Most businesses have folders and archives of images and graphic assets, but when it comes to employees needing to find a specific picture, it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Or worse, maybe the image is on an individual’s computer so there is no chance of others accessing it? If this sounds anything like your business, you’re not alone.

Studies show that employees spend 20% of their time looking for files and information. But what if your digital assets were organized, visually displayed, and in a central location?

Digital Asset Management (DAM) is a business solution for organizing, storing and retrieving rich media including photos, music, videos, animations, podcasts and other multimedia content. For builders this means a central place where you can keep renderings, photos, floorplans, and other rich media assets for each of your communities and homes. But with BDX, that’s only the beginning.

Did you know that when you buy media assets from BDX, you get free access to a digital asset management solution? Every image that we produce for you is cataloged and organized in a central location for easy access. This is something that other companies often charge you for – that’s if they even offer it at all.

DAM-Image

And for just $500 a year, you can upgrade your account and add the ability to crop images, change file size, resolution DPI, and/or file type on the fly without needing third party assistance. Imagine not having to wait for your designer to help with every image request!

Here are some other advantages of the BDX Digital Asset Management Solution:

  • Each file contains keywords, file format, and information about usage – making each file easy to find with our search function.
  • Peers, employees, clients, contractors and any other key stakeholders have controlled access to your digital assets.
  • Secure 24/7 anytime, anywhere access to your digital media assets from any web device whether you’re at your desk, working at home or halfway around the globe.
  • The Standard Package is available to BDX customers at no additional cost in order to enable easy access and downloads of digital assets created by BDX — Including elevation images, floor plans, photos, video or other graphic composites and/or links.
  • The Silver Package expands a customer’s control of their valuable assets by providing the ability to crop images, change file size, resolution DPI, and/or file type on the fly without needing third party assistance. No need to own or maintain software, storage and IT infrastructure!

With BDX’s Digital Asset Management the control is in your hands. With just the click of a button you can change each and every rich media asset to be used in any capacity that you need. Boost your company’s efficiency today with by implementing BDX’s Digital Asset Management System today. Contact us at info@thebdx.com.

With the help of virtual technology, consumers are empowered to make more informed choices about the cars they drive, the universities they attend, and the homes they choose.

For several years now, car buyers have been able to experience sitting at the wheel simply by logging on to the manufacturers’ websites and viewing the interior 360 views. Students can now explore college campuses as if they were there, travelers can “walk through” hotels, and business proprietors can tour office spaces. Other virtual experiences are proliferating across a variety of industries, from clothing and makeup to plastic surgery and pet adoptions.

 

The stakes are higher for home buyers.

Given the importance of choosing the right home to live, play, entertain, and raise families, the stakes may be much higher in the home building industry. There are simply more criteria for consumers on which to evaluate and compare homes: architecture, design concept, construction quality, livability, floor plans, flow, versatility, and options. With the rise in transplanted workers, an increasing number of buyers will only engage with builders that offer virtual tours.

To add even more weight to the decision, consumers also have to think of homes as assets. Homes are often the single largest investments buyers will make in their lifetimes. If investment option A comes with twice the level of detail and assurance as option B, option A will likely get the nod.

 

As buying experiences improve, expectations rise.

The rules have changed. Today’s buyers don’t respond to sales tactics as much as they engage with and build trust in brands. That occurs through information and education, and through social sharing and validation from people they trust. Homes aren’t sold just by salespeople anymore; they’re sold by the totality of a buying experience which appeals to both rational and emotional reasons for choosing homes.

If your existing customers aren’t raving about the best home buying experience they have ever had on social media, this is a key indicator that your buying experience must be upgraded.

 

The decision to implement virtual technology now is pivotal.

