Have you ever wondered how social media, special incentives and coupons could help you sell more new homes? At the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show, Carol Flammer, MIRM, author of Social Media for Home Builders 2.0, will hold a presentation with all the best tips to help you successfully market new homes through a variety of ways to engage your customers.
Flammer, the managing partner of mRELEVANCE, will host an hour long interactive presentation beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 10. In the presentation, a part of Tech Friday, she will cover how to integrate coupons, contests, promotions and incentives into your social media program.
In a world where LivingSocial deals and Groupons flood our inboxes daily with some fantastic offers, who wouldn’t want to learn more about getting their products spotlighted? Learn how the power of the coupon can be harnessed to get customers talking about the deals on your own great products.
The presentation, like all the events at Sales Central, are free to the International Builders’ Show attendees. The talk will be held in room W311E in the Orange County Convention Center.
For more information about the International Builders’ Show, visit the National Association of Home Builders online.
mRELEVANCE managing partners offer their respective expertise in this ongoing, “He Said. She Said” column. Each post in this series focuses on answering a question about online marketing from two different perspectives.. Carol Flammer answers from the reader’s perspective, where it’s all about content. Mitch Levinson answers from the perspective of a search engine.
Q: Can you explain more about inbound links?
A: Mitch – Inbound links are links on other people’s websites that link back to you. They drive the search engines back to your site when they index the other sites. The more credible the site is that links to you, the more relevant you are in the search engine index. Try to build credibility and get links back to your site from outside credible sources. After all it is all about building RELEVANCE.
A: Carol – To build relevance, don’t only blog on your site, blog wherever you can. Comment and link where possible also. This helps to build brand and build recognition. Not to mention that it is a great way to syndicate your messages. When you repurpose and curate content to different sites, you will want to post a different version of the content to each site. Because duplicate content is bad for search engine optimization, it is important to keep this in mind.You’ll want to change 40 percent of the content by giving it a different lead or a different angle. Sometimes you can just put the words in a different order. Some writers are comfortable with creating varied versions of stories and others find it challenging. If you are taking time to create content, use it as many times as you can. Post it online via online public relations and blogs then link back to your sites with anchor text.
A: Mitch adds – No one knows the exact algorithm that search engines use, but it seems that they give more credibility to the site where the content is published the very first time. If you write a story or post, publish it on your blog first. Then rewrite 40-60 present of it, tease the article and link back to page where the article first appears so that it gets more power from search engine.
mRELEVANCE, LLC is pleased to announce the launch of Georgia Home Foreclosures, GAHomeForeclosures.com. The investor-owned residential foreclosure website is part blog and part foreclosure directory. Savvy home buyers have embraced this online resource for Georgia foreclosures.
“The new website provides homebuyers with a suite of tools to help them get the most for their money in these uncertain economic times. It also helps homebuyers find resources for loans, news about the housing market as it relates to foreclosures and featured articles on some of the best deals on foreclosures available today,” said Carol Flammer, managing partner of mRELEVANCE.
The GA Home Foreclosures site has information on the investor’s buyer incentive programs, from contributing to closing costs to a one-year warranty on any work done by their in-house construction team. Additionally, there is information about preferred lenders, a library of press releases, information about rental opportunities through WEGO Property Management, video home tours through YouTube and a portal to a full directory of online listings. All of this is tied together with social media functionality through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more.
Georgia Home Foreclosures has been pleased with the development of the site, which has proved to be an effective tool for delivering relevant information to homebuyers. “We saw tremendous traffic the first month the site launched,” said Tara White, Sales Manager for Rialto Capital Management.
mRELEVANCE would love to create your new website design. Just give us a call!
New search option for Central Florida homebuyers
mRELEVANCE, LLC is pleased to announce the launch of the new Highland Homes mobile site, www.HighlandHomes.org. Created to accommodate an increasing number of users who access the website from mobile devices, the new site allows homebuyers and real estate agents to access information on the builder’s product on the go from smartphones and tablets.
“More and more, our buyers and agents are using their mobile devices to view Highland Homes’ information, and we are excited to be able to meet their needs by offering a user-friendly, mobile alternative to our main website,” said Kathie McDaniel, vice president of sales and marketing for Highland Homes. “Whether searching for Highland Homes’ information from home or onsite at one of our communities, smartphone and tablet users can find what they need quickly.”
The Highland Homes mobile site is a compact and comprehensive version of the Lakeland-based builder’s main website. It provides general information about Highland Homes’ communities, floor plan descriptions, pricing, contact information and virtual tours when available, and is integrated with the builder’s social media sites including Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.
