Month: October 2013

By BDX Guest Blogger, Carol Morgan, mRELEVANCE

LinkedIn, the top social network for professionals, is looking to increase its business appeal by introducing sponsored updates for company pages.

While LinkedIn advertising has existed for a few years, the newly added sponsored updates allow businesses to specifically target updates to customers. And, with a new prominent placement in users’ news feeds, instead of in the sidebar, sponsored updates exponentially increase the potential for engagement and exposure.

When it comes to defining the audience for your sponsored update, the sky is the limit. Audience filtering options include countries, states or regions within states; specific companies, industries or company sizes; job titles or function; education; skills; group memberships; gender and age. However, audience isn’t the only thing businesses can control, as they can also determine budget, campaign length and if they want to pay every time LinkedIn shows or every time a user clicks on their update.

If LinkedIn advertising sounds like just another social media network you have to pay money to, think again. While Facebook and Twitter are great for reaching current or potential customers, LinkedIn is the go-to source for building or enhancing business relationships and for reaching professionals who are searching for their next job. LinkedIn’s core audience is already on the site because they want to learn more about you, your company and your job openings, so sponsored updates are a great way to more effectively reach an already willing audience.

 

 

NewHomeSourceProfessional, our flagship product designed specifically for real estate agents, has recently announced partnership agreements with nine new Multiple Listing Services from across the country. MLS’s from California, Illinois, Florida, Texas and Washington, DC now have a turnkey branded “new home channel” on their MLS interface. NewHomeSourceProfessional is the most comprehensive new home tool for agents available, and these additions will give agents even more of a complete picture of the new home communities in their area.

MLS integrations will debut soon for members of the following MLSs:

  • Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS) in the Washington, D.C. metro area;
  • California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS);
  • Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR) in Austin, Texas;
  • East Bay Regional Data Inc. (EBRDI) in Concord, Calif.;
  • Contra Costa Association of Realtors (CCAR) in Walnut Creek, Calif.;
  • Bay East Association of Realtors in Pleasanton, Calif.;
  • Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (NEFMLS) in Jacksonville, Fla.;
  • South Florida MLS (SoFLMLS) in Jupiter, Fla.
  • Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) in Chicago, Ill.

MLS members can also search and view all builders’ inventory directly from their MLS dashboard through this customized version of NewHomeSourceProfessional.com. Since 48% of agents have sold a new construction home in the past year, the addition of new MLS’s to NewHomeSourceProfessional increases builders’ exposure.

MLSs interested in adding new home community and plan listings to their member dashboard should contact Gary Bush at GBush@thebdx.com or 512-651-8919.

Homes by WestBay is making waves in the sunshine state as they currently market 10 communities throughout Tampa Bay; with more to come in 2014.

Like most builders, Janice Snow’s biggest challenge as a marketer is converting online leads into model home visits (sound familiar?) and delivering a strong ROI on her marketing plan. As our conversation progressed, it became clear that while BDX products certainly play an important role in her online marketing strategy, it is her “BDX team” that she values most.

“If I was going to give one piece of advice to another builder it would be to know who your key contacts are at BDX and leverage their expertise. I stay in touch with Chris, Crystal or Jamie and know I can count on them when I have a question.”
—Janice Snow, Marketing Manager, Homes by WestBay

“I look to BDX as an extension of my marketing team,” said Janice Snow, Market­ing Manager at Homes by WestBay. “If I was going to give one piece of advice to another builder it would be to know who your key contacts are at BDX and leverage their expertise. I stay in touch with Chris, Crystal or Jamie and know I can count on them when I have a question.”

To help drive interest in their communities and generate leads for their sales team, Homes by WestBay currently lists all of their communities on the BDX network of over 300 real estate sites including NewHomeSource.com, MoveNewHomes.com, and realtor.com®. They also run banner advertising across the BDX network to complement their online listings.

“I recently reached out for some advice on our banner advertising campaign,” Ms. Snow contin­ued. “BDX provided a different perspective on our copy and design and when we updated the creative for the campaign based on their advice, we saw click through rates improve.”

It is this kind of personal service that makes BDX’s solutions so valuable for builders. BDX offers free planning and consulting services for all builders to help educate and empower them about the latest marketing programs. If you’re interested in moving the dial, BDX has the research, marketing solutions and experience to help your business succeed.

“My goal is to have my clients look to me as a trust­ed partner and resource that they can count on,” said Chris McMillen, regional manager for BDX. “I love working with builders like Homes by WestBay who understand the value of digital marketing and are always trying to stay ahead of the curve and build on their success.”

Click to download a printable version of the case study here.