Display Advertising is a great medium for enhancing listings, driving traffic or raising awareness of upcoming promotions and special incentives. We've seen builders utilize all of these tactics with Display Advertising on NewHomeSource.
One strategy which seems obvious but is often overlooked is to advertise actual builder's communities, similar to the way billboards along the highway are used. NewHomeSource shoppers are active home buyers looking for information about new home communities and new home plans. Display Ads that focus on a community or range of communities often outperform other types of campaigns. Considering consumers search homes by price and location, it's critical to include that information in your display creative. A relevant landing page and tracking code is also critical to measure consumer action and generate leads.
When developing a campaign consider the following:
- What message do I want to convey?
- Where will I send my consumers?
- What action should they take once they are on my landing page?
With a clear strategy in place it's easy to tweak and refine a display campaign. You may find the campaign is delivering excellent traffic but converting poorly. The issue may be with the the landing page, not the ad. Or, you may find few clicks but very relevant action from those consumers who do respond. This insight will provide you the information necessary to optimize your campaign and drive more value from your online marketing.
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For more information about Display Marketing Strategies contact Thane Tennison, Ad Ops Manager. We also encourage you to share what campaigns have performed best for you.
Video ads have been used for years to advertise major brands online. Their success and popularity is attributed to several factors including consumer recall and increased click-through rates. To help home builders take advantage of this new medium BHI is now offering Video Banners across all its sites and can help with video ad production.
When considering video advertising keep in mind a few simple best practices to maximize performance. First, Video Ads adhere to the same rules as other display campaigns. The goal should be to pull consumers into the ad and make sure that it meets their search objectives. We recommend featuring homes or communities that appeal to the consumers search instead of long videos that touch on a variety of products. The Ad should have specific marketing goals and the videos should be short, 30 seconds or less. A recent report released by Point Roll & the IAB shows that on average about 50% of all video ads play to completion, which means your call to action should be present upfront remain on screen. I recommend including a snipe in the video or using other real estate on the banner to support the video’s message.
Let the images tell the story. Video is a great way to capture a plan or show the full amenities of a new community. Large pans, and fades are captivating and can often say more than a line of copy. However, as a policy BHI requires all ads to begin playing with sound off, therefore it's essential that the video can stand alone without sound. It’s also important to consider other websites' spec requirements if you'd like to use your Video Ad beyond BDX sites.
Click here to view a sample Video Ad or contact BHI Media’s professional staff to see how they can help you craft or video banner or edit existing footage to make your homes and communities stand out.
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For more information on how you can take advantage of Display Advertising, contact Thane Tennison, Ad Operations Manager for BDX at 866-651-8868 or at ttennison@builderhomesite.com. You can also follow Thane on Twitter at @t_tennison.
Oftentimes, we receive request from builders wanting to advertise "above the fold" for their banner campaign only. The fold is what's visible first when the web page loads before a user scrolls down for more information. The belief is that the banner is the first thing consumers will see and that will increase the likelihood of action. Similar to running an ad on the inside cover or back page of magazine. It's an understandable request and natural that advertisers would want the best position.
However, instead of worrying about placement, consider the actions users take when shopping listings. They're scrolling through potentially hundreds of homes and communities, gathering information. As a result we've found that the content and offer of the ad by far outweighs the placement. Unlike, traditional media which interrupts a consumer's experience with online banners, consumers are actively searching for information about a builder's product. We've found that the banners closely embedded within the content perform best. It's one reason we believe we see so much action with banners supporting a builder's listing. It's also a reason I'm a strong supporter of complementary creative, using each position to advertise a different aspect of the business.
On NewHomeSource banners perform relatively the same for each position in terms of CTR. It's the creative and offer that will set you apart.
For more information on how you can take advantage of Display Advertising, contact Thane Tennison, Ad Operations Manager for NewHomeSource at 866-651-8866 or at ttennison@builderhomesite.com. You can also follow Thane on Twitter at @t_tennison
Many Homebuilders who advertise on NewHomeSource see a click-through rate (CTR) 5X to 10X the industry average for display advertising. Learn common characteristics of the best performing campaigns and get new ideas on how to use banners to further your marketing goals. For a review of your current banner campaigns contact Thane Tennison, Ad Ops Manager for NewHomeSource.
Special promotional offers for Builder Homesite Customers. Contact your sales rep to take advantage of these exclusive offers.
- Urban Condo Living (UCL) promotional bundle #1. As always a new builder can come on at just $199 for UCL and New Home Source (NHS). Now, they can bundle in 10,000 ad impressions with the listing, plus get one month free on a 12 month agreement for just $399/mo.
- Order banner ads on Movoto.com at exclusive pricing from NewHomeSource in 3Q09 on a first come, first served basis.
- Renderings special: Cash for Clunkers Rendering Program. Keep the Internet clean with efficient high traffic-producing digital 3D Renderings and get $100 off each standard or premium rendering you order in September. More details to come soon. (Limited to new customers only)
#NEW# Model Home Photo Shoot. Do you know you can get a complete model photo shoot for just $175? Our Amenity Signature Series includes 8 web-ready (72 dpi) and print-ready (300 dpi) images. See our product sheet for samples and additional products.
Contact your sales representative to take advantage of these special offers only offered through September. Call 866-651-8868 or email sales@builderhomesite.com
The value of real-time performance metrics in online banners have been obvious for some time. At NewHomeSource, we’ve encouraged builders to design creative to initiate consumer action. The best performing banners help consumers narrow and refine their home search by advertising the number of communities, and range in price. We’ve seen other banners drive traffic to sales promotions or featured listings.
