Month: August 2013

Stay tuned Phoenix; NewHomeSource is coming to a television near you! If you’re in the Phoenix area, tune in weekends this fall  and see the best truly new homes Phoenix has to offer.

The new television program, NewHomeSource TV, profiles builders and communities from across the country as well as offers advice on everything from choosing energy efficient appliances to selecting a floor plan.

With the help of the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, the first episode will air September 14th and will introduce buyers to their new dream homes. Check out some of our behind the scenes photos of the show below!

Lights, camera, ACTION! Interested in being on future episodes of the show or want to know when its coming to an area near you? Contact us to put the spotlight on your homes!

From Mike Blake, The Blake Group

I met a potential home purchaser just inside my model home door.  We exchange pleasantries and I proceeded to walk and talk them through a model home demonstration.  I knew they walked into my model home that day because I controlled the area, community, company and plan information they needed to buy a home.

Their desire for research information and my need for their buying criteria created a win-win relationship.  The point is I controlled the sales process because I controlled the information.

As I provided more information they disclosed more of their buying criteria essentially moving them down the critical path sales processes.

That was 2003, now fast forward to 2013.  Almost 96% of potential customers look online before making contact with a realtor or builder salesperson.  According to a PEW study 57% use online research to narrow down their buying criteria.

Why is this significant?

We as sellers no longer have exclusive control of the information buyers need to research for a home solution.  In fact, the Internet has created a situation that I call – Information Equilibrium.

Buyers are responding to greater access to information by collecting information, prioritizing needs and wants, investigating solutions and refining solutions before making contact with a builder representative.  Essentially they use the Internet to gain more control of the buying process.

So what’s the solution?

  • As marketing people we need to understand what potential purchasers are looking for online.
  • We need to develop marketing strategies that capture the interest of potential purchasers during their online research phase.
  • We need to more effectively engage and create dialogue with potential purchasers before they narrow their buying criteria.
  • Salespeople need to discover and understand what information the purchaser has collected and its relevance.
  • Salespeople will be more effective if they quickly discover what stage in the buying process the customer has reached.
  • The above discovery process will insure that the sales process is positioned to address the buying criteria of the purchaser.

Buyer’s access to information is not a passing phenomenon.  If fact, access to information found on the web will likely be more influential as new generations enter into the market place.  Except in a high demand housing market consumer’s access to information will lengthen the buying cycle.  This will place greater emphasis on developing long-term communication activities that create or maintain a dialogue.

Essentially we need to become as prospect focused as we are customer focused.

By Thane Tennison, Advertising Manager, BDX

At BDX,  we strive to be pragmatic and let the data dictate the story. It’s exciting when you can double the ad performance of your clients and fundamentally change the way they think about online marketing.  That’s all we’ve ever tried to do – maximize performance.

Today the market is booming; builders are short on land and big on breaking ground. We launched new Grand Opening Packages earlier this year to help builders maximize their reach and create consideration for communities with little maturity and no brand equity. Many builders are seizing upon the boom, launching new online programs and really establishing an online presence in the marketplace.

Amazingly, others consider this increased activity as a hindrance to business. “We have too many leads!” “We have too much business! I don’t really need marketing anymore.” It’s an interesting dilemma. Advertising should drive sales, but if I’m hitting my sales goals do I need to advertise?

Does the lead car, set the cruise and enjoy the ride? No, work and forethought are required for market position. It’s easy to forget that while business is good everyone is doing just as good.  Now is the time to create consideration for search and give consumers a reason to shop your homes. Over 40% of consumers shopping any given market are relocating from outside areas. These consumers have little familiarity with local home builders and short sited savings can lead to long-term losses. Consider the buying cycle for new homes ranges from 9 – 12 months; many consumers shopping today will be buying after the market begins to cool.

We work with many builders who chose to create a strong online presence during the downturn and are now seeing the fruits of their labor. If you’d like more information about how builders are improving their web traffic through display advertising contact us at info@thebdx.com.

In an exciting development for builders, agents and especially consumers who are pursuing the dream of home ownership, realtor.com®, the most engaging real estate website, is now featuring new home community listings from BDX. This is a fantastic opportunity for BDX clients to receive even more exposure to an audience of over 18 million every month*. Including new construction communities on a site like realtor.com®,  gives home buyers a complete and accurate picture of the available home options in their area.

