There are so many builders to choose from when it's time to buy a home. So how do you get your prospective buyers to remember your home builder brand when they reach this stage of the home buyer's journey? Read on to learn the top tactics for standing out online and boosting your brand recognition.
You know how extreme competition is in the home building industry. It's fierce and full of "noise". Every great builder out there is online and promoting their brand, but often they let their 'sell-at-all-costs' attitudes show in their content. Telling people how great of a deal you have all the time only works for the tiny group of people who are in the decision stage. Knowing how to talk to the other 95% of your audience who aren't quite there yet is the key to growing your business and your bottom line.
Reading time: 6 minutes
Level: Intermediate
Key Takeaways:
- look at how your competition is doing SEO and do it better
- keep your brand in front of potential customers often with Facebook advertising
- use retargeting campaigns to keep visitors coming back to your site
- use optimal times to post on the top social media channels for the best engagement and reach
- be authentic and use your brand voice when responding to your followers
In a rush? Click here for a summary of this post.
Once you realize the details of the process a buyer takes before they're ready to buy a home you know getting found online and providing engaging, valuable content to your audience is what matters most. Your home builder digital marketing strategy will do a lot of the work for you once a prospective home buyer visits your website.
Lead nurturing and a strong social presence will help you stay top-of-mind and become their builder of choice. This is the ultimate success of a powerful home builder brand that knows how to sell more homes.
Develop a Solid SEO Strategy
Think about your buyer personas. Who is most likely to buy one of your homes? Once you have a clearly defined target audience (or two, or three!) it's time to develop a kick-ass content marketing strategy.
Look at what your competition is doing. Use one of these keyword spy tools to see what they're ranking for and copy the successful ones so you can get a piece of that traffic too. Tailor your blog content around these top-performing keywords so your audience can find them organically and come to you. Ah, the beauty of inbound marketing!
Your content will start to surge in search rankings because you're providing valuable information your ideal buyers are looking for, as long as your SEO game is on point.
Now, your social media marketing strategy can take over and help you gain more traction from all the content you create.
Get Serious About Social
Not all social channels are created equal, especially if you have a very specific target audience. Find out which ones make the most sense for your demographic. If you cater mostly to first-time home buyers aged 25-45, LinkedIn isn't your place. Facebook is where they go to catch up on what their friends and family are up to, so connect with them there.
Plus, Facebook advertising allows you to create custom audiences where you can promote the updates you want people to see. If you have a new blog post you want to share or a showhome grand opening coming up, this is the perfect advertising platform for you. It's the best place to be for generating engagement and driving traffic that's most likely to convert straight to your website.
Generate Constant Traffic Flow With Retargeting Campaigns
The other great aspect of using Facebook in your digital marketing strategy is the dual purpose those custom audiences serve. The first post you promote gets them to your site, but what if they don't download the piece of premium content you're offering?
No worries here! You can create a new set of highly-targeted audiences who haven't completed the action you wanted them to. By setting specific parameters like including and/or exclude certain page URLs, you can bring those same people back to your site via another promoted post. Think of it as a gentle nudge in case life got in the way the first time.
You can take this concept a step further and build complete retargeting campaigns to take your visitors through each step in your funnel. This form of marketing automation makes lead nurturing so easy for your Sales and Marketing teams.
Soon you'll have more leads consistently entering the decision stage, ready to head to one of your showhomes and sign on the dotted line.
Post Engaging Content at Peak Times
There are general guidelines for the best times to post on the main social platforms. Focus on the channels your ideals buyers use most.
Look at your Facebook Page Insights to see the times each day where your audience is most active. You can also look at your previous posts to see which type of content is generating the most engagement. If you want to check your Twitter insights in more detail, Tweriod is a handy reporting tool for seeing the similar information on audience activity.
Now you can create an optimized social posting schedule right inside marketing automation software like HubSpot. Whenever a new blog post goes live or you have an event you want to promote, you're ready to reach more of your audience and maximize engagement.
Engage On Time and Often
Your followers appreciate a timely, informative response. If they have a question, try to answer it directly on the post. However, there are times when you should move the conversation over to private messages. Use your best judgement here and then set that standard for any team members who will be working on your social accounts.
Use humour in your replies where appropriate, and put yourself in their shoes. They are making probably the biggest purchase in their life, so take their concerns and frustrations seriously. Do your best to solve their problems and keep things civil. An understanding, professional approach is always best in this situation.
Keeping your home building company fresh in the minds of your ideal buyers takes time and is worth every penny. When you see your revenue soar and more closed sales than ever before, remember how powerful a great brand is to the success of your business.
Summary
The best way to make sure people remember your name when they are ready to buy a new home is by building a powerful home builder brand.
The first way you can do that is with an SEO game plan. Look at what your competition is ranking for and optimizing for their most successful keywords. Put out content your buyer personas want to read, with answers they're looking for. Your goal should be to control the local market as the home builder of choice and having your search rankings rise to the top is the best way to have your name everywhere your buyers are.
Next, you'll want to invest in Facebook advertising to reach more of your potential customers with highly-targeted ads promoting your latest blog and downloadable content. Once you bring these visitors to your site, keep them coming back and nurture them through the funnel with retargeting campaigns. This way, you'll have a full funnel and more sales-qualified leads.
Do your homework and make sure you're posting at peak times when the majority of your followers are online. You'll have the best chance at engagement and click-throughs.
When you see comments on your posts or direct replies, answer quickly and professionally. Stay true to your brand voice and be consistent in your messages. Your followers can spot a fake from a mile away and will appreciate authenticity. It makes them feel like they're talking to a real person who understands their concerns.
With these brand-boosting tools in place, you'll stay top-of-mind with potential buyers and build up your bottom line.
