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Home Buyers Finding Out They Have It Good in Oklahoma City
 Strong job growth, a strong local economy, a low cost of living and mortgage rates near all-time lows are providing an unbeatable combination for prospective home buyers in Oklahoma City, according to the Central Oklahoma Home Builders Association.
Just because optimal home buying conditions can be hard to find under the lackluster conditions that prevail in many parts of the nation today, consumers in Oklahoma City shouldn’t allow their confidence to be rattled by what they are seeing in the news, the association says.
In a multi-faceted campaign combining a state-of-the art Web site (DefyTheTrends.com) with more traditional marketing strategies, the local association is carrying a positive message to a larger and more diverse audience and dispelling some of the information that may apply to other places but can only be considered myths closer to home.
“While we did do some print advertising, we did not make this a major component of the campaign. We concluded that we could more effectively get the attention of our buying market through other, more affordable and wide-reaching media, particularly the Internet,” said Jeff Click, first vice president of the HBA and owner of Jeff Click Homes.
“As a result,” said Click, “we allocated nearly 40% of our entire budget towards the online component of the campaign. Additionally, we worked every opportunity to get press coverage from local papers, news stations and talk shows.”
Innovative Online Marketing
The Web site provides a focal point for the myth-busting effort. It features five short video messages from builder members of the Central Oklahoma association, breaking news stories emphasizing what’s positive about the local housing market and a blog where officers and members can post messages.
The Oklahoma City myth-busters have also branched out to online networks, creating an association page on YouTube and a cause page on Facebook.
Extensive online advertising has been facilitated by Google and Yahoo and numerous high-volume local sites, including the site of The Oklahoman, the local newspaper.
The HBA has also relied on its members and real estate professionals to publicize the campaign on their blogs and place campaign graphics on their Web sites.
Tried and True Traditional Marketing
The Oklahoma City builders have supplemented their online information with more traditional marketing, including three months of revolving billboards in key locations, a seven-page open house insert in the real estate section of the The Oklahoman and television commercials on several local affiliate stations and real-estate focused cable channels like HGTV and TLC.
Radio spots will soon complete the campaign, with 30-second ads running on local radio stations whose listeners comprise the target market.
“We feel that the campaign has made a significant impact in our area,” said Jim McWhirter, president of the local home builders and Gemini Builders. “Three weeks after the campaign began we had our first big test with our East Area Festival of Homes. Three of my model homes listed in the festival had double the traffic from the previous two years. We also sold two lots, a spec home and a custom home,” he said.
“Feedback from other builders in the festival was also positive,” McWhiter said. “They reported that visitors to their model homes were much higher quality leads than in previous festivals. I attribute the positive results to the strong campaign.”
Sixty percent of the $50,000 cost of the effort has been paid out of the association’s “rainy day” account and the remaining 40% has been defrayed by member donations. Costs have been kept down through services donated by a local advertising agency, Mason & Moon Advertising, Inc.
To access the Myth Buster Resources, which have been developed by NAHB to help members and local associations communicate accurate information about their local housing market and reassure hesitant consumers, click here.
For more information on the Myth Buster Resources, e-mail Gwyn Donohue at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8447.
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