Month: June 2012

Each month, BDX hosts free educational webinars to keep our builders up-to-speed on the latest Digital Marketing trends. If you ever have any suggested topics, we would love to hear them at info@thebdx.com.

Here are our upcoming events for July — we hope you can join us!

 

 

FREE WEBINAR: The Power of Email! Best Practices For Effective Email Marketing   

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/555119592

Email marketing is alive and well. In fact, in a recent study, 64% of people said that email was their preferred method for learning about sales promotions. But all emails aren’t created equal! Join our email expert Jon Odishoo for this free online event to learn more about:

  • Design and messaging tips for emails that make an impact
  • Subject lines that work, you only get one chance to get their attention in that inbox
  • What to track and how to use the data you collect about your campaigns
  • How to avoid the spam filters and make sure your emails are compliant

 

FREE WEBINAR: Demystifying Virtual Tours :: Understand your options, best practices and more!   

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM CDT

https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/457556185

Virtual tours are a great way to help homebuyers visualize themselves in your homes. But with so many options how do you decide what flavor of virtual tour is right for your business? Our media experts will walk you through the different types of virtual tours and highlight the pros and cons for each.

  • What virtual tour options are available? We’ll define your options.
  • What are qualities of successful virtual tours? Getting the most out of your investment
  • What questions should you ask yourself before creating a tour? Budget? Goals? And more…
  • See examples of builders that have created dynamic tours at every level.

By BDX Guest Blogger, Carol Morgan, mRELEVANCE

Are you Pinning? If not, you should be.

Pinterest is currently the third most popular social media site after Twitter and Facebook. The majority of Pinterest users are women. Since women influence the majority of home buying decisions, your building company should be there. If you are an architect, remodeler or even a kitchen and bath supplier, Pinterest is a great tool for your social marketing.

Pinterest is an online site that lets users create and share “Pinboards,” similar to bulletin boards or scrapbooks. Users Pin photographs, renderings and even videos that they like from across the web to their Boards.

Each Pin links backs to the original source page. When other Pinterest users re-Pin your Pin, the link back to your site persists. This viral sharing of photos and video is why Pinterest has the ability — if your Pins are popular and re-Pinned — to drive significant amounts of free traffic back to your website. At its core, Pinterest appeals to our instinctual visual nature. It also allows users to connect, explore and learn as they collect and share their favorite images.

Builders have an amazing online marketing and branding opportunity to “Pin” photos and video of their new homes, communities, amenities, custom design options and more. In addition, you may want to create Boards for images other than your own. For builders, related Boards might include interior design ideas, home products, recipes, crafts or local info and attractions.

While these unrelated pins may seem like a waste of time, your page will begin drawing a wider range of potential customers – someone who was initially attracted by a photo with a great decorating idea, who stays and falls in love with your homes.

By offering photos from other sources, your page will be seen as more credible. Keep in mind that your other Pins should match your brand and offering.  For example, if you build entry level homes, it might be confusing if your Boards include high-end homes and appointments. Also, make sure to review Pinterest’s terms and conditions (especially as they relate to copyrights) before starting to Pin another company’s images.

Pinterest is a compelling visual form of social media that is revolutionizing the way we view social media platforms and the way companies are using the Internet to market themselves. If your business is looking to create awareness and online traffic, it’s a powerful new tool to use.

Carol Flammer is managing partner of Marketing RELEVANCE, LLC, a Marketing, Communication, Interactive agency with offices in Atlanta and Chicago. She is the author of “Social Media for Home Builders 2.0” published by BuilderBooks.  

If you’ve done any type of online display advertising you’ve probably heard quite a bit about view thru and attribution beyond the click. TV, Radio, and billboards have all based their success on some level of view thru. Meaning, because a consumer was exposed to your ad, your message is top-of mind and they are more likely to take action. And it’s true, advertising does work. I’ve seen it over and over again.

However, when dealing with the online space simply being ‘top-of mind’ is not enough.  It’s easy to see that exposure and visibility have value but this can be difficult to quantify with real metrics. The real value comes in the breadth of analytics and measurement that are available to you, including tracking click activity and justifying ROI.   These forms of measurement allow you to track consumer engagement and optimize accordingly.

With more sophisticated ad tracking software, advertisers now have the ability to monitor View Thru and attribute value. A View Thru measure is made when a cookie is dropped on a consumer’s computer after being exposed to an ad. The cookie correlates with a corresponding cookie on the advertiser’s website and typically a ‘thank you’ page after conversion. By comparing the interaction between the two cookies, advertisers can now attribute exposure and measure activity beyond the click.

For a marketer the results can be fascinating, but I’d caution that they can also be misleading.  Over the past several years we’ve worked with several ad networks who espouse the overwhelming benefits of view thru and it’s easy to see why.  On average I’d say you could attribute a 5-10X lift in lead conversion from view thru compared to a traditional click.  Who wouldn’t be excited about going from $100/lead to $10?

However, it’s important to consider other factors when gauging success. For example, is simply seeing the ad what drove the user back, or would they probably have returned anyway?  Measuring lift in repeat traffic would be a better indicator of View Thru than just ‘exposure’.

We’ve also seen about 40% of the View Thru attribution occur the same day as the last impression served. That’s a strong argument for View Thru especially when the consumer had the ability to click the ad just moments before. To me, this is one of the most compelling cases for view thru but when I look deeper and consider the frequency of actual banner impressions served I become more skeptical. I find my reporting will attribute View Thru conversion to users that were exposed to 1-2 ads. I would never gauge success from one TV spot, so why would I do it with a banner?  In order to truly be top of mind with a consumer, the frequency of an ad needs to be much higher to truly leave a lasting ‘impression’.

We continue to test the value of View Thru but I haven’t found a formula that will satisfy my skepticism. We’re currently conducting an A-B test in select markets to gauge incremental lift and are adjusting flight terms to measure effects on View Thru and other attributions. More details on those findings to come.

If you’ve struggled to attribute value to View Thru I’d love to hear more about your findings and methodologies. I’m also curious to see what value you place on those conversions attributed to ‘View Thru’.

For more information about this blog post or display advertising with BDX, contact Thane Tennison, Advertising Manager or contact your local Sales Representative.

Click to download the BDX Advertising Flip Book.