Growing Your Personal Brand & Social Following with Branding Photos
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Two of the most popular topics we talk about in real estate marketing are your personal brand and your social media strategy.
We want to create a compelling personal brand that attracts our ideal customers while engaging people on social media. And you can't be truly successful in one without the other in today's digital world. You need to develop your brand, show up on social, and start forming genuine connections with people. And personal branding photos are the secret to achieving this. In today's episode, I'm breaking down what they are, why you need to invest time into them, and how to get the best photos for social to develop your band.
To help you with this, I’ve also created a worksheet to help you plan a photoshoot, DIY your photos, and showcase your personal branding through your images. You’ll walk away with a concrete plan to get scroll-stopping images intended to help you connect with your next home buyer or seller. Get my DIY Branding Images Workbook here!
Before we dive into this week's episode, all about personal branding photos, let's take a second to talk about exactly what a personal real estate brand is.
What is Branding for Real Estate Agents?
If you're reading this right now, you are your own brand.
Personal branding isn't complicated. It's not a logo or pretty colors. It's essentially who you are. Your brand as a REALTOR® is a reflection of you and what people can expect when working with you. It's the way you make people feel. It's the customer service you provide. It's the aesthetics that are completely, uniquely you.
It's also your opportunity to align yourself with your ideal customer by genuinely reflecting who you are as an agent. One of the best ways to do this is by sharing strategic photos in your real estate marketing.
Now, branding photos are not a new concept to real estate.
I think real estate might have invented the headshot and the urge to stick that headshot on every advertisement out there! Personal branding photos are the evolution of the traditional headshot. They are a way to brand yourself in your marketing easily. For real estate, we want to stay top of mind, have people associate us with real estate, but also be engaging. That's where the headshot falls short. How many ways can you use one headshot? Personal branding photos will instantly modernize your marketing while giving you content for social media.
It honestly sounds too good to be true, but the best part is that it's super easy to do!
What Are Branding Photos for Real Estate?
A personal branding photo is simply a photo of yourself.
Seriously, that's all that it is. The magic comes from being strategic about these photos of yourself. They are an excellent opportunity for you to not only highlight the communities you serve but also tie yourself into those areas. They can also be photos of you working, whether you're at the office, hosting an open house, or even sticking a sign in the yard.
On Instagram & Social
Personal branding photos come top of mind when we think about Instagram. That's also an excellent place to get inspiration. Take a look at other people that you admire on social, preferably in somewhat of a related personal brand themselves, and see how they are showing up. You might notice that an inspirational speaker you love shares photos of themself at events, does videos, but also has some high-quality photos of themselves in the mix. Those are personal branding photos.
They are photos that are planned out ahead of time with the sole intention of having high-quality images and content to use in real estate marketing. It has as much to do with preparation as it does with intention. When you set out to create personal branding photos, you are making that commitment to yourself, to your business, and to the people that follow you, that you'll be showing up consistently on social with engaging content. And if you’d like more tips & tricks on how to capture these authentic images of you to use on social, be sure to grab a copy of my DIY Branding Images Workbook here.
How to Brand Yourself & Your Images
Now, you want your images to represent your branding as a REALTOR®. That's the absolute key here. We want them to be as high-quality as possible and fit into your overall marketing strategy.
In Episode 7: What to Post on Social for Real Estate Agents, I talk about my four favorite topics to share when it comes to social media. It can be trying to regularly come up with something original to share. Just the thought of it alone can be very overwhelming. If you follow the strategy I lay out in episode seven, we talk about how to promote yourself without being salesy, engaging people in a real estate conversation, and developing your personal brand.
How To Use Them
You can use a photo of yourself to talk about anything!
A photo of yourself can serve as a blank canvas or a complete inspiration for what you want to say on social, especially Instagram. You can use images of yourself to talk about real estate, share tips for buyers or sellers, or give people a look into what it's like to work with you.
People are curious about other people, and we love checking in on social to see what they're up to. The photos that you plan to take might be photos of yourself but think of them as a pathway to starting new conversations. These might be conversations with the people you already know or could be conversations and posts that will attract your ideal customer.
In real estate, we have a huge advantage. We not only get to talk about beautiful homes all day and making people's dreams a reality, but we also represent our communities. So, don't be afraid to get out in the community for a personal branding shoot as a REALTOR®.
Where To Get Photos
Plan to take some shots of you someplace inviting like a coffee shop. Images here are perfect images to use in conjunction with sharing tips about the real estate process. You can think of your followers as the person on the other side of the table from you at the coffee shop.
Or you could take personal branding photos at a model home. With permission from the builder, those are some of the best places to get content for your real estate branding! You'll instantly look like an HGTV personality with the on-trend decor and local real estate in all of your shots.
One of my favorite places to take these photos is simply out in your communities. Get shots of you walking along the charming streets, near local boutiques, by iconic spots. These photos will not only tie you into that local community but also allow you to discuss WHERE you are.
If you look at my Instagram @ideasforrealestate, you'll see I do this a lot. I might be talking about a marketing idea or tip, but the photo is of me. It's all part of a personal branding strategy, and you can easily do the same!
So, let's dive right into tips for getting started with a personal branding photoshoot. To get all the juicy details where I cover how exactly to plan your shoot, tips for choosing locations, how to pose (not awkwardly!), tips for editing, and more, be sure to download my free DIY Branding images workbook or tune into the podcast.
Because this is your opportunity to express yourself while developing your signature real estate brand!
UP NEXT:
It's time for seasonal marketing! Fall-themed real estate content and marketing on social media is not only trending, it also works in your Instagram Reels, posts, carousels, and more. The secret is to customize this content with photos and videos of you. So, in today's episode, let's plan an easy fall content shoot for you as a REALTOR to use in your marketing strategies this season!