Even in a brick-and-mortar industry like residential construction, the digital revolution has radically changed how businesses approach marketing. Traditional home builder marketing strategies like mailers, billboard ads, and TV or radio spots are quickly becoming obsolete as potential clients spend more time researching home builders online. To keep up with this market evolution, your builder marketing needs to incorporate new digital tools as part of an overall marketing strategy focused on setting your company apart from competitors and winning market share.
Pivoting your home builder advertising to stay ahead of the digital curve may seem like a huge undertaking, but this overview provides a roadmap for moving your marketing online in the most impactful and cost-effective way possible. Read on to learn more about home builder marketing, new home sales marketing ideas and strategies for the digital age, and how to design a solid home builder marketing plan.
What is Home Builder Marketing?
Before taking a look at the top digital ideas and strategies for marketing new construction homes, let’s define home builder marketing and highlight how an effective strategy can attract new clients, reinforce your brand, and grow your business.
A marketing strategy includes all your company’s promotional activities, from advertising campaigns to networking. Successful marketing generates new leads and increases revenues through sales-oriented tactics but also positions your brand as professional and trustworthy through content marketing, positive client testimonials, and networking with other leading companies in real estate and other industries.
The secret to successful marketing efforts is creating a cohesive home builder marketing plan that considers important elements like your target demographic and long-term goals. You’ll also need to identify short-term actions and strategies to reach that audience and achieve your overall sales goals and branding objectives over time.
Effective Home Builder Ideas and Strategies
Keep pace with the changing market by leveraging new home builder marketing tools and technologies to expand your pool of leads, penetrate new demographics, connect with prospective clients, and reinforce your brand image. Here are a few effective ways to boost your home builder advertising and marketing ROI online.
Build an Engaging Website
Your website is often the first point of contact for prospective clients; it is a digital showroom that is just as important for representing your brand as your physical offices. In addition to being easy to find, simple to navigate, and mobile-friendly, your site should be packed with informative, valuable content that reflects your brand as a reliable industry leader. The visual element of your website is also a vital tool for converting visits into sales, so high-quality images are a must, as well as innovative features like virtual tours, 3D renderings, and photo galleries.
Include a house listing feed that updates in real-time so potential buyers can see what homes are available with images, information, and financing options. Add clear contact information, a solid FAQs section, and glowing client testimonials to create a final website that delivers value to visitors and boosts engagement.
Use SEO Best Practices
Once you’ve created an informative and engaging website, you need to make sure that your market can find you online. Secure your spot at the top of search engine results and boost traffic to your site with a thoughtful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
Your strategy should include best practices like determining relevant keywords and phrases and integrating them into your homepage copy and page titles. You can also include informative blog content that addresses focus keywords or phrases, as well as proposing engaging solutions for common home builder issues.
Another effective SEO tool is cultivating links from other authoritative sites in related industries that point back to your company’s website. Contribute guest blog posts, grant interviews or expert quotes, or provide other linkable content to reputable websites to form an SEO-rich link network. However, this networking should be about building relationships rather than solely seeking out backlinks.
Social Media Marketing
Social media has become an important marketing tool in many industries, but this image-driven medium is especially suitable for home builder marketing. Active Facebook and Instagram business accounts are a compelling way to build relationships with prospective clients and reinforce your brand voice. You can showcase your listings through high-quality images and videos of new homes, link to relevant blog posts or media mentions, and engage in friendly and informative online exchanges with past and future clients.
Social media platforms reward consistent, original content, giving feeds with more activity higher visibility. Set and maintain a posting schedule, so your account doesn’t look abandoned. Also, regularly respond to posted questions and comments to boost engagement. Be sure to include links to your social media accounts on your webpage and any email or newsletter campaigns to expand your pool of followers.
Email Marketing Strategies
In a marketplace that is increasingly segmented, target email marketing campaigns are a great way to reach a precise demographic with tailored home builder ads that offer value and drive conversions. Begin by creating a mailing list of prospective and existing clients, contacts in your network, and new subscribers who sign up via your website and social media accounts.
