Builder Success

Hear it straight from the builder’s themselves – who’s having success and why.

Pardee Homes recently launched a new display campaign that caught my eye. The creative invites viewers to click on the banner to see what owners of Pardee Homes are saying about their homes. I like these banners because it’s a clever integration of traffic acquisition and social media. For years, we’ve been espousing how online media is different than traditional formats. The direct response model of online should pull in customers actively seeking new homes and give them a reason to click.

Social Media is also a different tool. Unlike online or traditional media, social media is a forum for advocacy. Consumers already familiar with a brand will praise, critique and share their experience with friends and family. People have been doing this off-line for years–and capturing ‘Word of Mouth’ has always been a marketer’s Holy Grail. That’s why I like Pardee’s new campaign. The placement and CTA drive traffic, but also allow potential home buyers to view comments from current Pardee Home owners. The home owners who participated in the videos are now advocates and serve as a third-party referrals for the brand. As I watch the videos, I know these are real home shoppers — and while they’re obviously speaking on behalf of Pardee, you can hear the sincerity in their voice. That speaks volumes.

This campaign also opens the door for even more interaction. For example, builders could ask recent homebuyers to respond to new customers interested in that builder’s communities. In my view, a forum moderated by a builder’s current home owners would have a much stronger impact than speaking with an on-site sales rep. As the influence of social media continues to grow, more consumers will rely on these types of referrals as compared to more-typical corporate positioning in other forms of media. I’m excited to see Pardee take the first step and invite existing and new customers to join in the conversation.

For more information about Display Marketing Strategies contact Thane Tennison, Advertising Manager for the BDX, or contact your local sales rep for Realtor.com pricing and availability in your market.

Many Homebuilders who advertise on NewHomeSource see a click-through rate (CTR) 5X to 10X the industry average for display advertising. Learn common characteristics of the best performing campaigns and get new ideas on how to use banners to further your marketing goals. For a review of your current banner campaigns contact Thane Tennison, Ad Ops Manager for NewHomeSource.

Online Advertising for Home Builders

In my role I work with hundreds of builders and agencies each month to manage and optimize their display campaigns across NewHomeSource.com and our network of websites.

I’ve seen all types of creative and promotional offers from builders big and small. Some Advertisers are very savvy, carefully scrutinizing performance by position, time of day, cycle of the moon, etc. Others understand the need to advertise on the most highly targeted and qualified new home listing website but fall short in their tracking and analytics.

One easy way to add tracking capabilities is to append your click thru URL with a tracking token that will allow you to measure the consumer action after the click. This is a vital and simple step to understanding the full value of your advertising dollars. Appending the click thru URL allows builders to isolate their display campaign on NewHomeSource.com and see how it compares to other marketing efforts. Important questions such as bounce rate, time on site, number of page views and of course leads can all be measured with a tracking URL.

Tracking and managing campaigns isn’t just important to Display Ads on NewHomeSource.com, but is also essential to successfully managing all types of online marketing ranging from Paid Search to Email campaigns. Unlike traditional media like billboards and radio, tracking allows markets to qualify their results and optimize against business goals. As a result you may find that one campaign with a high Click Thru Rate (CTR) also has a high bounce rate, while others at a more expensive rate or lower volume consistently deliver qualified consumers who are more likely to purchase a home.

Within our own marketing efforts we’re always working to optimize cost against quality to ensure that the consumers who visit NewHomeSource.com are highly qualified and will drive significant value to our builders. Creative positioning, landing pages, and other factors are important but can’t be fully understood without a proper system of analytics in place.

For questions about targeting or online creative strategies contact Thane Tennison, Advertising Manager for the BDX.