Getting the most value for your marketing dollars is a top priority for new home marketers. The challenge is knowing which areas to invest in for the best results, and how much.
That's why you're here - to find a better way to spend your new home marketing budget. Once you shift your mindset and your budget to the measurable, sales-generating power of digital advertising, you'll be ready to take over your local market.
Reading time: 7 minutes
Level: Intermediate
Key Takeaways:
- What the "1% revenue rule" is when it comes to building your new home marketing budget
- Why your digital advertising strategies should be your focus
- Plus five other areas to invest your marketing dollars for the best results
You want to be the hero who helps increase revenue, right? Read on to learn more about a winning formula designed for home builders and their marketing teams to sell more homes.
The 1% Revenue Rule
Working for a home builder, you know the profit margins are thin. Your new home marketing budget must be optimized and effective. An ideal budget for your marketing and advertising is right around 1% of total revenue. This way, you're protecting your bottom line while gaining traction with your budget to give you an impressive return.
Budget Breakdown
50% - Digital Advertising (Half Ad Spend & Half Development)
Your ideal buyers are online and searching for answers to their most pressing questions. They want information on their terms - are you ready for them?
Use digital advertising to get in front of them and capture their attention.
Besides the basic advertising avenues like SEO, Google Adwords, and Display Ads, you'll want to set your sights on social marketing strategies.
Facebook advertising for home builders is a must because of the ability to create custom audiences and promote highly-targeted ads in front of your buyer personas. Whether it's blog content, promotions or premium content offers, you can keep your funnel full of high-quality leads who are more likely to buy a home from you.
Best of all, this type of marketing automation is measurable so you can see what's working and what's not. This allows you to adapt quickly and focus more of your budget on the type of promoted content your audience likes to engage with.
Don't forget a well-oiled marketing machine needs proper maintenance to thrive. This includes things like website updates and redesigns, investing in a great CRM platform like HubSpot, mobile optimization, and anything else to help you secure your presence online.
Content is king in this industry because it drives traffic to your site and gives your visitors the information they're looking for once they get there. Think of your website as your digital show suite or virtual sales office. The amount you'll spend on digital development will vary, so invest any leftover money here.
Attach virtual tours of your latest show homes. Create new home buying resources visitors can download in exchange for their information. Take a look at the kind of content your competition is putting out and put your own spin on it. You want your website to always put user experience first and give your ideal buyers more of what they want. Convenience sells.
10-15% - Signage
While there is value in signage, billboards and directional signs should not take up much of your new home marketing budget. When buyers are ready to tour showhomes, make it super easy for them to find you with eye-catching signage near major intersections in the communities you're building in. The goal is to bring them to you, not to use signage as a selling tool.
This is because most of the decision-making has already happened when a home buyer drives to your showhome. It's in the earlier stages of the home buyer's journey that you should be focusing your budget on digital advertising - nurturing leads until they are sales qualified, in their car and ready to tour showhomes.
10-15% - Events
With so many new communities and showhomes out there, you want yours to stand out. Promote your grand openings all over your website, in your newsletter, and on your blog.
Don't forget to take it digital, too!
Create a Facebook event and promote it to your target audience. It's also a great idea to use Facebook Live during your events so you can encourage your page followers to head on down and join in on the fun! Prizes, food trucks, and a fun theme are essentials for a successful grand opening.
P.S. Take a look at our free checklist filled with effective tips for optimizing your Facebook page.
5% - Gifts
Whether it's prizes for contests and showhome grand openings, or a token of appreciation for your clients when they move into their new home, gifts play a small yet important role in your new home marketing budget.
Adding a sweet incentive in the form of a giveaway encourages people to engage with your posts and share them with their friends. You benefit from more followers on your social channels and better engagement. It gets people talking about you, too!
For your newest clients, leaving a housewarming present for them to find when they open the door to their brand-new home goes such a long way in building a lasting relationship. That warm feeling will stay with them and they'll remember how well they were treated during such a big milestone in their lives. When their friends are looking to buy a new home, you can bet your name will come up in conversation.
Innovation - 5%
If you're not evolving to your buyer behaviours, you'll lose touch fast. Always make time and put room in your budget for experimenting with the latest trends in new home marketing.
Conversational marketing in the form of chatbots is a VERY cool and game-changing innovation home marketers should be paying attention to. Today's modern buyers want information on their own terms.
Start a conversation the second they reach your website and gather information while your savvy chat program answers their questions. You now have a seamless handoff to an Online Sales Concierge (OSC) who can continue the conversation until your prospects are ready to talk to a sales rep.
Reserve Fund - 10%
It's a smart idea to set aside about ten percent of your new home marketing budget in case your initiatives call for more funds. Having this in your budget gives you the freedom and the means to spend more on what's working really well. For example, you may have an usually large number of showhome grand openings one year or want to continue capitalizing on a popular promotion.
If there is anything leftover at the end of the year, reinvest it into your digital marketing strategies. Think of this like the engine in your marketing machine - more fuel to burn means you'll go farther. In this case, that means more home sales and increased revenue which sounds very, very good.
Summary
You want to get more out of your new home marketing budget. But what areas should you be investing in to get the most value when it comes to selling more homes?
Your primary focus should be on digital marketing strategies and development. This takes up half of your budget for a reason. Facebook advertising will work HARD for your money and put your content in front of the right audiences. You will see more home sales fast with its lead generating capabilities made for home builders just like you.
Signage is still important, but this form of traditional marketing should only take up 10-15% of your new home marketing budget. Your digital marketing efforts will get your leads ready to tour showhomes, then your signs can bring 'em home.
Events like showhome grand openings should take up between 10-15% of your total budget. Focus your dollars on hosting a great event, but don't forget to promote it on Facebook and in your newsletters!
Gifts for contests and to say thank you to your new clients come in at 5%. The investment is small for the potential online engagement and future business you'll receive from happy customers who tell their friends and family about you.
Innovate always if you want to stay ahead of the trends and your competition. Use 5% of your budget to experiment with exciting new ways to connect with potential home buyers. Conversational marketing using chatbots is something you'll want to look into.
Lastly, keep a reserve fund of 10% to use towards maximizing the lead and sales potential of successful campaigns. If you have money leftover, consider investing it into more digital marketing and advertising strategies.
