If you’re in the business of real estate, you’re in the game of standing out from the rest. And as we all know too well, us Aussies have become uniquely fond of the superpowers of REA and domain, leaving us with an online environment that is harder than ever for agencies to remain visible and memorable. They give us instant access to the widest pool of buyers that we’ve ever known, but it’s come at the cost of real estate brands having less and less opportunities to stand out from the rest. Nowadays, the minimum standard for presenting a property online includes the intelligent use of professional photography and well written copy. But interestingly, when it comes to the use of a marketing floor plan, simply having one, regardless of its quality, seems to be accepted as ‘good enough’. So could it be that simply changing the way you look at floor plans, that thing you’re already doing, actually be an easy way to make your real estate brand stand out?
“Your brand is a story that is being told whether you’re telling it or not” - Marty Neumeier
It builds trust, quickly
I’ve certainly been guilty at times of thinking that truly reaping the rewards of a ‘brand strategy’ is something that is only realistic for the biggest of brands with the deepest of pockets. And whilst that quiet apprehension inside me might have some merit, our daily lives still surround us with subtle insight into how relatively simple (and often easy) decisions can genuinely transform the way our customers think of us. Imagine you’re in a new part of town, walking down the main street and notice someone walking towards you carrying a takeaway coffee, but what you notice about this strangers coffee cup is the quiet confidence of its biodegradable packaging wrapped in a trending pastel graphic complete with inspiration quote. And, without having any real evidence as to the quality of this person's latte, you’ve instantly built enough trust to spend $6 on a caffeine hit from a business you know nothing about. On the other hand, if you didn’t see this stranger and walked past a cafe with home brand milk on display and some lame no-name espresso machine, your willingness to buy is dead in the water. What this says to us, is that as consumers, we need the product or service we’re looking for to be presented well, and even the smallest of details can make a massive impact on our buying decision.
It positions you and your agency as an expert, regardless of your size
Anyone can include a floor plan in their online listing, but many agents will never give floor plans the attention they deserve leaving a massive opportunity on the table for you to send a confident message to your clients about what your brand believes in. And, thanks to the magical powers of perception, you don’t actually need to be a floor plan expert (not that we’d recommend that) because the simple act of presenting a quality floor plan with your brand instantly shows vendors and buyers that you get what's important. By doing so, you’re creating a far more polished experience, leaving your clients confident in your ability to present and sell their home professionally.
It protects your investment
Ever had your marketing material ‘borrowed’ by another agent? Here’s how to fix it. Adding your logo, brand colours, unique fonts or even a discrete watermark to your floor plan are all easy first steps in staking claim to your marketing material. If you want to take it even further, you can commission a unique floor plan template that is undeniably yours. And if your competitors try to steal that… well that's just weird.
You’ve got nothing to lose
Aligning your brand’s identity with floor plans doesn’t have to be overwhelming for complex larger brands or out of reach for boutique agents. You can start small by ensuring you’re using a quality floor plan supplier with the capacity to truly honour the real estate and create the coffee cup moment your vendors and buyers are secretly dying for. If you’re looking to make a bigger dent with your real estate’s brand, take note of the agencies that have worked with their floor plan supplier to create a unique floor plan product made just for them. The best part about this is the initial design setup costs are minimal (if at all) depending on the scale of your business. And even better, your vendors are very unlikely to be opposed to investing in a good floor plan that does their home justice. As I said, you’ve got nothing to lose.