Marketing—nobody’s favorite topic. Okay, it’s my favorite topic, but that’s because I live and breathe it – specifically homebuilder marketing— and, because I love to sell, and marketing is what creates sales! So, really, if you want to sell more homes, you really can. Don’t, however, think all you need is a new home builder website, more marketing, or even better marketing—what you need is different marketing.
I may be opening the proverbial can of worms when I say this, but not all marketing is effective. You may have already realized that, but for some reason you continue to spend money on campaigns that do little, if anything, for your bottom line – sales. If you’re being totally honest you’ll acknowledge there are areas within your own marketing mix—right now— that aren’t producing qualified leads, and we all know your chances of getting a sale from anything but qualified leads are slim to none. The biggest marketing blunder you can possibly make is to hope to grow sales without investing in your marketing. The trick, then, is to make sure every penny invested produces a solid, measurable ROI.
That said, here are the Top 10 Marketing Blunders small businesses commonly make, and, most importantly, how to correct them. This week, we’re starting with your website.
Yeah…You May Want To Put Some Lipstick On That Website…
Outdated? What do you mean our website is outdated, we just had it rebuilt a couple of years ago! Times change, and nowhere does it change faster than online. Your website is the core of all your marketing and lead generation, it’s the most important element of your marketing mix. Over 90% of homebuyers decide whether they will come to your site or consider buying from you based on what they see on your website. So, it’s critical that this central element be the best it can be.
To be effective, your website MUST first load quickly, function well, and look good on all types of devices – computers, tablets and phones. In 2015, 49% of all websites were viewed on a mobile device; in 2016, that number will exceed 50%.
What your site visitors see must be exactly what they were hoping to see – compelling images that they can relate to, easy-to-find links to your models/floor plans, and testimonials from other happy customers. And don’t assume that everyone enters your website from your home page. As you anticipate the key points of interest for your audience, create landing pages for each of those topics. With a sound SEO strategy in place, search engines will find and direct folks to those pages.
Finally, your site must offer compelling reasons for visitors to fill out a form and give you some contact information, or, even better, pick up the phone and call you. If your visitors aren’t giving you a way to keep in contact with them, how can you possible sell to them?
What’s The Bottom Line?
Implications: If your site doesn’t capture interest immediately, encouraging visitors to engage with you, then your bounce rate will be high and you’ll be losing sales. A current, mobile friendly website with good lead capture can potentially double your sales—or more!
Solution: Revamp your website with a current, mobile-friendly responsive design, add value by providing relevant articles and provide gated materials that your prospects can only receive by providing their contact information. Get them to what they want efficiently. Make sure you are using keywords throughout the site.
Next week we’re going to roll up our sleeves and address the way you’re currently tracking and measuring your results….you are doing that, right?