Twenty years ago, Zillow’s first marketing move was a product that solved a real problem and got people talking—neighbors comparing Zestimates, consumers saying, “I found this on Zillow” to their agents. No Super Bowl ad. No massive media budget. No TV campaign. That word-of-mouth wasn’t an accident. Every feature had to pass one test: would someone care enough to tell a friend? If not, we didn’t ship it.
I recently sat down with Wendy Forsythe, chief marketing officer of eXp Realty, on the X-Factor Marketing podcast to talk about how Zillow built a brand that became culture—and what agents can take from that playbook to build their own. You can listen to the full conversation here.
That discipline—is this remarkable enough that someone would talk about it?— turned out to be the whole strategy. And I think it’s one of the most transferable lessons for agents building their own brands today.
Every interaction is a brand decision
Your brand isn’t your logo or your tagline. It’s the sum of how people feel after every interaction with you. When you don’t have a budget, you can’t buy your way into someone’s trust. You have to earn it—repeatedly, consistently, one interaction at a time.
For Zillow, that meant asking a simple question about every product decision: is this remarkable enough that someone would talk about it? For agents, the same question applies to every listing appointment, every follow-up text, every market update you send. Your brand isn’t your logo or your tagline. It’s the sum of how people feel after every interaction with you.
The agents who build lasting brands aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest marketing budgets. They’re the ones who show up the same way every time—online and offline, with a first-time buyer and a seasoned investor, in a hot market and a slow one.
Data opens the door. The human story closes it.
One of the principles that guides our work at Zillow is the difference between data and insight. Data tells you what’s happening. Insight tells you what it means to people. When we look at search behavior on our platform, we don’t stop at the numbers—we push until we find the human story inside them. What is this person actually feeling? What are they nervous about? What would make them feel seen?
For example: knowing that first-time buyers in your market spend an average of 8 weeks searching doesn’t just tell you timing—it tells you they’re exhausted and need someone to simplify the process, not add to the overwhelm.
Agents have access to the same opportunity. Zillow publishes consumer housing trends and local market data that can help you show up as the most informed person in the room. But the agents who truly differentiate themselves are the ones who take that data one step further—translating it into what it means for this buyer, on this street, with this timeline. That’s not a report. That’s a conversation that builds trust.
Your tools are your amplifier
Building a brand on strong fundamentals is the foundation. The right tools are what let you scale it.
Your Zillow Agent Profile is your digital storefront—and it’s working for you 24 hours a day whether you’re thinking about it or not. Almost all buyers use at least one online resource when shopping for a home, and one-in-three buyers choose their agent based on what they find online before ever making a call. Your digital presence isn’t supplemental—it’s the first interview.
The agents I see winning aren’t just showing up on listings—they’re showing up consistently, creating a pattern of presence that builds familiarity before the first conversation. Tools like Zillow Showcase help extend that presence into your listings, while Zillow Pro lets you stay connected to your entire sphere—past clients, referrals, your full network—so that when someone is ready to move or recommend an agent, you’re already the name that comes to mind.
The goal isn’t to be everywhere. It’s to be somewhere, consistently, so that when your someday client is ready — you’re already there.
Find your X-factor
Here’s what I’ve learned building brands across two decades: Your X-factor isn’t something you invent—it’s something your clients already see in you. Pull up your last 10 reviews and read them like you’re meeting yourself for the first time. The words that repeat? That’s not feedback. That’s your brand telling you who you already are.
Your job isn’t to create something from scratch. It’s to notice what’s already working, name it, and then build everything—your content, your process, your client experience—around it intentionally.
Zillow spent 20 years earning a place in culture one interaction at a time. The agents who win the next 20 years will do the same thing.
Want to find your X-factor in person? That’s exactly what Unlock 2026 is built for. Join us October 12–15 at Fontainebleau Las Vegas. Register now at unlockconference.com.
Listen to Jackson’s full conversation with Wendy Forsythe on the X-Factor Marketing podcast here.
