Month: January 2014

By Jay McKenzie, Director, Content and Social Media, BDX

Most builders agree social media has moved well past the fad stage to assume its rightful place as a core tool to drive their business.

At BDX, our team of professional social media agents manages more than 30 social media channels for our brands. We also manage social media for an increasing number of top builders across the nation.

As we conduct social media reviews for our builders (or share the latest on social media for builders at industry events or webinars) I speak often with builders from all regions and buyer segments.

In each case, I ask builders what metrics they track for social media and how they track it. Their answers vary widely and many seek our advice on what to track. Here’s a recommended, two-tier approach to tracking the core social media metrics that most impact your firm’s success:

Tier One: Musts Benchmark your firm against major competitors. Set goals. Actively manage to goal. Measure month-over-over month and year-over-year; week-over-week is overkill for most builders.

1)      Reputation Management – Like it or not, buyers, shoppers, Realtors and others are talking about your brand, the homes you build and service you provide. You can’t share great comments or reply to concerns if you’re not listening. In addition to listening and responding courteously and promptly, track what’s being said and trends in both positive and negative comments over time.  Tracking complaints can help you root out and fix any recurring issue.

2)      Audience Growth – Many builders believe a Fan will stop following them once they buy, build or settle in. That seems logical, but I see less evidence than you might think. Plus, smart builders make heroes of current and recent homebuyers. You want testimonials to share with future home shoppers and doing so also keep owners in the fold. Measure total fan growth overall and by social media platform (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, etc.)

3)      Reach – According to a top Facebook exec, the average post by a brand reaches 16% of Fans. Facebook has billions of dollars of cost. Advertising accounts for more than 90% of Facebook’s revenue and the 1 billion user platform faces intense shareholder scrutiny. By an astounding coincidence, your reach soars when you invest $10 per day to promote your best posts. I wait to see which Posts get the most Likes/Shares organically for a day or two, and then back one with $10 a day for 4-5 days. Do this four or five times a month. It’s a big reason why BDX’s social media fan base grew 5x last year. It’s also a popular service we offer our social media clients.

4)      Referring Source and Traffic – Which social media platforms are driving the most traffic to your website and to your blog from your social media posts and how is each trending?

5)      Engagement – How many Likes and comments are you earning? This is a function of the quality and relevance of your posts and how many people see them (see Reach, above).

6)      Shares – The big payoff from engagement. You want fans to like and share your posts, especially posts that contain links back to your website and blog, which send their friends back to you.

7)      Conversion – Hopefully, you’re using the many great and free features of Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools – and setting goals for key conversion events that drive your business. Set goals, track them obsessively: visits to your site from your major social media accounts, pages viewed, time-on-site. Focus on vital actions that will ultimately drive sales: lead forms completed, newsletter sign-ups, driving directions viewed, printed or sent to a smart phone, phone number reveals or clicks, model home and sales center hours and address, etc.

Tier Two: Valuable to Track/Manage

Other Valuable Metrics

  • First-time and returning visitors – Ask how BDX can help you re-target and re-connect with visitors to your listings on BDX and your website
  • Bounce rate
  • Click-thru rate
  • Cost per click
  • First-touch, last-touch and assisted conversions
  • Influence – Klout and Kred offer you a free measure of your social media influence and clout. Is it increasing? How do you compare to other builders?

This list of metrics is just a fraction of what can be tracked and the list could go on and on! Let us know what metrics that you track not mentioned here and we’ll share them with our builders and credit you.

Jay McKenzie heads up content and social media for BDX. His team of social media agents focuses solely on home builders. For a free review of your social media or to discuss how BDX can assist you in fully leveraging the fast-changing world of social media email info@thebdx.com.

 

Stay tuned Texas; NewHomeSource is coming to a television near you! If you’re in the Austin or Dallas area, tune in weekends this spring and see some of the best truly new homes both cities have to offer. The show will air in both markets on Sundays starting March 2nd and will be hosted by television personality and certified home inspector, Brett Tutor.

NewHomeSource TV, the companion television program to the leading new home website NewHomeSource.com, provides a glimpse of the latest floor plans, design trends, green features and neighborhood amenities from the hottest new home builders in the Austin and Dallas areas.  Architects, designers, contractors and other experts will also contribute to the show by highlighting the more subtle benefits of today’s new homes, such as modern construction techniques and the lower cost of living that comes with owning a truly new home.