You incentivize mailing list sign-ups by offering an exclusive e-book or downloadable report about common residential construction issues in exchange for an email address. Always follow best practices for permission to avoid being flagged as a spammer and running into problems with your email service provider.
The success of an email marketing campaign is measured by how many emails are opened, not how many are sent. Increase the number of recipients who open the email and click through to the message with an attention-grabbing subject line, a clearly stated offer, and easy follow-up actions. Be sure to segment your mailing list by category, sending different emails that have been tailored to prospective clients, existing clients, and local realtors, for example.
Promote on Third-Party Real Estate Websites
In addition to maintaining an active and engaging website and social media accounts, you can enhance your online presence by promoting your home builder company on real-estate marketplace websites like Zillow.com, Realtor.com, and Trulia.com. These platforms offer one-stop-shopping for potential customers looking for an overview of the home market in a specific geographic area and are an excellent showcase for your available homes to reach a wide audience.
Feature Your Glowing Customer Testimonials
Satisfied customers who share your company’s name with family and friends are one of the most effective advertising tools. However, word-of-mouth recommendations have a limited audience. Optimize the power of these referrals by prominently featuring positive testimonials from former clients on your website where they will catch the attention of prospective clients. These personal reviews can help move the needle towards a sale. Consider creating a “customer stories” section on your site that presents a handful of case studies, including testimonials with quotes, photos, and videos from satisfied customers to highlight their positive experience with your company.
Offer an Inspiring Photo and Video
New home marketing has a strong visual component, and high-quality photos and videos should form the backbone of your website and dynamic listings, social media feeds, newsletters, and other online (and offline) marketing efforts. Dedicate enough of your marketing resources to photos and video to really create a “wow” factor. You can incorporate new trends like aerial photos and videos taken by drone, virtual staging, 3D renderings, and virtual tours to inspire potential customers to contact you for more information.
Become a Master of Networking
Online marketing is an important component of your overall sales strategy, but don’t overlook the power of face-to-face connections. By actively participating in local public events, the chamber of commerce, and other business networking groups, you can meet prospective clients in-person to answer questions or set up consultations. You’ll also build up professional connections that are important for referrals or partnerships to open up new markets.
How to Create a Home Builder Marketing Plan
Before you start putting these home builder marketing strategies to the test, you need to create a solid marketing plan. This plan serves as an outline for how to use specific tactics and efforts to reach your overall goals, as far as sales and branding.
A marketing plan begins by defining your company’s long-term mission and then works backward to set quantifiable short-term goals and incremental targets to guide the marketing campaign. Generally, a marketing plan is articulated into the following parts:
- Summary and theme: This element presents the plan to your entire team and establishes a central theme to unify the different elements of your marketing campaign.
- Demographic, value, and pricing: Here is where you define your target customers and identify a value proposition and pricing strategy that will attract those customers.
- Channel and methods: Choose how you will deliver your marketing message, from digital marketing to traditional TV ads.
- Partnerships and testimonials: Outline your plan for expanding into new markets via networking and customer referrals.
- Budget: Establish a budget for each element of your plan.
Once you’ve implemented a home builder marketing plan and begin to see positive results, you need to incorporate the final element to solidify your brand and convert prospective leads into sales: positive customer experience. Your customers may find you online but your interaction will quickly move to in-person meetings. Ensure that each contact is professional and friendly and invest in an inviting office or sales space with a cheerful atmosphere that reinforces your brand image.
One subtle yet effective element for boosting the mood at your sales location is a custom playlist. At Cloud Cover Music, we offer a wide variety of ad-free streaming tracks that are licensed for businesses. Choose a station by business type, mood, or genre. Or, create a custom playlist by combining stations and eliminating individual songs that don’t reflect your brand.
Contact us to learn more about our music for business services, including how it can enhance customer experience. You can also request a 14-Day free trial to try out our streaming service for yourself.