Tag Archive for 'real estate marketing'

Reaching Out to Realtors

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NDG
on January 20, 2009
in marketing and real estate marketing
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Here are some cold, hard facts about New Home Sales in the 21st Century: Nationwide, more than 50% of all new home sales have been through a realtor. In fact, some builders have seen his figure rise to as high as 90% over the past year. Why is this the case?

In our challenged marketplace, with the overwhelming negative press the economy and the housing market have received, prospective buyers are now simply afraid, and feel that they must have representation to help them buy a home, and protect them from what they perceive as predatory sales people. This perception, while not often based in reality, is not one that will go away any time soon.

So, to market new homes, we must have a complete and easy REALTOR OUTREACH PROGRAM that clearly tells the realtor two fundamental facts:

First: What’s in it for the realtor? Offer clear incentives—a co-op percentage, bonuses, and any other incentives like trips, etc—real motivators for the realtor to bring prospects to your property, and put them right up front in all of your outreach.

Second: What’s in it for the realtor’s client? What can you do to help with price reductions, closing costs, financing, etc? And can you offer more options or upgrades?

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Show Me the Way, Part 2

Published
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NDG
on January 15, 2009
in marketing, new home sales marketing and real estate marketing
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By following some basic rules, we can ensure that we see real returns on our signage investment, ensure that we’re giving sales staff everything they need to get traffic flowing, and remove any room for excuses. Here are some more fundamental rules for making sure that we get the most from our signage.

TEMPORARY SIGNAGE:
These signs, while temporary, are absolutely invaluable for driving traffic. They include A-frames, flags, spinners, etc, with messages such as “Now Open”, “Event Today”, “Decorated Model,” etc, and they should all naturally list the property name and contact information including phone number and website address should those interested not have time to stop for your event.

PROXIMITY BILLBOARDS:
Outdoor signage like billboards can be very cost-effective. Rather than using these signs as branding for your company’s offerings and lifestyle, etc, these should be used as very large “directional” signs that are simple, basic, and to the point: “OPAL POINT / NEW TOWNHOMES / NEXT LEFT” and of course, again, you must include the property website address.

READABILITY & CONSISTENCY:
Finally, what makes signage effective is ensuring that it is engaging and attention-getting while also being easy to read, easy to pull the essential information from (see the criteria for “Entrance Sign” in our last post), and ensuring that all signs are consistent—that is, that each clearly looks like it came from the same property. When signs do not appear to be all from or for the same property, they are confusing to the prospect. And, consistency helps build recognition, further maximizing your investment.

There are of course more kinds of signage, and things you can do with them, but these are the essentials you must follow to make sure your new home sales signage is really working for you as hard as possible.

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Show Me the Way: Effective New Home Signage

Published
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NDG
on January 13, 2009
in marketing and real estate marketing
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What brings traffic? Quality websites that are optimized for search engines to find easily. But beyond that, the second biggest source of traffic is still the most fundamental and traditional type of advertising: Signage. We often make many excuses for why traffic is down, and usually the culprit that sales people point to is “poor signage.”

By following some basic rules, we can ensure that we see real returns on our signage investment, ensure that we’re giving sales staff everything they need to get traffic flowing, and remove any room for excuses. If your website is pulling qualified traffic and your signage is too, then the only thing left for salespeople to do is close the deal. No more excuses. Here’s how NDG Communications makes signage work as hard as possible.

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF NEW HOME SALES SIGNAGE:

THE ENTRANCE SIGN:
The entrance sign must be highly visible, easily readable (even at 55mph+), share product type, amenities, phone number, and most importantly, the website address.

MODEL/SALES CENTER SIGN:
The model or sales center sign must include model name (if applicable), hours of operation, phone number, and again, most importantly, the website address.

DIRECTIONALS/BANDITS:
Directional routes should be well mapped out. Directional/wayfinding signs should help buyers find your communities and capture buyer interest in your property. These signs also let “drive-by” prospects know there is a home on the market in the neighborhood. The signs should be clear and easy to read; 20×24 is recommended. And, the routes should be driven every weekend to ensure proper placement of signs.

Stay tuned for the second half of this article.

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NDG Communications at IBS 2009

Published
by
NDG
on January 9, 2009
in advertising, marketing, new home marketing, new home sales marketing and real estate marketing
. 0 Comments

We invite you to join NDG Communications President Tom Nelson at the 2009 International Builders Show in Las Vegas. Tom will be a featured guest speaker again this year and his topic will be “Attracting Today’s Buyers Online: Building Success with Connected Customers.” The panel for this talk also includes Mike Lyon of www.DoYouConvert.com and Stephen Feltner, President of New Homes & Rentals Divisions at Move.com.

