Realtors wear many hats. They need to be experts on the housing market, customer service pros, skilled negotiators, and transaction coordinators. They also need to be marketing specialists, a skill that’s especially important when inventory ticks up. As more options become available to buyers, Realtors need a solid marketing strategy to make their listings stand out.
The challenge in executing this vision is that most Realtors don’t wear the hat of a graphic designer. In the fast-paced world of real estate where you often have mere days to prepare new listings, and changes like price drops can occur throughout, outsourcing this work comes with its own challenges. In 2017, we set out to resolve this disconnect with the creation of Danberry Design House, our one-stop shop for all things marketing. Our in-house team consists of graphic designers, photographers, videographers, social media specialists, commercial printing, and interior design.
In 2021, we took our commitment to simplified, top-notch marketing a step further by joining Canva Enterprise. Render by Design House, Danberry’s content platform through Canva, launched at the beginning of 2022. Over the years, it has evolved into an invaluable tool with over 1,000 customizable templates that our agents can quickly fill or use as a jumping off point for graphics tailored to their personal brand.
Our recent Danberry x Canva case study shows how Render has streamlined our marketing approach.
FOR AGENTS
This market moves fast and, so too, must Realtors. As Danberry agent Mindi Marshall explains, “If I couldn't turn around a listing flyer or social media post quickly, I’d risk losing momentum in marketing a property." Marketing materials like listing flyers used to take Mindi hours to create. With Canva, her turnaround time is under 10 minutes. “This means listings hit the market stronger and sooner,” Mindi emphasized.
The power of marketing can’t be overlooked, but we don’t want that piece to consume our agents. Real estate is about serving people, first and foremost. Having instant access to quality templates on a user-friendly platform frees up agents’ time, leaving them more availability to devote to their clients.
FOR OUR MARKETING TEAM
We have an award-winning Marketing Department—and that’s not an exaggeration! Danberry received a 2025 American Inhouse Design Award from Graphic Design USA for our Flow Program. We’re also a 2025 MarCom Gold Winner in the Business to Consumer Category for our buyer’s and seller’s guides. There’s no shortage of talent in our 10-person creative team!
Danberry has 375 agents throughout Ohio and Michigan. Understandably, Design House was struggling to keep pace with agent demand. Canva Enterprise allowed us to scale our content at a rapid rate—from 30 graphics per year to up to 50 graphics per month—while ensuring that Brand Templates are consistent and compliant.
Maria Penler, Director of Marketing at Danberry, honed in on the importance of scaling production as an independent brokerage, “Canva has really leveled the playing field for organizations smaller than a Fortune 500. It’s empowered agents both individually and at an organizational level. And we’ve avoided costly, real estate-specific tools that didn’t provide the same return on investment.”
FOR CORPORATE SERVICES
Compliance is crucial in our industry. Real estate advertisements must adhere to strict licensing laws. For example, Ohio and Michigan require the name of the brokerage to be displayed in equal prominence with the name of the salesperson in all advertising. Fines can be issued for non-compliant marketing.
Canva templates allow us to lock critical elements, such as the Danberry logo. “This ensures our principal brokers and our leadership team won’t be getting calls reporting us to the division,” elaborates Dana Nehren, Director of Agent Services at Danberry.
Communication between Agent Services and our nearly 400 agents is also key. Dana says she used to spend upwards of 6 hours creating each weekly newsletter. Thanks to Canva Pro, she’s cut that time down to 90 minutes or less.
Having a large scale platform for content creation has been a game changer for every branch of our company, proving that effective marketing doesn’t have to be time consuming or cost prohibitive. As Maria eloquently explains, "Canva has set us up as a leader in our local market for what marketing should look like, allowing us to help set what the bar is, not just have to raise to it."