There are several benefits to the mobile site including:
- Fast load time on mobile devices
- Easy to view and read due to large fonts and graphics built for mobile
- Finger-friendly – meaning information can be obtained with minimal clicks.
“With 10 to 15-percent of monthly site visitors on the Highland Homes website coming from mobile devices, it is the perfect time to create a site to accommodate those consumers,” said mRELEVANCE managing partner, Mitch Levinson. “In just a couple short months, the new Highland Homes mobile site has already shown an increase in total website traffic to the builder’s website by almost 15-percent. Based on the time viewing pages on the mobile site, these are new high quality buyers.”
Highland Homes has been Central Florida’s value leader for more than a decade. For a complete list of new home communities and more information, visit the Highland Homes website at www.HighlandHomes.org or call 863-619-7103.
Contact mRELEVANCE for a quote on your mobile site today.
Join some of the industry’s top sales professionals at the most powerful sales seminar of your career, the 2012 International Builders Show’s Super Sales Rally: Back in Black.
Back in Black will be held on Thursday, February 9 from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. This will be the biggest, best and boldest sales education event of the year, designed to provide proven techniques and strategies that lead to immediate results.
And mRELEVANCE’s own Mitch Levinson, MIRM, managing partner, will be making a cameo appearance at the event. He will deliver a transformational experience, teaching critical skills for closing the sale, building relationships and prospecting for new business.
The Super Sales Rally’s presenters Melinda Brody, Kerry Mulcrone, Meredith Oliver and John Palumbo, will give expert advice in how to manage tough objections and keep pace with the latest technology innovations.
Learning Outcomes include:
• How to stay focused, positive and results-oriented – even when everything around you is distracting, negative and full of obstacles.
• Ways to use online marketing and other new technology for personal branding and staying ahead of the competition – even if you’re on a shoestring budget.
• Sure-fire tips for overcoming buyers’ indecision and moving them toward a sale by understanding their buying process and helping them see it as a win-win scenario.
• How to eliminate the fear of closing by hearing best practices in closing techniques that will light a fire within the buyer, and also learn when (and how) to ask closing questions.
Mark your calendar and do not miss this opportunity! Visit the www.BuilderShow.com website to learn more about the Super Sales Rally, other sessions or for registration or other conference information.
What builder or sales person doesn’t want more online and onsite traffic? One tried and true, efficient way to get more buyers into your communities is through an effective blog. When built and utilized appropriately, a blog can serve as the engine of your social media program, improving your search engine optimization, enhancing customer interaction and increasing sales. Remember, B – L – O – G stands for Better Listings On Google.
Join industry experts at the 2012 International Builders Show at “Blogging to Build Traffic: Online and Onsite,” a special education session that will cover the basics of setting up a self-hosted WordPress blog, how to incorporate keywords into your content, the power of social media campaigns and tracking Return on Investment.
Presented by home builder marketing professionals, Carol Flammer, MIRM and Mitch Levinson, MIRM, managing partners of mRELEVANCE, with Highland Homes Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kathie McDaniel, the session will be held Thursday, February 9 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., and will include case studies on blogging and demonstrate how a well-built social media strategy can contribute to increased sales. One example shows how 22% of a builder’s onsite traffic is directly attributed to its social media program.
Learn how to increase your referrals, leads and sales with a highly optimized blog at “Blogging to Build Traffic: Online and Onsite,” which promises to deliver the follow learning outcomes to attendees:
• Gain insights into the power of well built, strategic social media campaigns
• The basics of setting up a self-hosted WordPress blog
• Using your blog effectively with content that incorporates keywords that will maximize your online visibility with search engines and allows you to engage and interact with consumers
• Gauging ROI (return on investment) – learn which metrics are the most important
Add this real-world, highly informational session to your schedule of classes to attend at IBS. We hope to see you there!
The key to communicating is listening. If you don’t listen to those speaking to you or what is happening around you, what you have to say might be irrelevant. The same goes with social media. According to a PR Daily article, “To be a master at social media communication, you must have a strong foundation of listening.”
How do you build this foundation in the online world?
1. Set up Google alerts. This tool sends e-mail updates of relevant content found on Google based on your queries, or key terms. Want to know what people are saying about your company or clients? Generate a query for each individual company, client or relevant search term.
2. Set up Google Webmaster tools on your blog and website. Look at the inbound links report to see the number of inbound links and which sites are linking to your site.