“We are excited to work with so many terrific local builders and product suppliers to bring NewHomeSource TV to Austin and Dallas,” said Tim Costello, chief executive officer at BDX. “We know that over 50 percent of home buyers are considering new homes as they begin the home shopping process[i], this show will help shine the spotlight on new home advantages.”

In addition to the weekly broadcast on a local network, the show will also be distributed online and be available for viewing on NewHomeSource.com.

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


[i] BDX/BHI Homebuyer insights research report, January 2014

We are pleased to announce that the editors of MSN.com and realtor.com have selected 14 BDX builders to be featured in a major slideshow that recognizes some of the nation’s outstanding new model homes.

The theme for the slideshow is “New Homes for the New Year” and both sites sought to reflect model homes that showcase the latest trends in new home design, construction and décor. BDX was excited to work with the editors of MSN and realtor.com on this exciting project — each home in these slideshows had previously been recognized by NewHomeSource as one of our national Homes of the Week.

Featured builders in the slideshows include: KB Homes, Traton Homes, McCaffrey Homes, London Bay Homes, Schumacher Homes, David Weekley Homes, The Burnsteads, Brookfield Homes of Hawaii, Richmond American, Kettler Forlines, The Jones Company, Century Communities, American West, and K. Hovnanian Homes. Congrats to all of these builders!

So how do we choose the next “Home of The Week”? If you think one of your homes has what it takes, be sure that your NewHomeSource.com listing is up to date with photos of exceptional quality.  Not only will it help you to be considered for the next Home of the Week email, but also will help drive and engage traffic on your listing. If you would like to be considered for Home of the Week and put the spotlight on your homes, contact us today.

Want to get off to a great start for 2014? For the past two weeks, we have posted marketing resolutions for the New Year.  We hope you have enjoyed these tips and use them throughout the year.

#10: I will improve my listing photos so I can be chosen as the NewHomeSource Home of the Day and/or Home of the Week.

Let’s face it, we’ve all judged a book by its cover a time or two before. And, we’re not the only ones — that’s why it’s important for you to put your best foot forward in your listings — you’ll get more traffic and leads with listing photos that showcase your homes in the best way possible.

NewHomeSource Home of the Day

Another benefit to high-quality photos in your listings is the opportunity for one of your homes to be a NewHomeSource Home of the Day and a NewHomeSource Home of the Week. Every day, a superior home plan is posted on the NewHomeSource Facebook page to give fans a taste of some of the great homes offered by our builders — that’s the NHS Home of the Day. Each Home of the Day is selected from an active listing on NewHomeSource.com. Since we’ve started posting, the Homes of the Day have been liked by our fans more than 29,000 times and shared more than 4,000 times – that’s great exposure that leads to, well, leads.

One way for your homes to be considered for a Home of the Day or a Home of the Week is to include really great listing photos — we’re talking well-lit professionally photographed furnished models and include lots of them. What better way to help a buyer imagine living in the home than to include a picture of each room?

NewHomeSource Home of the Week

Which brings us to the Home of the Week: Each week, a home whose listing includes at least 8-12 truly exceptional photos of inspiring, fully furnished models is showcased in a slideshow on our New Home Guide on NewHomeSource. The Home of the Week is also featured in our weekly Home of the Week e-newsletter that reaches thousands of subscribers nationwide. Both the slideshow and the e-newsletter include a link to the builder’s listing. Better yet, this is free editorial content, so there’s no cost to builders for this exposure.

So, what are you waiting for? We look forward to featuring your home(s) — and showing NewHomeSource visitors just what new homes are all about.

Want to get off to a great start for 2014? Each day for the next two weeks, we will be posting a marketing resolution for the New Year.

#9: I will stay educated about the latest Digital Marketing trends

The online marketplace is one that is constantly evolving. Trends and best practices that were all the rage a couple of years ago are already outdated.  BDX University is one of many resources builders can use to stay current with the latest trends in digital marketing.  From webinars and case studies to whitepapers, infographics and live speaking events, we’ve got you covered.

We cover a broad variety of Digital Marketing topics each month: website best practices, lead follow up tips, advertising tracking and ROI to name a few.  We will soon be releasing our spring webinar calendar that includes a full sweep of  trends and best practices in digital marketing.

Book mark the BDX University page and the BDX Blog – And check back with us frequently!