Realtor.com® is already a trusted real estate resource with a dedicated audience spending nearly 29 minutes on the site and viewing over 25 pages*. BDX new home communities have spotlight sections in 3 main areas. These include:

  • The main search page right alongside resale homes
  • New plans will be displayed on area maps alongside other listings
  • Dedicated New Construction tabs where buyers can search by community and home plan/spec

 You will receive direct leads from your listings on realtor.com® as well as reporting through BDXLive on search views, detail page views, driving direction views, click-throughs to your website, and more. The ability to market new homes alongside pre-owned homes allows builders to gain more market share and cater to the 20% of homebuyers who enter the home shopping experience with a preference for new construction.

In the words of our own CEO, Tim Costello, “This is a watershed moment for the building industry, the builders who list all their communities with BDX, and especially buyers who are pursuing their dream of home ownership.”

If you haven’t already listed your new home communities with BDX, now is the time to do so! Increase your visibility, traffic and sales with one simple decision. We believe that in order to create the best search experience for consumers, we need to provide the most complete and accurate new home data. That is why in the coming months we will unveil additional advantages you will receive as a result of listing all of your communities with BDX. Don’t wait; schedule some time to talk with your BDX Digital Marketing Consultant today!

To learn more about this exciting opportunity and how it will benefit you, read more here and please register today for our webinar on August 29th.

*comScore: Quarterly average for desktop & mobile of Q2 for 2013 for realtor.com®

By: Eleanor Bowman, Director of Marketing, BDX

What if you could get inside the minds of today’s home buyers and their real estate agents to better understand what motivates them, what inspires them, and what leads them to take action? Over the past year at BDX, we have conducted extensive home buyer and real estate agent research to help our builders do just that. Here are some of the highlights:

Most buyers start their home search with an interest in new homes. 54% of home buyers start the process with a preference for or interest in new homes but only 8% end up buying new. What a tremendous opportunity to inspire and educate this group about the advantages of new home construction! Our newly launched website, StartFreshBuyNew.com is a good place to go for ideas. The site is currently seeing over 50,000 visitors per week and driving over 10,000 searches for new homes. Also, if you’re a client with BDX, you get access to our “Start Fresh. Buy New.”  toolkit that’s full of useful statistics, videos and graphics about driving the benefits of a new home.

Home shoppers start their search with an open mind. 95% of all shoppers have no specific builder in mind when they start the buying process. Are your homes listed where they will find you? What messages are you sending to capture their mind-share? Make sure that you’re not only making a great first impression but that your marketing programs are keeping your brand top of mind.

One third of all shoppers say they are tired of their current home. When we identified the triggers that started buyers down the home search path, this was at the top of the list. “Favorable home prices” and “low interest rates” were also high ranking answers.

The buying cycle is longer than we thought. Two-thirds of all shoppers will take 9 months or more to purchase a home. What does this mean for your business? Builders who are disqualifying home buyer leads who are not ready to buy immediately may be missing out. This longer sales cycle makes lead nurturing critical so consider a steady stream of communications to your prospects.

Using video in your online marketing inspires buyers to take action. We found that builders who embedded video in their listings on NewHomeSource.com saw leads increase by 28% and click-throughs improve by 36%. So while we have known that video is an engaging marketing tool that can also impact Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it is now more important than ever as a lead conversion accelerant.

It’s important to showcase your communities, not just your homes. Builders who included community images along with their home renderings or photos saw a 28% lift in leads on NewHomeSource.com. So make sure you have the digital images to highlight your amenities and neighborhoods – buyers want to know what life will be like outside of the home’s four walls.

Most buyers will use a real estate agent to help them buy their home. 84% of buyers will engage the services of an agent to help find their next home. What is your agent outreach strategy? Do you have good communications and trainings for agents in your area so they are educated about your homes and buying process?

Consumer promotions are very important to real estate agents. We asked real estate agents, “How important is it to know about builder promotions when you are putting together recommendations for a buyer?” Half responded that consumer promotions were critically important.

These insights are just the tip of the iceberg. We have a full suite of research resources and tools that are available for our clients and are happy to talk with you about how this information can shape your business. For more information, contact BDX at Info@thebdx.com.