Luxury corporate image for real estate agencies: the power behind the brand

We have a clear vision: your real estate agency becoming a power brand. Getting there? It can be as easy as starting to work on its corporate image right now. If you're wondering what a corporate image is (and how much it matters to the results your business generates), you're in the right place. Because no: creating an image is not the same as creating the image you want your target audience to perceive.

Ratings. Emotions. What your luxury real estate agency conveys, and much more. A real estate agency's corporate image is the result of every interaction your business has with its audience, and it can be shaped by factors such as advertising, the quality of your products and services, and your reputation. Beyond what a corporate image is, the question is: what can you do to improve it? Here's how.

From image to identity: which is which?

Although they may seem similar, you shouldn't confuse them: corporate image is different from corporate identity. Slightly confusing terms, we know. Although both are very important for your luxury real estate agency, it's important to recognise what corporate image is and, on the other hand, what corporate identity is:

• Corporate identity: This includes a brand's tone of voice, its naming and all its visual elements (logo, typography and corporate colours). It refers to a company's unique identity: an integral, controllable aspect of its corporate image, designed and looked after to project a consistent image in every interaction with the public.

• Corporate image: This refers to how a company is perceived by its target audience, including its products, services, communications and behaviour. It can be shaped by factors such as advertising, the quality of its products and services, its reputation and, of course, its corporate identity itself.

The two are related (each influences the other), and you need to know where your company stands in order to work on them together. In the luxury sector especially, the image projected through your own identity must be of high quality. In other words, what has been established in your corporate identity must deliver results in terms of corporate image.

Where to start? By reviewing what your client sees today before they call you. When we talk about corporate image for real estate agencies, there's far more at stake than we think, because the calls from owners and buyers depend on it.

Improving your corporate image: 5 keys

Now that you know what a corporate image is, you can understand what kind of actions and strategies need to be carried out to create the most favourable image possible for your luxury real estate agency. These are the 5 keys that make the most difference.

• Establish a consistent tone of voice: It's important to make sure that all communications, including your website, social media and printed materials, have a consistent tone of voice, set through your brand messaging, that reflects the agency's luxury image.
• Build a presence in search engines: Appearing in Google's top results will do a great deal for your luxury real estate agency's corporate image. By using SEO ranking techniques, you'll improve your brand's reputation and also increase its credibility.
• Use social media strategically: Building a social media strategy that's relevant to your target audience will help you create a favourable corporate image. How? By sharing quality content, including images and videos of luxury properties, as well as other content more focused on branding.
• Create quality content: Creating and sharing content that conveys your brand's values is essential. Whether through a blog, through videos or through copywriting, the quality of the content you produce will have a direct impact on a luxury real estate agency's corporate image.
• Keep an innovative mindset: From sharing reels to keeping up with the latest in virtual reality, not to mention drone filming. A constant drive to innovate is especially important for attracting new clients, as well as for maintaining an impeccable corporate image.

Conclusions

Many real estate agencies still don't make the most of what a good corporate image can give them, and it shows where it matters most: how many owners and buyers call you rather than the competition.

Knowing what a corporate image is can mark the start of a new chapter for your luxury real estate agency, one in which it can position itself in first class. And while it's true that many agencies don't put these advantages into practice, that is a competitive advantage for the luxury real estate agencies that do work on them.