In an exciting development for builders, agents and especially consumers who are pursuing the dream of home ownership, realtor.com®, the most engaging real estate website, is now featuring new home community listings from BDX. This is a fantastic opportunity for BDX clients to receive even more exposure to an audience of over 18 million every month*. Including new construction communities on a site like realtor.com®,  gives home buyers a complete and accurate picture of the available home options in their area.

Realtor.com® is already a trusted real estate resource with a dedicated audience spending nearly 29 minutes on the site and viewing over 25 pages*. BDX new home communities have spotlight sections in 3 main areas. These include:

  • The main search page right alongside resale homes
  • New plans will be displayed on area maps alongside other listings
  • Dedicated New Construction tabs where buyers can search by community and home plan/spec

 You will receive direct leads from your listings on realtor.com® as well as reporting through BDXLive on search views, detail page views, driving direction views, click-throughs to your website, and more. The ability to market new homes alongside pre-owned homes allows builders to gain more market share and cater to the 20% of homebuyers who enter the home shopping experience with a preference for new construction.

In the words of our own CEO, Tim Costello, “This is a watershed moment for the building industry, the builders who list all their communities with BDX, and especially buyers who are pursuing their dream of home ownership.”

If you haven’t already listed your new home communities with BDX, now is the time to do so! Increase your visibility, traffic and sales with one simple decision. We believe that in order to create the best search experience for consumers, we need to provide the most complete and accurate new home data. That is why in the coming months we will unveil additional advantages you will receive as a result of listing all of your communities with BDX. Don’t wait; schedule some time to talk with your BDX Digital Marketing Consultant today!

To learn more about this exciting opportunity and how it will benefit you, read more here and please register today for our webinar on August 29th.

*comScore: Quarterly average for desktop & mobile of Q2 for 2013 for realtor.com®

By: Eleanor Bowman, Director of Marketing, BDX

What if you could get inside the minds of today’s home buyers and their real estate agents to better understand what motivates them, what inspires them, and what leads them to take action? Over the past year at BDX, we have conducted extensive home buyer and real estate agent research to help our builders do just that. Here are some of the highlights:

Most buyers start their home search with an interest in new homes. 54% of home buyers start the process with a preference for or interest in new homes but only 8% end up buying new. What a tremendous opportunity to inspire and educate this group about the advantages of new home construction! Our newly launched website, StartFreshBuyNew.com is a good place to go for ideas. The site is currently seeing over 50,000 visitors per week and driving over 10,000 searches for new homes. Also, if you’re a client with BDX, you get access to our “Start Fresh. Buy New.”  toolkit that’s full of useful statistics, videos and graphics about driving the benefits of a new home.

Home shoppers start their search with an open mind. 95% of all shoppers have no specific builder in mind when they start the buying process. Are your homes listed where they will find you? What messages are you sending to capture their mind-share? Make sure that you’re not only making a great first impression but that your marketing programs are keeping your brand top of mind.

One third of all shoppers say they are tired of their current home. When we identified the triggers that started buyers down the home search path, this was at the top of the list. “Favorable home prices” and “low interest rates” were also high ranking answers.

The buying cycle is longer than we thought. Two-thirds of all shoppers will take 9 months or more to purchase a home. What does this mean for your business? Builders who are disqualifying home buyer leads who are not ready to buy immediately may be missing out. This longer sales cycle makes lead nurturing critical so consider a steady stream of communications to your prospects.

Using video in your online marketing inspires buyers to take action. We found that builders who embedded video in their listings on NewHomeSource.com saw leads increase by 28% and click-throughs improve by 36%. So while we have known that video is an engaging marketing tool that can also impact Search Engine Optimization (SEO), it is now more important than ever as a lead conversion accelerant.

It’s important to showcase your communities, not just your homes. Builders who included community images along with their home renderings or photos saw a 28% lift in leads on NewHomeSource.com. So make sure you have the digital images to highlight your amenities and neighborhoods – buyers want to know what life will be like outside of the home’s four walls.

Most buyers will use a real estate agent to help them buy their home. 84% of buyers will engage the services of an agent to help find their next home. What is your agent outreach strategy? Do you have good communications and trainings for agents in your area so they are educated about your homes and buying process?

Consumer promotions are very important to real estate agents. We asked real estate agents, “How important is it to know about builder promotions when you are putting together recommendations for a buyer?” Half responded that consumer promotions were critically important.

These insights are just the tip of the iceberg. We have a full suite of research resources and tools that are available for our clients and are happy to talk with you about how this information can shape your business. For more information, contact BDX at Info@thebdx.com.

 

The market is back with a roar and market momentum has radically up-shifted in just about every market across the country. So, the question is, how do you excel while you simultaneously accelerate?

