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Homebuilding

Nicole Wagner

Homebuilder Subject Lines of the Month:

Tour a money-saving eSMART® home today

Homebuyer, Lennar’s 48-Hour Sale is for You!

Discover the Difference: 50% Off Options for a Limited Time!

Arlington Crossings Sales Center Now Open!

VIP Informational Seminar at Arlington Crossings! July 17th

GRAND OPENING THIS WEEKEND! Arlington Crossings

Autumn Grove – William Ryan Homes Volo

Save Thousands at Ryland Homes!

Save Thousands This Weekend!

Great Ryland Financing – THIS WEEKEND ONLY!

Only One More Weekend For These Exceptional Savings!

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Nicole Wagner

Homebuilder Subject Lines of the Day:

Better Get Moving – Beazer’s Special Offer Ends Soon.

It’s time to Get Moving with Beazer

$5 GIFT˜Beazer Homes Feedback Needed

Home of the week in Kerry Ridge has $50,000 price reduction

Enter to Win an iPad with your Moving Story!

Quick Move-in Deals + Visit Website for Special Online Savings

Pulte Homes Is Proud to Honor Community Heroes Like You!

Be The First To Save 10% Off!

Great Deals on Quick Move In Homes!

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Debbie Szwast

Real estate is any industry where buying decisions truly are made across multiple generations. Fist-time homebuyers often are just out of college and ready to move from their parents’ place or have worked for a few years and can’t wait to get out of that cramped apartment. At the opposite end of the spectrum are seniors. The options for this group range from active adult communities restricted to those “55 years or better” to assisted living to nursing care.

With such an age-diverse client base, how do you reach potential customers cost-effectively? To attract someone’s attention, your marketing efforts must speak to your target audience not only in a tone and manner in which they have become accustomed, but also via media channels that are familiar with.

Recent interviews re-enforced what us marketers already knew…that social media is the most prevalent way to reach young adults. More and more of today’s college grads are finding information on social sites such as Facebook. There are even college courses now designed to teach marketers how to use these sites in a business environment. It stands to reason, then, that a strong social component is essential when reaching out to homebuyers in their 20s.

A busy mom, On the other hand, is probably more likely to hear your ad on the radio or see it on TV. Juggling kids and often times a career leaves them less time to stay in touch via Twitter or MySpace. Radio can reach these homebuyers as they rush to work or drive the children to soccer practice. Cable TV is another good option. HGTV, Lifetime and TLC are stations dominated by women viewers where your message can be heard for a relatively low cost.  These buyers are Internet savvy, however; so don’t overlook online ads that run on websites targeted toward women.

Don’t forget about dad. While women often start the homebuying search, men are definitely instrumental when it comes to inking the deal. To appeal to their senses, talk cents…dollars and cents. The male mind wants to know the facts and wants to get the best deal. So make sure your message has a strong value proposition. And consider advertising on the radio during a sporting event or the morning stock reports.

Trying to attract the 30-something crowd? Try an eblast campaign. Today’s professionals are accustomed to getting their information on the go. Quick snippets of information delivered straight to their inbox is a convenience they’ll appreciate. But make sure to keep the information relevant or risk alienating a potential customer.

Interactive marketing is becoming more commonplace when targeting senior homebuyers, now, too. However, this is one consumer group who still has time to read…the newspaper, magazines, direct mail, etc. Their social media program isn’t an online tribe, it’s getting together to enjoy similar interests. So try hosting an event at your retirement community or senior living campus. Provide activities your guests can participate in and encourage them to invite their families, too.

The first step to successfully marketing to your potential homebuyers – whether they be in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s – is to understand how they receive their information today and deliver your message accordingly. Try it. And see the results.

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Debbie Szwast

Not even the best marketing or the best “deal” can make up for poor customer service during the sales process. Here’s an example. Last fall, I needed to purchase new tires for my car so I made an appointment online at a local discount tire retailer. I was enticed by the “sale.” After receiving a call that the tires I requested were not in stock, I was assured by the sales rep that I would be contacted once they were ordered and ready to be installed. Fast forward to six months later and still no call. Not only did this discount tire company lose out on a sale, they lost me as a customer for life.