This week, Pacific Communities launched a campaign with a secondary call to action to their social media page on Facebook. The main banner advertises their communities while a second button links to Facebook. With friends, Pacific Communities has an opportunity to collect a different type of lead. One they can continue to message even beyond the home search and one that provides feedback, consumer perspective and referrals. I’ve seen the proliferation of advertising social networks on email signatures, business cards and home pages. It makes since to include it in online banners where consumers are already engaged with your brand.
Pacific Communities “Staycation” promotion keeps the consumer engaged by offering prizes like an IPOD Nano to friends who upload their staycation pics. It will be interesting to see the fans generated from this effort and how Pacific Communities continues to speak to that audience. Still, I can see the Facebook Tag becoming a staple in most online call to actions.
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For more information on how you can take advantage of Display Advertising, contact Thane Tennison, Ad Operations Manager for NewHomeSource at 866-651-8868 or at ttennison@builderhomesite.com. You can also follow Thane on Twitter at @t_tennison.
On NewHomeSource, builders have seen a great response from their Display Advertising Campaigns. We’ve seen that the best performing creative narrows the search from consumers and helps enhance the builder’s listing in the market. With an average .22CTR (click-through rate), NHS sends thousands of consumers to builders' websites each month. With so much traffic being redirected, what affect does a high click-through have on lead conversion?
 To review the affects Builder Homesite Inc. analyzed lead performance for top national builders who combined display advertising campaigns with their new home listings on NewHomeSource.com against those without. The findings revealed that builders in the test group received more leads. In fact, builders who
used banners to support their listings received 51% more leads compared to builders with
standard listings.
From these findings, advertisers should consider the lift in lead conversion as well as CTR when determining the value of banner advertising. At NewHomeSource we call it complementary creative; designed to support the listings and promote multiple aspects of the builder’s brand. From a Promotional Blitz, premium appliances or new green energy construction, the banners provide new information to help consumers make better informed decisions. -----------------------------------------------------------
For more information on how you can take advantage of Display Advertising, contact Thane Tennison, Ad Operations Manager for NewHomeSource at 866-651-8868 or at ttennison@builderhomesite.com. You can also follow Thane on Twitter at @t_tennison.
For years, advertising creative has been designed to break through the clutter and catch the consumers attention. From teaser campaigns, shock value and high-graphic flash ads, advertisers have pulled out all the stops to reach new consumers. As Seth Godin says in "The CRM Gap," they're treating their online prospect like targets rather than potential valued customers. But in the online world the consumer has control. We've seen this for years, and as a result of this, advertisers have been revising their online marketing to cater to the consumer's needs. Display ads accomplish this by tapping into user searches and assisting in the search process.
On NewHomeSource we've consistently seen Display Ads that help narrow and refine the consumer search outperform other more promotion-driven campaigns. Why? Because when consumers visit NewHomeSource, they're at the beginning of the purchasing process. They're shopping and gathering information, learning about plans and looking at models. Banners that provide a range of communities and their price help refine the consumer search and drive more traffic to the builder's website. Consider Display ads as the digital billboard directing consumers to your homes. The creative should be simple, direct and meet an expectation. 
In addition to a high click-through rate, these banners have ancillary benefits -- most notably a consistent message and ease of implementation. Creative that advertises a community is relevant for the life of a community. Unlike weekend sales events that must continually be produced, updated and switched out, the community creative provides a steady undercurrent driving traffic. The hard sell campaign has its place but should used in addition to, not replace, a campaign that has proven effective.
For more information on how you can take advantage of Display Advertising, contact Thane Tennison, Ad Operations Manager for NewHomeSource at 866-651-8868 or at ttennison@builderhomesite.com.
For years we've seen the steady growth in online advertising as marketers shift dollars to more targeted and accountable media. Online advertising has provided tremendous flexibility allowing even small companies to have a global presence in the digital world. To help drive more leads for home builders in smaller markets, NewHomeSource has implemented the Blanket Ad Program designed to increase online advertising in markets that may be too small for most publishers to consider.
The success of the Blanket Ad Program lies in increasing the share of voice (SOV) for home builders advertising on NewHomeSource. As the name implies, advertisers have the opportunity to 'blanket the market' providing the greatest SOV possible. The program has had very impressive results, with response rates higher than NewHomeSource's typical CTR. It has also provided a media where small and custom builders can compete against national production builders with substantially larger budgets. 
Over 50% of NewHomeSource's traffic is from consumers who are relocating, and the Blanket Ad Program provides a significant value for homebuilders who can reach consumers across the country. The high SOV also limits impressions available in any market continually keeping those advertisers in front of consumers and their competition. The program was launched in the first quarter of 2009 and is now offered in over 50 markets on NewHomeSource.
For more information contact Thane Tennison, Ad Operations Manager for NewHomeSource at 866-651-8868 or at ttennison@builderhomesite.com.
Decision-makers have less time every day and more difficult to reach. Suppliers and manufacturers all compete for a builder's time and attention. Insight Inbox delivers:
- Instant credibility from the industry consortium, BHI
- Impactful, highly targeted advertising to reach the builders that matter
- Comprehensive tracking of ad impressions, page views, and subscriber behavior
Insight Inbox delivers maximum return on your investment. To learn more about this exciting opportunity, please contact:
Brian Kordansky
(512) 651-8886
BKordansky@builderhomesite.com
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