Tom and his fellow panelists will provide extensive strategies for developing effectively targeted online marketing campaigns, including:

• Proper integration of online and offline marketing initiatives
• Fulfilling buyer expectations of real estate websites and their content
• Understanding the latest online marketing trends to help reduce standing inventory and drive more home buyer traffic to sales centers

Date: Thursday, January 22, 2009

Time: 8:00AM to 9:30AM

Location: North 259/261

Click here to see the official IBS website listing for Tom’s talk.

If you’re a homebuilder and ready to help make your online investment create real, measurable returns, this talk is one you just can’t miss.

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Driving Web Traffic, Part 2

Published
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NDG
on December 11, 2008
in advertising, marketing and real estate marketing
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DOES YOUR WEBSITE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DRIVE TRAFFIC? Part 2

With the website being the most fundamental marketing tool, and the hub of all information, here are some additional basic but critical factors to consider for your sales website:

CONTACT DETAILS
Providing immediate contact details such as email addresses and telephone numbers on the home page will give the site an open feel and add a personal touch, thus increasing user confidence and instilling credibility.

CREDENTIAL VALIDATION/TESTIMONIALS
Providing the kinds of information that establishes credibility and consumer confidence, such as awards, is a useful way to build trust with the consumer. Providing independent comments on positive experiences (applicable to the product or company) will have an even greater impact—instilling confidence in your brand and qualitatively boosting the consumer’s perception of the quality of your product and company.

STATEMENT FROM MANAGEMENT
This content will share the vision and values of the people who envisioned and are building the community. This information provides credibility and legitimacy for the property.

UP-TO-DATE
All content published on the website should be recent and up-to-date.

DISCLAIMERS & TERMS OF USE
It is very important to supply the appropriate disclaimers, terms of use, privacy policy, and other legal terms.

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Driving Web Traffic is Job #1

Published
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NDG
on December 9, 2008
in advertising, marketing and real estate marketing
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DOES YOUR WEBSITE HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO DRIVE TRAFFIC? Part 1

In today’s market, new home consumers are spending up to eight weeks doing their research online. Their goal in this research process is to shop by elimination—to narrow their search down to three communities that fit their desires and then make an on-site visit. If your website does not effectively tell your story or resonate with the consumer, you will lose this battle before you ever realized it began.

Consumers will not contact you to clarify your message—they will simply eliminate your product from consideration. With the website being the most fundamental marketing tool, the hub of all the information here are some key considerations:

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP)
It is extremely important that the user can immediately ascertain the value of the site’s purpose and the usefulness of the content. The unique selling proposition should be clearly stated on the home page. Remember, current research tells us that we have 4 SECONDS to tell your user who you are in order for them to continue to invest their valuable time in your website.

KEY ACTION POINTS/ CALL-TO-ACTION
This site should be richly interactive and encourage user participation from the outset. There should be direct links to key action points immediately visible on the homepage. The website should provide a means to engage in a discussion with the user and encourage the next step—direct contact via an online form, email, or phone call.

DEPTH OF SITE AND LEVEL OF INTERACTION
The site should strive to completely engage the user. The goal should be to create a website with such compelling and engaging content that the user stays as long as possible on each visit, and revisits the site frequently. Also, as a medium, websites are especially tailored to present content through the combined use of text, graphics, and animation—offering a huge potential to convey content and meaning to users. Therefore, a website should be as interactive as possible to take advantage of the great opportunity to engage users

AESTHETICS/USE OF VALUABLE GRAPHICS
Successful websites are founded in firm and established design principles. Graphics should add value to the website, and never reduce the readability or performance. It is important that the look and feel of a website be a positive and compelling visual reflection of the product through the use of colors, fonts, and graphics.

USEFUL INFORMATION
All content presented on the site should be of the highest quality. Animations and graphics are to support the content, not compete. It is important to ensure that your message is clear and your intent is obvious. And make sure that all content is accurate and error free.

Stay tuned for the next part of this article for more new home sales insights from NDG’s Tom Nelson.

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Myers Barnes Exclusive Webinar

Published
by
NDG
on December 4, 2008
in marketing and real estate marketing
. 0 Comments

Join one of the building industry’s most requested advisors and speakers, Myers Barnes, for an exclusive web seminar on Tuesday, December 9, 2008, at 1:00 PM Eastern. Myers Barnes is an acknowledged leader in new home sales and is known worldwide as one of the industry’s foremost expert authorities in real estate sales, management, and corporate growth.

A licensed general contractor and broker who climbed the rungs on the ladder of success one by one, Myers is a true entrepreneur with an active interest in property sales, homebuilding, and community development. Don’t miss the unique opportunity to see Myers in action and get unparalleled insights into new home sales.

For more information about when, where, and how to watch this exclusive web seminar with Myers Barnes, please click here.

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