How does that relate to your industry? Well, if you are like most companies, you have spent a great deal of time, energy and money to attract people to your place of business…a new-home sales center, a hotel, a senior living facility.

As a builder, you may advertise a limited-time promotion to encourage people to purchase a new home now. But if your sales counselors are not knowledgeable about your homes and how they stack up against the competition, you may not get that sale.

Resorts often advertise low rates or special packages to fill rooms during slower periods. But if guests are not treated well when they arrive or their overnight experience doesn’t live up to their expectations, they might not book a room again.

Often, it’s the children who are researching senior care facilities for their elderly parents. So your on-site staff needs to understand the emotional toll this decision has on the entire family. A little extra care and attention will make everyone feel more comfortable and secure in their purchase.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a builder working face-to-face with customers to purchase a new home, a resort taking reservations online or in person, or a senior housing facility discussing a the needs of an elderly parent with his or her children—your sales staff must be an extension of your brand. It sounds so simple, but you’d be amazed at how often this is not the case. To ensure your staff is up-to-par, secret shop them and then work on the areas that need improvement.

With the explosion of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites, a bad experience can spread to hundreds or even thousands of people almost instantly. That’s a marketing nightmare! And a nightmare that can easily be avoided.

Back to my tires. My sister referred me to a new shop in town so I thought I’d try them out. Not only did they have the tires I wanted in stock, the staff was extremely friendly, responsive, and informative. In fact, when I had a break down the next day—not related to the work they had done on my car—the store manager was so concerned that he went out of his way to arrange my towing and repaired a burst hose for FREE. They have now gained a customer for life!

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With a long history of successful property investments and management, JVM Realty Corporation is embarking on a new marketing initiative to raise awareness of the company and its newly formed K.C. Apartment Fund. JVM recently hired Stevens & Tate Marketing, a Lombard-based company with a track record of success for its long list of real estate clients.

The primary focus of JVM is to acquire, add value, operate and eventually sell apartment complexes throughout the Midwest. Typical properties are located in suburban areas of secondary markets with convenient access to transportation and major retail. JVM forms private investment groups to purchase and improve properties. Most recently, the company formed the K.C. Apartment Fund. Stevens & Tate is tasked with the development of compelling sales tools to market the new fund and the company to potential investors.

“JVM has a passion for apartments. They are successful because they have perfected the management side of their business. Their understanding of the apartment business makes them experts. Our team at Stevens & Tate will communicate JVM Realty’s leadership position using a variety of tools. We look forward to applying our skill-set in marketing and vast knowledge of the real estate industry to advancing JVM’s business,” said Dan Gartlan, President of Stevens & Tate.

JVM Realty Corporation (JVM) is a privately held real estate investment and management company established in 1975 by James Victor Madary, Sr. JVM employs more than 200 employees and manages a portfolio of nearly 7,000 apartment units. JVM Realty actively manages all properties in its portfolio. Its corporate office is located in Oak Brook, Illinois.

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The Luxury Property Blog has recently published an article on Stevens & Tate Marketing entitled High End Apartment Fund to Take Advantage of Distressed Sales.

To read the entire article, click here.

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Debbie Szwast

It’s taking people longer than ever, it seems, to make a move. That’s true for young first-time homebuyers, those purchasing a new home, and seniors deciding it’s time to downsize or move into an assisted living facility. For some, it’s easier or more comfortable to stay where they are while others are paralyzed by economic fears.

What does that mean for marketers in the real estate, homebuilding and senior living arenas? We need to keep in touch with prospects multiple times and in multiple ways. Building a relationship over time is essential to ensure that when your potential customers are ready to make their move, your company is on the top of their mind.

In the senior living marketplace, direct mail continues to be a vital source of information. Host an event on your property such as a wine tasting, holiday gathering, or friends and family day. Have your chef prepare sample meals and invite prospects for a taste test. Offer a simple class such as flower arrangements or cake decorating. Give away tickets for a local sporting event. Then promote your event through a targeted direct mail program. Make your invitations fun and memorable so they grab someone’s attention when checking the mail. Reach out to your own database of past visitors but extend your reach to people similar to your current residents. And don’t forget to target their families – often, an adult child will help make the decision on where their mom or dad will live.

