It’s more important than ever to be prepared as you embark on your journey into online marketing. You want to make sure you have a checklist that includes everything you will need to survive and stay comfortable, but you don’t want to overload yourself with unnecessary items that are just going to hold you back. So we’ve put together the ultimate online marketing survival checklist for builders. It’s got everything you need for a successful online marketing program. So let’s start packing… Click here for your Survival Checklist.

You may have noticed that the BDX has begun sending out our Hot Homes E-blast in select markets. We’ve seen requests regarding how to get a placement in our market-specific emails. As a result, I’m writing this as a simple explanation of the process that we take to creating and sending them out, as well as tips to getting your hot homes listed with each release.

Let me preface this by saying that our goal is to do good by both builders and home-shoppers alike, meaning that the BDX will place no favoritism upon any one builder when choosing what offers are best and will give no preferential treatment to any builder for any reason. The end goal is simply to get the maximum amount of homes listed for all interested builders and to get those homes sold to interested customers.

The Hot Homes eblast is a free service for our builders and is distributed monthly in 12 major markets. As the program develops we plan to roll out additional markets. The program is designed to promote those homes that builders have identified as ‘Hot’ and to help advertise Special Offers and Promotions listed on NewHomeSource.com.

In creating these eBlasts, I compile a list of the best Hot Home deals by market directly from the website. Any Hot Home or Promotion that is compelling and I believe will drive consumer action will be considered. With this in mind, any listing that is not completely filled out (i.e. has an empty description or title), or only includes filler such as an address or “schedule an appointment” has little chance of being included. They are less compelling and have shown to have a lower click thru rate. Both the description and title of your Hot Home should be completed to the best drive consumer action. Also, ALL CAPS and using excessive amounts of !!!’s has not shown to improve clicks or performance.

In contrast, I find that the offers that have the strongest performance in terms of click-thru action have strong call to actions in pricing point, home description or evocative imagery. For example, titling your home something as simple as “Own a New Home for as low as $679 a month!” has show strong performance and will drive traffic. In direct comparison, using something generic like “Affordable Monthly Payments” would not receive as strong of performance. Home-shoppers like numbers. Tell them why your pricing points will appeal to them.

In addition to low-cost promotions other offers are also compelling to consumers. This can be achieved by saying something as simple as “Only 2 Lots Remaining” or evoking a strong image of what makes the house stand out above other local homes. Examples such as “Huge Gourmet Kitchen with Granite Countertops” have also seen strong response rates.

For information about adding Hot Homes & Promotions to your listings on NewHomeSource.com contact your Account Manager to take advantage of this free service.

— Jamie Lintner

By Tim Costello, CEO, BDX

Newhomesource.com has been collecting and analyzing online home buyer traffic and trends for over a decade. As has been the case in housing for as long as anyone can remember, January is the start to the online home buying season. January’s results can be used as a reasonable surrogate for the coming year’s home sales and consumer traffic.

In comparing online search traffic for both new and used homes, this January NewHome Source has estimated that there are 20-25% fewer consumers searching for homes this year than in 2010. While at first that seems like a fifth year of bad news, we must remember that last year’s January traffic was inflated by government incentives. Once those incentives disappeared in April of 2010 traffic consumer interest sank and we all know how the year ended.

This year’s numbers are not influenced by unnatural government intervention, so one would expect consumer traffic to behave in a more traditional seasonal pattern. If this holds true, we should expect improving year over year comparisons starting this April. So while we all wish there were more consumers confident of their economic situation and looking for new homes, it might actually not all be bad news. While 2011 may be starting out slow, it may also finish with a comparative bang providing the industry with its first real growth in many years.

Tim Costello is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of BDX, Inc., and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Builder Homesite, Inc. You can follow Tim on twitter: @bylinetim for his insights on the homebuilding industry.

At the 2011 Builders’ Show in Orlando, BDX was fortunate to participate in 6 different panel presentations. The sessions were lively, fun, and filled with great information. Now those presentations are available for you to download.

Many of you who attended the sessions have asked for copies of the presentations… and for those of you not at the show, this is a good opportunity to see what you missed.

Click here to access presentations on the following topics:

  • She-Conomy: What Women Want
  • Capturing Realtor Attention
  • Mobile Marketing
  • Online Advertising Success

We are working to make all presentations available… so check back as we keep updating this post.

The first day of the show went great – it was exciting to catch up with familiar faces and introduce new people to all that BDX has to offer. Here are the highlights:

She-Conomy: What Women Want Panel

To kick the show off, bright and early, BDX VP, Melissa Morman discussed the importance of the female audience along with fellow panelists Linda Herbert from Diversified Marketing and Communications and JoJo Liebeler from 2X4 productions. The session was a huge success! People were up early ready to learn and it’s exciting to see how many builders really understand the power of the female market and are looking for ways to better connect with this influential audience. And if you missed the presentation, don’t worry – such great feedback from the show we are planning a white paper on the topic so stay tuned!

The BDX Booth Opens for Business

Booth W4747 in the Next Build section was buzzing yesterday. Our consultants were giving builders Free online marketing check-ups throughout the day – basically walking them through a custom evaluation of their online marketing programs. These check-ups led to a lot of good discussions and builders walked away with actionable solutions. If you didn’t make it by the booth yesterday there’s still time for your free check-up – stop by and we’ll make it happen. Or email us at info@thebdx.com and we’ll set up a personal appointment.

The Nationals Awards Show

After a long day at the show what a better way to unwind then go to a party with the best of the best in the building industry. Each year, The Nationals is a fabulous event. Congratulations to all of the night’s winners – such a fun evening and so exciting to see such creative work.

Now we’re on to day two… be sure to visit booth W4747 or connect with us at one of our education sessions.