For these reasons, virtual technology is well on its way to near-complete market penetration in just a few short years. That inevitability is putting pressure on builders and remodelers now to demonstrate their homes online to local and national buyers, and to real estate investors. Every week, we hear from builders that consumers have seen their competitors’ virtual tours and are no longer interested in conventional floor plan printouts, option lists, and in-person tours of just one or two models. One or two competitors in a local market can quickly and decisively change the competitive landscape when they implement this technology.

Once a buyer experiences being able to interact with and compare models, as well as her options for elevations, floor plans, flooring, finishes, and fixtures in vivid 3-D, along with multiple views, she will likely narrow her list of builders to those that provide this “theater of the mind.” And once a builder sees the increased time buyers spend online engaging with their homes, the quicker decision-making, the higher sales rates, and the increased upgrade sales, the decision is validated.

Virtual tours are the tip of the marketing iceberg for builders. In addition to online model walk-throughs, you can also offer videos, custom home showcases, cutaway homes with hotspots, 3D matterport tours, and guided tours that call out important details about build quality, options, or anything else you choose to feature. The options are wide open and can work within any budget and builder objective.

And the power doesn’t stop once the contract is signed. Online design centers and design center tours can further enhance your experience with a virtual design center and design center tours to prepare your buyer for the design center visit and maximize potential upgrades.

With these immersive experiences and so many more to come, you won’t simply engage buyers’ minds. You’ll engage their hearts.

Want to learn more about the latest virtual technologies and how they can work for your business? Email us at info@thebdx.com.

Each week our BDX digital marketing consultants and executives are out and about meeting with builders and helping them understand how they can use online marketing, media and technology solutions to improve their business. Here are some of the highlights from BDX in Action this week!

BDX in Action: Week of July 11th, 2016

We were at the National Association of Home Builders Association Leadership Institute Conference (NAHB ALI) promoting our HBA Program this week!
Tweet 2Lisa Luster JCAHBA (Johnson City Area)Georgia Mountain HBA

Mckenzie Landon met with Zonda’s Doyle Beekley and Meyers Research LLC, a Kennedy Wilson Company Rick Baldonado and Stephen Smiley

Mckenzie Landon Zonda-Doyle, Meyers-Rick and Stephen

Amy Alexander checking out Sublime Homes. We’re loving the design and that shower!

Amy Alexander-Sublime Homes

New Home Source, the leading real estate website for new homes, received its ninth NAREE Award for excellence in journalism since 2014.

AUSTIN, TX (PRWEB) JULY 14, 2016

New Home Source was recently honored with a Silver Award for Best Residential Story by The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE).

The 66th Annual Journalism Awards from NAREE recognize excellence in reporting, writing and editing stories about residential and commercial real estate.

Presented June 10, 2016, at NAREE’s Annual Real Estate Journalism Conference in New Orleans, the awards were judged by a panel of experts from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

New Home Source contributor Felicia Oliver was honored for her article, Try Before You Buy, which spotlights how some builders are offering home shoppers a chance to experience a new home in their prospective community for a few days to decide if it’s the right fit.

The judges said of the article: “The reporter offered readers a look at something that makes perfect sense, but had not been available before: ‘test driving’ a potential home before buying it in a planned community. The ‘test drive’ could consist of staying in a furnished house for up to three days or it might be merely having a meal with neighbors. The story offered useful information, including questions to ask and tips on getting the most out of the experience.”

OIiver said, “I very much appreciate the talent and experience represented by the media that submitted work in the contest. I’m extremely honored to have my work recognized.”

According to NAREE Executive Director Mary Doyle-Kimball, it was a record year for the number of entries received. “Spanning six decades, the NAREE Journalism Competition is now one of the most prestigious journalism awards programs in the nation,” Doyle-Kimball said.

“On behalf of our content team, we’re honored to receive New Home Source’s ninth NAREE Award in the last three years,” said Jay McKenzie, Director of Content and Social Media for New Home Source.

“Each year, NAREE’s journalism competition includes entries from some of the most respected media brands in the world, which makes the award even more meaningful,” he added.