A more cost effective option to stay in front of people is an email program. You can get out the same message to a targeted group, without the expense of printing and postage. And, let’s face it, almost everyone has access to email these days. In fact, a recent study by Pew Internet and American Life Project revealed that the 65-plus age group uses email at levels comparable to younger age groups.

Email programs also have become a key for homebuilders looking to streamline operations and reduce costs. One of the biggest mistakes a builder can make in today’s economy is to abandon a prospect who is not immediately ready to buy. Rather, we need to nurture these prospects through continual, consistent communication so when they are ready to move, they remember our name and buy from us – and not the competition. Don’t just send more messages to the same people…send the right messages to the right people at the right time. Smart marketers realize how important it is to craft a set of effective messages that can be customized for prospects at different stages of the home buying process.

With new technologies, smart phones, texting and such, how we stay in touch in the future may change but the importance of staying in touch is here to stay.

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Thank you to all that attended our webinar presentations on Social Media. I hope you all found something useful out of the presentation. Some of the key highlights we discussed were:

  • What is Social Media?
  • How Do I begin in the Social Media Realm?

The Social Media world is composed of many different types of websites and networks. Below is a quick re-cap of the main platforms and sites that we discussed during our presentation:

Social Networks (Facebook):
Social Networking websites allow users to build online profiles and share information, both personally and professionally, with others that are part of the network. Facebook is the largest social network on the web with over 350 million users.

Microblogs (Twitter):
Microblogging sites contain short, immediate postings of current thoughts or information. Twitter is the most popular microblogging site and allows users to send friends 140 character messages (similar to a text message sent from a mobile phone). There is an average of 54 million users worldwide who visit Twitter each month.

Photo and Video Sharing (YouTube):
Video is the most popular content on the web. YouTube is the most popular searchable video-sharing site online as well as the 2nd largest search engine today, having more searches than both Yahoo and Bing.

Social Bookmarks (Digg and Delicious):
Social bookmarking is web-based book marking of favorite websites, videos, articles, etc. It allows users to access bookmarks from any computer and to share with others. Delicious is the most popular social bookmarking website today with over 2 million users. Digg currently has over one million users.

The steps put forward on how to begin in social media are:

  1. Develop a plan.
  2. Listen to what others are saying about you and your industry.
  3. Participate in the conversations out there.
  4. Evaluate and work to improve.

If you have any additional questions on social media or if you would like to discuss further how to move forward with a social media plan for you company please feel free to contact Stevens & Tate Marketing or check out the Social Media section on our web site.

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The Home Builders Association of Greater Fox Valley is helping to spread the word about our upcoming webinar, “Introduction to Social Media for Homebuilders“.

If you are interested in attending our upcoming webinar on Thursday, January 21st at 11 am CST, please click here to register.

Hurry – space is limited and seats are filling up fast!

Stevens & Tate Marketing

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HousingZone reported this week that homebuilders who have weathered the recession are now predicting better days ahead for buyers, sellers and the homebuilding industry.

During a recent conference that was attended by representatives of large, national homebuilding companies active in the Chicagoland market, as well as independent and custom builders, all were optimistic about 2010. Several are introducing new floor plans and new home communities.

“The signs are positive, with low interest rates, lower home prices and tax credits,” said Andrew B. Konovodoff, president of Town & Country Homes. “Consumer confidence is growing and unemployment is starting to turn around. A buyer purchasing a $200,000 home today with an FHA mortgage of 3 ½ percent down and a tax credit will have a monthly payment of about $1,200, an affordable number for many first-time buyers. The coming year will definitely be better, and the builders who remain in the marketplace are focused on customer satisfaction to a greater degree than every before.”

Builders cited the extended first-time homebuyer credit and the new repeat buyer tax credit as important stimulants for the 2010 market. In addition, low interest rates and pent-up buyer demand will drive an increase in activity.

To read the rest of this article, please click here.

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Twitch is your source for creative happenings from all around the advertising industry. Brought to you by Stevens & Tate Marketing and Endora Digital Solutions. Find news, updates and insight on everything from print, interactive and web and social, to viral and search engine marketing. If it's happening, it's Twitch!

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