Marketing Resolutions

Want to get off to a great start for 2014? For the past two weeks, we have posted marketing resolutions for the New Year.  We hope you have enjoyed these tips and use them throughout the year.

#10: I will improve my listing photos so I can be chosen as the NewHomeSource Home of the Day and/or Home of the Week.

Let’s face it, we’ve all judged a book by its cover a time or two before. And, we’re not the only ones — that’s why it’s important for you to put your best foot forward in your listings — you’ll get more traffic and leads with listing photos that showcase your homes in the best way possible.

NewHomeSource Home of the Day

Another benefit to high-quality photos in your listings is the opportunity for one of your homes to be a NewHomeSource Home of the Day and a NewHomeSource Home of the Week. Every day, a superior home plan is posted on the NewHomeSource Facebook page to give fans a taste of some of the great homes offered by our builders — that’s the NHS Home of the Day. Each Home of the Day is selected from an active listing on NewHomeSource.com. Since we’ve started posting, the Homes of the Day have been liked by our fans more than 29,000 times and shared more than 4,000 times – that’s great exposure that leads to, well, leads.

One way for your homes to be considered for a Home of the Day or a Home of the Week is to include really great listing photos — we’re talking well-lit professionally photographed furnished models and include lots of them. What better way to help a buyer imagine living in the home than to include a picture of each room?

NewHomeSource Home of the Week

Which brings us to the Home of the Week: Each week, a home whose listing includes at least 8-12 truly exceptional photos of inspiring, fully furnished models is showcased in a slideshow on our New Home Guide on NewHomeSource. The Home of the Week is also featured in our weekly Home of the Week e-newsletter that reaches thousands of subscribers nationwide. Both the slideshow and the e-newsletter include a link to the builder’s listing. Better yet, this is free editorial content, so there’s no cost to builders for this exposure.

So, what are you waiting for? We look forward to featuring your home(s) — and showing NewHomeSource visitors just what new homes are all about.

Want to get off to a great start for 2014? Each day for the next two weeks, we will be posting a marketing resolution for the New Year.

#9: I will stay educated about the latest Digital Marketing trends

The online marketplace is one that is constantly evolving. Trends and best practices that were all the rage a couple of years ago are already outdated.  BDX University is one of many resources builders can use to stay current with the latest trends in digital marketing.  From webinars and case studies to whitepapers, infographics and live speaking events, we’ve got you covered.

We cover a broad variety of Digital Marketing topics each month: website best practices, lead follow up tips, advertising tracking and ROI to name a few.  We will soon be releasing our spring webinar calendar that includes a full sweep of  trends and best practices in digital marketing.

Book mark the BDX University page and the BDX Blog – And check back with us frequently!

Want to get off to a great start for 2014? Each day for the next two weeks, we will be posting a marketing resolution for the New Year.

#8: I will tag my inbound advertising links this year so I can track ROI

Tracking inbound links is the first step in evaluating the effectiveness of your online marketing efforts. A well-organized system for implementing tracking codes will pay dividends in managing campaign performance and auditing performance across several systems with vastly different cost and performance metrics.

There are lots of software solutions to help online marketing managers track and analyze performance including Adobe Analytics, Webtrends, and Google Analytics; most of the builders we work with have Google Analytics installed.  Google Tracking Codes give marketers the ability to track activity from third party sites like your listings on New Home Source or a banner campaign. Tracking URLs are easy to set up and can provide a wealth of information regarding performance of listings, banner advertising, emails and more.

Read the blog post: Measuring Ad Performance to learn more about tracking performance.

 

Want to get off to a great start for 2014? Each day for the next two weeks, we will be posting a marketing resolution for the New Year.

#7: I will retarget traffic to my website

We’ve consistently seen evidence that repeat traffic converts at higher rates (See Power of the Returning User blog post). By adding BeBack or a similar retargeting target product you’ll encourage consumers to come back either via clicks or other channels.  Retargeting allows you to reach thousands more home shoppers than through your website alone.

How does retargeting work? The process is simple.  A unique pixel is generated for each builder that “cookies” a consumer when they visit your site.  Your ads then follow the consumer as they visit other websites.

Retargeting keeps your brand and communities top of mind and increases conversion across the board.  Learn more about how you can target consumers at each level of their home search.

Want to get off to a great start for 2014? Each day for the next two weeks, we will be posting a marketing resolution for the New Year.

#6: I will publish our agent policy as well as upload promos and events

Our Start Fresh. Buy New. research shows that 48% of agents prefer selling “New” homes but often feel it is hard to learn about new properties, inventories and promotions.  Agents crave information, and before they bring a buyer to your community, they want to understand your commission policy.   Publish your policy on both your website and your listings on New Home Source Professional, and when possible, make sure you include buyer registration guidelines and standard commission percentages.

By keeping your listings up to date with this information, an agent is more informed and knows what to expect when working with you.  This transparency will both endear you to agents in your market and get their buyers into your sales office.