Creating
Traffic for Spot Lot Sales Versus Community Sales
Brian Flook, MIRM
Brian Flook is president of Power Marketing & Advertising.
Reach him at bflook@power-marketing.com
There are significantly different approaches to consider if you are generating traffic to sell custom or systems built homes on owner’s lots as opposed to selling homes in a community from a model or sales center. Remember, offer the right home in a location the consumer desires at a price they’re willing to pay and then advertise it properly. I’ll address each scenario separately:
OWNER’S LOT SALES
When you are trying to generate traffic into your office or sales center to sell homes on someone else’s home site, you are legally and mentally no longer selling real estate. Remember, location, location, location. The rule no longer applies. You are now selling purely product.
First attempt to understand your audience. Some custom builders appeal to high-end buyers and some appeal to low-end buyers. Both audiences have green money; you simply need to understand yourself and your market. I have a client whose marketing management worked for several years to take them from being a builder that appealed to entry-level, credit-challenged buyers to one that appealed to the high-end market. They failed! Now, they are back targeting the market they know best and sales are ringing the register again… cha ching. Know thyself. According to the Greek writer Pausanias, the ancient Greek aphorism, Know Thyself, was inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The point is that understanding your business is the first step in understanding your clients.
When marketing spot lots I recommend product ads that target the audience while also reinforcing your credibility as a builder. Don’t be afraid of lots of copy and show the best photo of a home for the target audience you have. The buyer is either looking for a builder they can afford or one whose reputation guarantees the quality they want. See the ad below, no first time buyer will respond to this ad.
Even though this ad is for a community. It appeals to a very custom audience
and could easily work in a spot lot environment. The message is that you’ve
reached the point where exclusivity and custom is what you deserve.
Now look at this next ad. It has first time buyer written all over it.
It focuses on the reader’s ability to buy. The message is that you
can do this.
Note the differences between the two approaches. Your audience is the key. Know them and their needs and you will successfully reach them.
COMMUNITY SALES
When marketing your homes inside a community, the key to generating traffic is the selling proposition. If you have the right message and the wrong audience you’re done. If you have the right audience and the wrong message you’re done.
The biggest mistake I see builders make when trying to generate traffic is using a constant campaign of umbrella ads. These are ads like the one below that advertise many communities at one time. More affordable? That depends on the results. My experience is that umbrella ads used sparingly reinforce the builder’s success, size and possibly credibility. They rarely generate more traffic.
The reason they rarely generate enough traffic is the inherent weakness of the headline. The headline must be reduced to the lowest common denominator in all the communities advertised. For instance, the above ad cannot talk about a compelling selling message for a specific community so the headline is reduced to the location in West Virginia. On occasion this approach is good, but never feed the market a steady diet of these ads or you will experience a reduction in traffic.
The best way to generate consistent traffic in your community is to determine the best selling message and denominate it powerfully in your community ad. See the two samples below:
Remember, offer the right home in a location the consumer desires at a price they’re willing to pay and then advertise it properly.
In the present tight market, generating traffic is your biggest challenge. Always advertise your website since nearly 80% of all new home sales begin on the web.
Selling homes is still a numbers game. If your sales person has a 5% closing ratio, you will need to generate 20-25 first visits to close a deal.
Keep your ego in check. Even though you may be the most reputable builder in the market, sales traffic comes more as a result of product, location, and price! If yours is great, it will continue to help you close deals every day. Your best bet, whether you’re selling spot lots or communities, is to know the buyers and appeal to their desired benefits.