Simple Digital Marketing Strategies for Home Builders & New Home Communities

by Barb Dittert

For businesses that aren’t digital, it can be challenging to know how to navigate the digital sphere. Home builders and new home communities are no exception. Thankfully, though, digital marketing doesn’t have to be all algorithms and complex data. Here, we share simple yet incredibly effective marketing tactics you can employ to help strengthen your home builder brand, business, and bottom line.

TL;DR

Get insider knowledge

First, sit down with your sales team to better understand what the big selling points are. What gets home buyers on the hook? What motivates them? What are their hesitations? Your sales team will have incredible insight as to how you can better appeal to consumers.

Next, talk to your past homeowners about what they love most about their homes and their community. Send out surveys, get testimonials, or host some virtual focus groups to hear first-hand feedback. Their knowledge and advice can help shape future marketing decisions and the type of content you produce to resonate with prospective clients.

Highlight local communities

Another great marketing strategy to boost home sales or contracts is to feature local communities in your content. This helps paint a better picture of what future residents can look forward to in their new neighborhood. This also can provide promotional marketing support to local businesses who could really use it right now. Be sure to mention if they have any special offers they are running during the crisis or for your community.

Highlight local talking points, like:

Schools
Restaurants
Shops
Parks
Events and venues
Museums
Farmer’s markets

This strategy also helps showcase your business as one that supports the local community, which can appeal to future homebuyers. If they see that you care about your neighborhoods, they may feel more inclined to build a home with a company that shares the same values they do.

Know when to sell vs. share

When it comes to your website, be sure to draw a clear line between selling vs. sharing. Pages on your site like the home page, community and floor plan pages, and others should focus on conversions. Your blog, on the other hand, should be focused on drawing in new visitors. It should also cater to a more general audience, people who may have stumbled across your brand for the first time. Focus on creating timely and relevant content that’s helpful and informational to all users, not just the ones you’re trying to sell your products to.

Gather data

Data is becoming one of the most critical parts of digital marketing. When set up properly, data can show you what’s working, what’s not, and what future opportunities to capitalize on. Here’s a brief overview of which tracking tools you should be using to measure the performance of your digital channels and to help with SEO:

Google Analytics: Known as the gold standard of measurement tools, Google Analytics gives you deeper insight into your website visitors, measures ROI, and so much more. You can also connect it to any other systems you currently have to measure points of sale, CRM, and more.
Google Search Console: These tools ensure your site is visible to those searching for it or similar products. It also measures your site’s search performance and traffic while monitoring and fixing any issues along the way.
Business Manager: If your business has Facebook and Instagram accounts, use Business Manager to track it all. There you can manage ads, posts, pages, and gather data on audience engagement. New to social media? Use this engagement guide to get started.

Trackable advertising

We mentioned how important data is to your marketing efforts. If this is your first time marketing your home builder or new home community online, it’s important to use strategies that are trackable. We’d go so far as to say you should only use trackable advertising tactics. For example, display ads are a great way to get guaranteed exposure to audiences when they use specific keywords or phrases — no matter the site they’re on. You can track who clicks the ad, when, and from where, all while gaining brand exposure. Other advertising tactics, like billboards, cannot be tracked. As a result, you can’t measure their success, making them an unworthy investment.

Quality, quality, quality

When it comes to your digital touchpoints and content you produce, remember this golden rule: quality over quantity. It shows that you put time and care into your own online presence, which helps you seem genuine and trustworthy. Quality is especially important when it comes to showcasing homes, as users need to actually envision themselves there and feel confident it’s a worthy investment. Only post high-quality imagery and video of your homes, their surrounding areas, and any other unique qualities that help you stand out from the competition.

Find a digital marketing partner you can trust

Digital marketing can be tricky and even intimidating to navigate as a home builder or new home community. That’s why it’s important to find a marketing partner you can trust with your business and your brand. At Volume Nine, we offer customized solutions for home builders so you can get more people in their dream homes.

If you’re ready to turn up your brand or digital marketing strategies, let’s talk.