photography

HouseSo you’ve invested in high quality renderings and photographs! Congratulations! So… do you hear any crickets chirping? Having great art is a vital start- but you really need to start promoting your renderings and photographs through several different outlets to maximize your efforts and create some buzz. Get your houses and creative photography SEEN. Here are some tips that so you can make your renderings and photographs go viral!

  • Get Pinning! Pinterest is a GREAT way to showcase your images and organize them by different categories. Pinterest users are incredibly active spending nearly 15 minutes a sitting on the site and over 80% of them are women. This is great news considering that nearly 91% of all US home purchases are determined by women! Be sure to add photos from all of your floor plans- variation will ensure a large follower base of individuals who may only be pinning pictures of stunning kitchens or luxurious bathrooms.
  • Instagram, Facebook, Twitter– Chances are, you already have a presence on all of these sites. However, are you using them correctly? Hashtags (#), or for the non-millennials the pound sign, is a great way to keep your images organized and improve virality. But remember- hashtag etiquette varies between these sites. For Instagram and Facebook- it is a good practice to use multiple hashtags to convey the feel of your photos. But on Twitter- it is a best practice to only use one.
  • Timing is KEY! Research has shown that there are some peak times to post to social media to really get the most of your posts, tweets and pins. For instance, according to SurePayroll.com, the best time to post to Facebook is between 1-4pm resulting in higher click-thrus. Twitter’s window of opportunity tends to be Monday-Thursday between 1-3pm. Saturday mornings are the sweet spot for Pinterest. Since social media is likely a key component of your customer engagement strategies- post at these best times to maximize your reach!
  • NewHomeSource “Home of The Week”– The best of the best photos are showcased on New Home Source’s Home of The Week that includes a high-quality slideshow that are full of facts about the home and surrounding area. So how do we choose the next “Home of The Week”? If you think one of your homes has what it takes, make sure your NewHomeSource.com listing is up to date with photos of exceptional quality. Not only will it help you to be considered for the next email, but will also help drive and engage traffic on your listings.
  • NewHomeSource TV– Why not go a step further and show off your homes in video? NewHomeSource TV is the perfect way to target the most important demographic that influence home purchase decisions- women! NewHomeSource TV, the companion television program to the leading new home website NewHomeSource.com, provides a glimpse of the latest floor plans, design trends, green features and neighborhood amenities from the new home builders across the country. Architects, designers, contractors and other experts will also contribute to the show by highlighting the more subtle benefits of today’s new homes, such as modern construction techniques and the lower cost of living that comes with owning a truly new home. And with NHS TV expanding into even more markets this fall- now is the time to be a part of the action!

One of the most appealing things about new construction is the constant photo-ready qualities of both the inside and outside of the homes. They are pristine, brand new and oh-so inviting. Invest in renderings, video and photography and then start promoting them to showcase your homes! Contact us today at info@thebdx.com if you are ready to invest in the big picture.

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.

By BDX Guest Blogger, Carol Morgan, mRELEVANCE

How many fans does your Facebook page have? 100? 500? 1,000? 10,000? Now, how many of those “fans” are actually engaging with your company? More likely than not, not as many as you’d like. While gaining new fans on any social media site these days can be done through social media advertising, actually getting them to like, comment, retweet, share, etc. is something that must be done organically. And, according to Hubspot, photos are a great way to engage fans and solve this challenge. In fact, Facebook posts that include photos receive 53 percent more likes and 104 percent more comments than the average post.

Sounds impressive? It is. However, Facebook isn’t the only place marketers are seeing picture engagement. The rise of Pinterest and Instagram over the past year has also played an important role in determining that pictures really are worth more than one thousand words.

By posting more photos on Facebook, you’re not only increasing engagement, but also increasing EdgeRank, which is Facebook’s visibility algorithm based on user interaction. The higher your EdgeRank, the more likely it is your content is showing up in your followers’ newsfeeds.

Does this mean that your page should strictly start posting photos? No. Variety is still essential. Just like no one wants to see a Facebook page filled with just text statuses, they also don’t want to see just photos. However, you can spice up your links by posting a photo from your post as the main status with the link URL in the description or comments section. In fact, by posting a photo with a link, you are increasing your odds of getting a click through by 84 percent.

So, what’s the main takeaway? Photos are important. Make sure you are taking lots of them and sharing them everywhere you can in order to get the most bang for your buck in terms of social media.

If you’re company is looking to visually engage customers in order to increase your ROI, contact Marketing RELEVANCE.