Campaign

By Jamie Lintner, BDX Advertising Manager 

IP Targeting vs. Geo Targeting. This war has been waged in the online space since the inception of banner advertising. On one hand you have the publishers who stand by IP targeting, the idea that targeting the unique location that a user is browsing from increases the relevancy of the ad itself. On the other you have targeted ads based off of the search parameters of that same user. Both have extreme merit depending on the type of product being advertised.

In the home building vertical, this targeting can have a significant impact on performance.  Consumers moving from Austin to San Francisco want to see homes and builders in San Francisco. We pulled the stats below to help quantify this lift and better understand the impact of ONLY running an IP targeted campaign via Google or other exchange.

To calculate these numbers, I pulled a 3 month sample that included 15 of BDX’s largest advertisers from all parts of the country. I then subdivided traffic into 3 unique performance buckets of data; impressions served in market (Consumers in Austin looking for Austin Homes), targeted delivery to the state (Consumers living in Texas looking for Austin Homes), and targeted delivery to users out of state (isolating people with a desire to relocate across state lines). No data-group contains any duplicate areas.

I assumed that performance would be equivalent for all areas regardless of the geography where the ad was served. In reality, performance is far stronger for users shopping for a home in a different state. As a home builder your ad is 42% more likely to be clicked on by a user out of state than by one in-state, meaning that an IP targeting campaign completely ignores the group of users that is statistically far more likely to engage with your brand.

On average, impressions to the local geo-area (bucket #1) delivered 55% of total delivery and 47% of total clicks. Users in the remainder of the state (bucket #2) were served 12% of total impressions and represented 11% of all clicks. Lastly, users across the nation were served 33% of all geo-targeted impressions but they represented an astonishing 41% of total clicks.

 

 

 

 

 

My best guess as to why there are different levels of performance between data groups is the vast difference in shopping urgency. Home shoppers already in the market will casually browse for a new home. Maybe they have strong intentions to move in the coming months or maybe they’re like my wife; just looking around for that perfect home in ten years. By comparison, out of state users appear to have a much stronger sense of urgency when shopping for a home, potentially due to a job relocation or change in lifestyle.

I’m a perfect case study for an out of state shopper. My wife recently took an out of state job and we had two weeks to find a home. Naturally we reached out to countless communities, apartment complexes, and anyone with a bedroom. Our search was more intentful and motivated than in-state shoppers who weren’t in such dire straits. What home builder wouldn’t dream of such a client?

Is your ad campaign effectively being tailored to the right audience through other online sources? At BDX we are constantly striving  to improve all ad campaigns for home builders and provide guidance on where your ads will perform best.  To learn more about the different types of campaign targeting, please see our previous blog post, Getting the Most from your Exchange Network. For information on starting your own ad campaign contact Info@theBDX.com.

A first of its kind campaign in the home building industry, “Start Fresh. Buy New.” was launched in the spring of 2013 and already thousands of home shoppers each day are responding positively to the advertising and are engaging with the interactive website, StartFreshBuyNew.com. The campaign highlights the numerous advantages of buying a new construction vs. a “used” (i.e. existing) home. StartFreshBuyNew.com includes educational facts, useful features such as a Cost Savings Calculator as well as intriguing diagrams on how energy efficient appliances and features operate. BDX is promoting the site through over 37 million advertisement impressions each week and reaching nearly 50% of new home shoppers. With over 50,000 weekly visits to the “Start Fresh. Buy New.” website, potential home buyers are now equipped with the knowledge of what attributes really make a new home more desirable than a used one. (Click here for more background information about the new campaign.)

While the site is informative and has already been nominated for design awards, “Start Fresh. Buy New.” also boasts some impressive results which prove visitor interest in new homes. The campaign is driving over 10,000 visits per month to NewHomeSource.com, a site that connects new home buyers with builders. In fact, new home searchers who spend time on the “Start Fresh. Buy New.” site are converting to leads on NewHomeSource.com at a rate of 40% higher than the site’s average visitor. With research predicting the demand for new homes to grow to nearly 1.2 million each year, the market is clearly rebounding and will benefit from this focus on new home buyer education.

