Advertising is an essential part of growing any brand and ensuring that you are able to meet your goals. As a home builder, you need a comprehensive advertising plan that will allow you to reach out to potential clients, share the services you perform, and provide them with the information they need to make a decision about you as a home builder. Understanding home builder advertising and its requirements can help you develop this comprehensive plan.
The Importance of Visual Marketing
As you develop your home builder marketing plan, focus heavily on visual elements. When interested buyers look for a home builder, they want to see what you have accomplished. That includes homes you have built or remodeled, the “work in progress” process and how you have worked through it, and more. Home builder ads, from social media to paper ads, should focus on displaying those visual elements. There are several key ways to incorporate visual marketing into your home builder advertising and marketing plan.
Social Media Content
Your social media content should include frequent images. Instagram offers an excellent platform for sharing those images, as does Facebook. You could even use YouTube or TikTok to design videos that clearly display the homebuilding process. Try strategies like:
- Show before and after pictures. Followers will be interested in what you have accomplished, including how you can take that “before” image and use it to create their dream.
- Highlight projects you have completed. Showing your style from the ground up, particularly in cases where you may have had more overall creative freedom, can give clients a better idea of whether they want to work with you.
- Provide insight into works in progress. Consider walking potential clients through the building process, whether you’re building from the ground up or taking on a renovation project.
Your social media platforms are an excellent opportunity to share everything about your brand, from your latest projects to the things that you’re most proud of. By using visual media to share those details, you help draw customers in. You let them see what their own properties could look like in your hands.
Traditional Ads
As part of your home builder advertising plan, you may choose to use a variety of traditional ads. Depending on your marketing budget, you may, for example, want to use billboards, magazine ads, or newspaper ads to show off your construction and encourage potential customers to get in touch. On those platforms, make sure you are clearly displaying your best work.
In addition, you may want to use mailers to help display your capability. Let interested clients know that you can renovate their homes or build the home of their dreams. Mailers may include anything from postcards that display your best projects to more extensive brochures that provide deeper insight into everything you can build and why buyers might want to turn to you.
Video
Videos are a great way to reach out to your target audience and capture their attention. Many consumers prefer video content to written. That means they will be more likely to watch a video than to read through a long-form post. Your video content can help clients get a better look at your projects, provide insight into how clients can DIY common tasks, or offer more insight into what problems might crop up that require professional assistance.
Building Your Website
As a home builder, your website is a key part of your marketing strategy. It should provide all the information potential clients need to decide whether they want to contact you to take on their projects. That may include a number of elements.
Basic Design
Like your social media profiles, your website should have a highly visual design that draws in clients and shows them exactly what you can do. Your website should contain images of projects you have taken on. On each different service page, you should display images that can help buyers get ideas about what they might want to do in their own homes.
Case Studies
Creating clear case studiesis a great way to showcase your skills and give potential clients more information about what your home builder brand can accomplish for them. Case studies take your before and after photos to the next level. In addition to clearly showing those photos, which will give buyers a better idea of what you can do, you should use your case studies to share information about what you have accomplished.
As a home builder, not everything you do will be clearly visible! For example, if you take on structural challenges, electrical problems, or even water damage as part of your project, it might be hard to convey through photos alone.
Your case studies and descriptions should clearly lay out all the details of the project. You may want to include key information about environmental requirements or even whether the client had budget limitations that determined the steps you needed to take.
Content Library
Content remains a key part of enhancing your search ranking and ensuring that clients in your local area can find you when they’re looking for home builders near you. Design a content library that not only shares key information about your brand, but also offers insights that can help potential clients make buying decisions. For example, you might cover topics like:
- How to set a budget for a home construction project
- Remodeling ideas for specific rooms
- The latest trends in home design and construction
- Smart home technology and its benefits
- Making a home safe for kids
- What to think about when planning a home renovation project
Listen to your clients and the questions they ask most often when they get in touch with you. Keep in mind there are some questions, like budget-related concerns, that you may not want to address directly. Every client’s answer may be a little different. However, you will come up with a wealth of content information for your website, videos, and blog by listening to what your clients most want to know.
Localization
Most home builders work within a specific local area. You may cover a wide geographic range. Or you may prefer to work within a specific geographic area, depending on the size of your crew and what types of jobs you’re most likely to take on. Localize your website to help it show up in search results at the right times. You may, for example, want to mention local areas, from naming the region to highlighting key features of your local area. You can even use your blog to highlight local events.
Meta Tags
Meta tags are the content that do not actively appear on your website itself. They appear in the source code. Meta tags give search engines more information about what they can expect to find on a website. They describe images, the page itself, videos, and other key details. Focus on meta tags that highlight the right keywords for your brand. You may want to use local keywords as well as builder-related keywords.
Search Ads
When today’s customers are ready to make a major purchase or take on a large task, they often head online to look for information. That includes looking for a home builder. If you want customers to find you when they are looking for builders in your local area, you need to show up in those essential search rankings. While organic search traffic, which comes through raising your search ranking by building valuable content, is incredibly valuable, you can also generate traffic through paid ads.
Paid search ads focus on the keywords searchers are most likely to use when they look for information about your business. Common search terms might include:
- Home Builders in [your local area]
- Construction companies in [your local area]
- Residential construction in [local area]
Depending on your specialty and the type of work you focus on, you may also want to highlight the specific types of projects you prefer to complete. For example, you might want to focus on bathroom remodeling, kitchen remodeling, or even adding a spare bedroom to the house. By focusing on the areas that your brand covers, you can more effectively draw in potential clients.
Claiming Your Business Listing
As part of ensuring that you show up correctly in search engines, make sure you claim your business listing. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all have business directories. When you claim your listing, you can make sure that the information presented to searchers is accurate and current. For example, if your office hours change, or if you widen the area in which you work, you can quickly make those changes. Update your listing any time something changes with your brand, including a new phone number, website, or specialty.
Drive Business Growth
If you’re looking to generate real results, AtlasRTXcan help. Contact us today to learn more about how our AI-driven tools can convert leads, elevate engagement, and drive growth for your home builder business.