3. Bookmark successful case studies. Read a case study or social media success story in your industry? Use social bookmarking sites, such as Digg, Delicious, or Stumble Upon, to keep track of them. That way, you can refer back to them online and you don’t even have to waste paper or ink.
4. Search on Twitter. Searching on Twitter allows you to view what others are thinking about certain issues, products and maybe even your company. Create search queries and monitor these daily. You can also create lists of people to monitor without actually following them. This makes keeping up with your competitors super easy!
5. Look at your Web analytics—at least once a month. This will help you see where your website traffic is coming from, as well as how it trends month-to-month and year-over- year.
After building a foundation, you can “listen” to what others are saying online and be able to communicate with them easier. Once connections are built, you may make new business partners or even clients. Just remember to listen!
If you need with any of the above tools or any other social media needs, contact the team at mRELEVANCE.
As you start to budget, plan and strategize for 2012, it is important to take a good look at your Internet Marketing Toolbox. In order to create a comprehensive marketing program, you’ll want to set it up with your blog and website as the foundation and all of your other marketing tactics integrated.
Your website is the single most important communication vehicle for your company and brand. It is also one of the few that you completely control. Make sure that you are taking advantage of your website as an effective tool to attract traffic and capture leads. After all, an effective marketing program will generate quality traffic and capture qualified leads. Your marketing program should
- drive traffic to your website;
- effectively convert web traffic to customers; and
- generate leads and prospects.
Your team will then take those leads and prospects and convert them into sales. Lead management is an essential component of your marketing program.
Each element of your strategy must work effectively with, and reinforce, the others. You must design and build your website so both consumers and the search engines can find it. You need a strong search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing program with the right keywords. Additionally, make sure you include blogging, online public relations, social networking, and bookmarking in your tactics. Ensure local search sites include positive information and recommendations for your company. You need to be everywhere your buyers might be and provide opportunities for your marketing team to communicate regularly and directly with prospects by e-mail, text messages, and social networks. Position advertising, whether online or elsewhere, to attract attention and include a call to action consumers will respond to. Finally, include tracking devices for determining what works and what doesn’t so you can adjust your strategy to be more effective.
Make sure that as you look at your Internet Marketing Toolbox for 2012 that these components are included:
• Website and/or blog
• Keyword strategy
• SEO
• Microblogs
• Social networks
• Local search sites
• Online PR
• Photo sharing
• Video syndication
• Social bookmarking
• Search marketing
• Internet advertising
• Lead management
• CRM
• E-mail marketing
• Website tracking
• Search engine rank tracking
If you need assistance putting your plan together, contact the team at mRELEVANCE, we can help!
mRELEVANCE won a Gold OBIE Award for Traton Homes blog – www.TratonHomesBlog.com. Named Best Interactive Marketing Tool at the OBIE Awards Gala held at the Cobb Galleria on Nov. 12.
The Traton Homes blog keeps homebuyers abreast of community news, local events and special promotions. The blog includes a featured home, as well as video posts where homebuyers can get a detailed peek at a specific community.
Kimberly Garwood Marketing Manager for Traton Homes comments, “We are so honored to share this award for our blog with the dynamic team at mRELEVANCE. They are truly the best at what they do and are dedicated to delivering smart, relevant programs that maximize results!”
Carol Flammer managing partner for mRELEVANCE said, “Traton Homes does a great job of keeping potential buyers and agent up-to-date on their latest news through the blog. We are thrilled to be recognized by our peers and the home building industry for our work on this site.”
This is the fourth consecutive year that mRELEVANCE has won OBIEs for award-winning Internet marketing. In 2008 the agency won Best E-Marketing – Best Interactive Application for its Heron Bay Golf and Country Club campaign. The agency was recognized in 2009 for Best Interactive Application for Atlanta’s favorite news blog, www.AtlantaRealEstateForum.com. In 2010 mRELEVANCE won awards for the Bowen Family Homes blog and Circle 75 Townhomes.
The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association’s OBIE Awards celebrates its 31th anniversary in 2011. The awards began in 1980 and have grown throughout the years to now feature more than 100 building, remodeling, marketing and personal achievement categories. The OBIE Awards, named after the obelisk shape of the actual award given, are the premier awards in of Atlanta’s residential building industry. To see more OBIE award winners, visit www.AtlantaRealEstateForum.com/OBIEs.
For more information on launching an effective internet marketing program for your company, contact mRELEVANCE.
