Written by Breakthrough Broker Staff Writers

When it comes to how your brand is utilized, especially among agents, establishing guidelines will save you from a slippery slope. It’s much easier to set the expectation upfront rather than trying to change your agents’ behavior after they’ve already gone astray from your brand. Your brand is your brokerage’s identity and it should be carefully curated. Providing a detailed guide to your agents will only benefit your brokerage. Hence, why you need to set standards for agents to follow and get them in place sooner rather than later.

General guidelines or a strict policy, it’s up to you and what works best for your brokerage. If you have 200+ agents, a stricter policy may be more appropriate. Whereas if you have a boutique brokerage, a simple guide with the basics could suffice. Regardless of what option you choose, you can start simple and refine over time.

If you’re opting for the general guidelines route, you’ll want to include the do’s and don’ts of your brand’s assets. Logo, color(s), and font(s) should all be outlined with proper usage and a few examples of improper usage. Don’t get lost in the weeds on showing every single example of improper usage, but a few examples will provide a solid visual reference of what not to do.

A more in-depth or stricter brand policy would include all of the above and other important aspects of your brand, such as tone, messaging, history, values, personality, and more. This guide would essentially be your brokerage’s universal playbook, from its history to its font selection.

As a broker-owner, you could add an extra layer of brand security by setting up an approval process. What does/doesn’t need to filter through you before it’s ready for public consumption? Or you may also have pre-approved vendors who are already familiar with your brand standard. Include this information in your guidelines.

While there can be many, many facets to your brand, the above are just a few routes to explore.

If you want a further look into what your branding guide should include, take a look at the whitepaper CEO and Co-Founder, Nathan Froelich, has written on how to defend your brand.

If you are a broker owner and would like to schedule a one on one branding consultation with BB co-founder Eric Sachs, click here.

Breakthrough Broker resources

Should You Leave Your Brokerage's Brand to the Pros?
How Templates and Marketing Technology Can Boost Your Brand
Brand Guideline Examples
On-Demand Webinar: Marketing Action Plan Workshop
Branding Workbook for Real Estate Agents