“Start Fresh. Buy New” has also connected with Pinterest users to drive awareness of the perks of owning a new home. Pinterest users had the opportunity to win a grand prize by creating a board of their favorite pins from NewHomeSource.com as well as answering a few trivia questions. With nearly 4,000 followers of NewHomeSource.com on Pinterest, the sweepstakes was a hit with over 2,300 Pinboards created to promote new homes. In fact, just last week the grand prize of $10,000 was awarded to a young mother in Chicago, Illinois. (See the “Start Fresh. Buy New.” Facebook page for more on the story.)

The “Start Fresh. Buy New.” Pinterest page isn’t the only social media site getting attention from buyers either. The campaign’s Facebook page and Twitter account have also grown into platforms for buyers to connect with builder professionals and other buyers to speak about their experiences with their own new homes. (Wanna get social with “Start Fresh. Buy New.”? Follow our Twitter account for daily new home buying tips and inspirational home designs.)

The campaign has also gained national coverage and attention from over 360 publications including spotlights in The New York Times, The Austin Business Journal, The Financial Times and Builder Online.

 So what’s next? Following the success of our previous study last summer, we are currently gearing up to start our annual Home Buyer Insight Study which is going to expand beyond our original 25 markets. This year we will add Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Columbus and San Francisco to the study. So stay tuned! We will keep you posted on the results of this research and the progress of the campaign.

If you are a builder and want to get involved in the campaign, we have created a Builder Toolkit exclusively for BDX clients to leverage the campaign marketing resources and research. This toolkit can be found within BDXLive, our client portal. If you’re not a BDX client and are interested in finding out how we can help your business succeed, email us to learn more.

According to DirectMarketing News, 85%  of online video viewers said they would watch a video that educated them about a product they were interested in for at least one minute.

We are nearing the close of our series of blog posts highlighting different ideas to help you use video to sell more homes.  Yesterday we focused on Webisodes and today we’re looking at using video for special incentives or campaigns.

 

IDEA #9: Use Video For Special Incentives or Campaigns

Video can help draw attention to special incentives that you are promoting and as you start a marketing campaign, video is a great way to create initial buzz.

  • Promote a special limited-time sales offer
  • Use video to highlight incentives for real estate agents
  • Make video an integrated part of your marketing campaign
  • Think of what you’re trying to highlight in your campaign — green, different floorplans, etc… and create a video that complements that strategy.

Here is an example of one company using video for special incentive or campaign:

 

As you are creating your marketing plans for these initiatives, be sure to consider how video can fit into the mix .  Learn how BDX can help you create, high quality videos. Click here to check out our interactive brochure or email us today!

Display Advertising is a great medium for enhancing listings, driving traffic or raising awareness of upcoming promotions and special incentives. We’ve seen builders utilize all of these tactics with Display Advertising on NewHomeSource.

One strategy which seems obvious but is often overlooked is to advertise actual builder’s communities, similar to the way billboards along the highway are used. NewHomeSource shoppers are active home buyers looking for information about new home communities and new home plans. Display Ads that focus on a community or range of communities often outperform other types of campaigns. Considering consumers search homes by price and location, it’s critical to include that information in your display creative. A relevant landing page and tracking code is also critical to measure consumer action and generate leads.

When developing a campaign consider the following:

  • What message do I want to convey?
  • Where will I send my consumers?
  • What action should they take once they are on my landing page?

With a clear strategy in place it’s easy to tweak and refine a display campaign. You may find the campaign is delivering excellent traffic but converting poorly. The issue may be with the the landing page, not the ad. Or, you may find few clicks but very relevant action from those consumers who do respond. This insight will provide you the information necessary to optimize your campaign and drive more value from your online marketing.