If you’re looking to maximize both profits and market share this year, then we’ve got good news for you! BDX is proud to sponsor the Jeff Shore Sales and Marketing Summit on August 15th and 16th in beautiful downtown Austin, TX. This year’s theme is ACCELERATE 2013. Bold Leadership. Maximum Market Share. Learn about all new and powerful best practice tools that will help accelerate you into success:

Jeff Shore’s Sales and Marketing Summit

 

  • The 7 Hallmarks of Today’s Market Leaders                                
  • Redefining REALTOR® Relationships
  • The 5 Factors of a Maximum Market Share Mindset
  • The Funnel Effect: Capturing and Converting Online Leads
  • The 4 Keys of Margin Maximization
  • Differentiating in the Digital Age

 

Jeff’s annual Summit is THE must-attend event each year for new home sales and marketing leaders. In addition to Jeff’s engaging insights, you will also hear leading edge research from an impressive list of industry experts while sharing best practices with leaders from across the country. And, of course, the  BDX team will be there participating in the Summit as well!

The price of attending the Summit represents one of the greatest values that you and your team will find anywhere in the industry. We believe this is a game-changing event and we certainly hope that you’ll take full advantage of the opportunity!

Don’t wait any longer, click here to download the full brochure and register for this amazing event. You’ll come back stronger, smarter, and more capable than ever. And be sure to use sponsor code “BDX” when you register for a $100 discount on registration!

We look forward to seeing you in Austin!

The BDX Team

By Builders Digital Experience

84 percent of today’s home buyers contact a real estate agent when starting their home search and according to the National Association of Realtors, 63 percent of new home buyers are represented by a Realtor®.  With such a large percentage of homes being purchased with the help of an agent, it is important to have a good relationship with the agents in your area.

BDX recently conducted research that shows that 50 percent of agents prefer to sell new homes! This is a HUGE opportunity. While many of these agents understand the benefits of a new home, they don’t always feel comfortable with the new home process.  Help agents get comfortable with the process of new home sales by providing training materials that not only highlight the features of your home and neighborhood but also set expectations for the sales process so agents are familiar with your procedures.

Keeping your website information current is also extremely important.  This is generally the first impression agents and buyers will have of your company, communities and homes.  Having outdated information may force an agent to overlook you even if your products are great.  Including information specifically for agents such as your commission structure and your registration policy is also helpful.

In addition to maintaining an engaging website, expand your exposure by making sure your homes are listed on New Home Source Professional, where your communities are featured for agents to search and share with their buyers.  This agent facing site is designed to help agents sell new homes and showcase all of your new home advantages.

Another way to keep agents informed of your inventory and consumer promotions is by sending e-blasts.  One thing to keep in mind when creating content for your e-blasts is that 89 percent of  agents think consumer promotions are very important when they are putting together recommendations for a buyer; so be sure to include them.  And remember, especially in large markets, agents can receive hundreds of emails a day from builders promoting their homes so instead of sending blasts daily, try sending weekly or bi-weekly emails that are concise and have a singular focus. If you’d like help with your emails to agents, click here.

Additionally, having agent only events in your communities is a great way of targeting your best prospects.  Exclusive events, like a broker’s open, can drive excitement while making a memorable impression of you and your brand and making it more likely for an agent to refer one of your homes to their clients.

It is important that we as builders give agents the tools they need to sell more new homes.  In order to ensure good referrals and repeat business in the future, we must establish and maintain long term collaborative relationships.  What are you doing to make the real estate agent connection?

 

 

By BDX Guest Blogger, Carol Morgan, mRELEVANCE

Instagram, the fast, fun app used to share photos with the world   has skyrocketed its way to the top of the social media food chain since launching in 2010. With more than 90 million active users, 40 million photos posted per day and a recent format change to include web browsers, real estate agents need to be paying attention.

Now that Instagram photos and profiles are completely viewable from your desktop or laptop computer, it’s more important than ever for real estate professionals to start snapping away. The ability to view Instagram on web browsers equals easier accessibility, which also more than likely means you’ll see an increase in views on your Instagram page. Instead of having to rely on the app to share your photos to the appropriate social media profile, you’ll now be able to pull the photo’s specific URL, so that you can share it everywhere, including your blog. You’ll also be able to direct your clients to your online profile instead of having to make sure they have the app on their phone. A third crucial benefit is that you’ll have easier access to the photos you are tagged in, making it easier for you to share them with the world.

Next time you’re out and about with your buyers or sellers, use Instagram to snap a few photos of the home they love, the home they are selling and even them smiling as they sign the contract for their new place! Then, be sure to capitalize on these happy memories by sharing them everywhere you can.  The end result will not only be happy clients, but also a happier business.

If you’re ready to show off your creative side and need help getting started, contact Marketing RELEVANCE.