To see all of New Home Source’s helpful and inspiring articles, slideshows and videos for new home shoppers, visit http://www.NewHomeSource.com/ResourceCenter. To learn more about NAREE’s 66th Annual Journalism Awards, and to see a complete list of all winners, visit http://www.NAREE.org.

About Builders Digital Experience
Builders Digital Experience (BDX) is a leading provider of digital marketing and sales solutions for home builders. In addition to hosting the top new home listing site (NewHomeSource.com), and providing distribution of new home listings to hundreds of real estate websites, BDX offers website development, interactive floor plans, photo realistic renderings, and digital sales solutions to builders and real estate developers. Together these online and interactive resources help builders create a true digital experience for their buyers. For more information, visit http://www.theBDX.com.

Why are there so many kids hanging out in the park walking around looking at their phones? If you’ve been paying attention to news headlines and social media lately, you’re probably noticing that the Pokemon Go app has been released for less than week and it has taken over everything. If you aren’t familiar with the new app for Android and IOS, it is an Augmented Reality game that places Pokémon in the world around you. Users walk around and find the Pokémon near them trying to catch them all! What is new about this app is that it causes people to get up and move. Within this short period of time the app has taken off with an estimated 7.5 million downloads and growing, over 6 million mentions on Twitter and helping to boost Nintendo’s market value by $7.5 billion.

Here is a quick over view of how the app works. Once downloaded on their IOS or Android phone, people are able to walk around and “look” through their phone to try and find Pokémon. They are able to level up, train their Pokémon, and people often travel in groups because they are able to find more Pokémon when they are together. People travel to Pokestops to find Pokemon to capture and meet in groups at “Gyms” to battle their Pokemon.

There are Pokémon pretty much everywhere and you can attract even more to your location using what is called a “Lure”. The lure is location based, draws in Pokémon from the surrounding areas and has them group where the lure is. The lure also shows up on other people’s maps letting them know where the Pokémon are going to be! These lures have can draw massive groups of people from the surrounding area.

So why should builders care? Well, if you’re an adventurous marketer, you’re probably already thinking through the opportunities, what a creative way to get people out and walking through your communities, checking out your sales centers and amenities.

This weekend will be the first weekend since Pokémon Go has been available in the U.S. so you can be sure that people will be out and about looking for Pokémon, especially families. With families looking for Pokémon your homes are the perfect place for them to look. Setting up a lure at your homes will attract Pokémon and in turn attract people to your location. Once they are there give them a tour of the houses, the neighborhood, or maybe even set up a “safari” for people to come and hunt for Pokémon.

Each lure last for 30 minutes. You are able to buy a pack of 8 lures which will last 4 hours. Two packs of those and you can attract people to your location all day long. The currency within Pokémon Go are Pokecoin. A pack of 8 lures cost 680 Pokecoins and you can buy 2500 Pokecoins for $30.99. So for about 31$ you can attract potential buyers to your property all day long. Here is a breakdown of the costs for Pokecoins and Items within the game to get a sense of what options work best for you!

This app has gotten people up and moving like no other app has come close to. Jawbone fitness trackers found that users playing Pokémon Go got 62.5% more steps than average. With all of these people moving around and exploring their surrounding areas; now if your chance to make sure they come and find your properties! They started their journey looking for Pokémon, but they could find their new home as well.

And the Pokemon craze should get you thinking about other ways to use Augmented Reality within the new home market. Uses such as: viewing different faucets and fixtures within a model; walking around an empty lot but “seeing” how the neighborhood is going to look when finished; displaying real time data on a tour such as air quality, temperature and so on from room to room. The opportunities are endless and as technology continues to progress the home building industry will continue to change.

Pokémon Go is huge right now so it is the perfect time for your communities to join in! With all of these people out walking around looking for Pokémon it is the perfect opportunity to attract people to your homes. Be sure to contact BDX at info@thebdx.com for all of your Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality needs.