what, I I I'll determine based on the business analysis, are we an apple or an orange or banana? And then I'll just go hire a graphic designer who can create an orange or apple or banana. Okay. And and it just depends on how where people started out and the opportunities uh that they've had to get to where they are. Um but there are more people who are coming at it from a creative perspective. And and they're not as effective because they don't understand that um it's not art. It's it's marketing has to have a business objective. And you're gonna be measured at the end of the day whether that money that you're spending is getting a return on investment. And that's that's what I focus and stress with the clients that I work with.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

If you went in somewhere and there was a quote unquote marketing team member um who was coming from a design background, and then you did have either yourself or maybe there's someone else on staff who is more strategic. How do you how do you work to put those to to have them work together with each other? Is there certain methodologies there?

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Well, there's um a little um you know, pat on the bat and kick in the ass. It's a it's a little uh balance between the two of saying, here's a this is an opportunity for you to take your game to the next level. You know, I'm gonna teach you strategy. You're great at graphic design, but but you but you're j and generally these people are younger. And it's you have too much career left in you to to stop learning. We all have to keep learning. And this is what I think your focus on your next level of learning should be understanding the strategic aspects of marketing, the business aspects of marketing. And then once you do, you can be as creative, knock yourself out. Okay, okay, because if we know our target segment and we know our positioning to that target segment, then creativity comes in because it's like, how do you say what we want to say six different ways to be creative? Okay, then it's like knock yourself out. But if you're gonna show me some marketing and ask me what I think about it, and you're not telling me who it's targeted for, I'm looking at art, and art is subjective. Uh, I can't tell you whether it's gonna be effective or not, because you didn't create it to be effective. You created it based on it being on your being creative, but with no guidelines. So therefore, therefore it's art because why should art art have any guidelines? It's whatever you want, baby.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

It has to uh has to answer some very specific business questions.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

For it to be marketing and not just art. Yeah, absolutely. Now it could be both. There's nothing wrong with it being both. That would be genius.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Kind of what you're after ultimately, if you can do it.

SPEAKER_02 26:56

Yeah, that's what we're looking for.

SPEAKER_00 26:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:58

We're looking to hit the business objective with the most creative, and that's where these genius ad campaigns do come in every once in a while. And then you look at them 10, 15 years later, you go, man, that was genius. You know, versus you watch some Super Bowl commercials and you can't even remember them 10 days after the Super Bowl.

SPEAKER_01 27:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:18

Because they were just trying to get some creative award, yeah, not not not uh effective award.

SPEAKER_00 27:27

Wow, we I feel like we've covered a lot.

SPEAKER_02 27:30

Um so this is the first of of many to come, and I look forward to doing them with you and thank you. Thank you for moderating.

SPEAKER_00 27:39

Yeah, absolutely. It's my pleasure. It's uh this has been extremely informative. Uh we got a couple of uh more episodes we're lining up as we speak, so we'll be sharing them as soon as as soon as they're done.