New trends in marketing, technology, and customer service are becoming exceedingly present in the real estate market. Everything from AI to virtual reality tours to targeted ads is taking the real estate world by storm. Many brokers and team leaders are incorporating these new trends into their own real estate teams, and the results have been nothing short of outstanding. Here’s how you can turn the changes in real estate to your advantage:

Incorporate trends that fit your brand.

It is imperative to understand what the brand of your company is before implementing bold strategies that may be viewed by some as somewhat eccentric. Determine your customer demographics, the mission of your company, and the primary needs of your clientele. If you are a local real estate team, it doesn’t make much sense to explore the virtual reality open house feature, as clients will be able to visit the house. If your mission is direct customer service, then adding an artificial intelligence voicemail operator may lead to some irritation with customers. First and foremost, know exactly what your company values are before deciding what trends will fit its PR and agenda.

Find something that makes your company unique.

What differentiates you from every other real estate team out there? Is it your willingness to FaceTime an open house tour with out-of-state clients? Is it your marketing automation skills that help you know exactly which customer segment to target for a specific kind of houses? Is it your out-of-this-world 3D listing feature that intrigues clients from the get-go? Whatever it is, you must find something that is undeniably you. If you stand out from the rest of the crowd, your company will start becoming increasingly appealing to a wider range of clients.

Trial and error.

When adding new real estate features, it is always important to keep the famous proverb in mind, “if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.” Much of real estate is a learning process within itself. The same trend may work for one company and let down another. You may love a new marketing feature, but your clients might hate it. Try to leverage one trend, and if it doesn’t work out, walk away from it. Move on to the next one. Inevitably, you will find the secret ingredient that will bring you success. Just don’t expect it to happen overnight.