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Online Marketing 101: Turning Browsers Into Buyers
The Internet is here, and prospective buyers increasingly are using it to browse for a new home. That’s why it’s crucial for builders to establish a presence on the Web and to make that presence as strong as possible.
Home builders who are still thinking in terms of a classified ad in a newspaper are doomed to failure. The Internet is an interactive medium ideal for the electronic exchange of information. A good Web site can also bring consumers much closer to the actual experience of walking through a new home and it should be used to communicate the range of information that home shoppers want to know about the house, the neighborhood and the community.
HomeBuilder.com™, NAHB’s official site for new home buyers, recommends several key elements that can help turn online shoppers into actual visitors and buyers:
- Visual appeal. Always provide as much visual and interactive information as possible to help online home shoppers come to a decision about the homes they are interested in seeing. Include photos, floor plans, elevations, catchy descriptions of the amenities and even virtual tours of best-selling models.
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- Context. Getting information about the neighborhood in which a home is located is a paramount concern of new home buyers. The more you can tell prospective buyers about shopping, schools, the proximity to workplaces and recreational facilities, and more, the less likely are visitors to your site to look elsewhere. Whether a home is being built in a brand new community on the outskirts of town, on an infill site or adjacent to an established neighborhood, it is incumbent upon the builder to present the home’s location as a special place.
- Contact information. Give online shoppers ample opportunities to get in touch with you early and often while they’re doing their research. Several contact buttons should be provided throughout the Web site. Include your phone and fax numbers and e-mail address, and ask shoppers to reference the community that interests them. Most importantly, get back to your prospects as soon as possible. E-mail and the Internet create expectations for the instant delivery of information.
- Physical directions. Make it as easy as possible for your online shoppers to make the trip from their computer to your new home or community. Provide specific, but simple, driving directions. If they will have to traverse unfinished roads, let your prospects know in advance.
Be sure to inform online shoppers of your open house hours. According to the National Association of REALTORS™, Internet shoppers are more likely to visit open houses than non-Internet shoppers.
Jay Minkoff is vice president of sales and channel management for HomeBuilder.com, NAHB's official new homes listing site on the Internet.
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