Shoot, Shoot, Shoot, Aim

 If you are still shooting your marketing dollars in the same direction you did two years ago, you may get the same results as Mr. Fudd.  

Change is a word we have heard a lot of lately. We don't need to wait for change to happen, it's happening all around us right this moment. For the housing market a change occurred in mid 2005. It looked light a slight down turn, but most of us were busy and didn't pay attention. Then we had a bigger shift downward in 2007 with all the foreclosures making the news. Then in early September the credit crunch turned into a crisis. Unfortunately for the new home building industry all of the recent change has been negative.

If you are in charge of marketing or sales and you work for a builder, you have seen your budgets slashed. Your personnel have been reduced. Yet some how, you are expected to maintain or increase sales. 

In 2001 I was I had a marketing budget of close to $800,000.00. $160,000.00 was allocated to the local news paper for advertising in the Sunday Real-Estate section. 20% of my marketing budget was allocated to one resource for which I could not define my return on investment. But everyone told me I could not afford to not be in the paper. 

Same with Billboards, magazines, and directional signs. Large chunks of money spent without the knowledge of what I was getting in return. 

But sales were good, I had the money, so I spent it. 

Today, new home builders who want to survive can't afford to shoot, shoot, shoot, aim and hope they hit interested home buyers with their marketing message.

Technology has changed.

The old way of invasive advertising is dying. People now are more in control of the messages they receive. 

No call lists. User controlled media like TIVO  and Ipods,  IPhone  and the Internet have taken away our ability to get our message in front of our target audience. 

The old fashioned method of word of mouth now becomes back in play. Because there are now so many ways to screen information we need to turn to trusted sources to get our message in front of consumers. People talking to people about products they like and use. 

The URBaCS  Referral Builder is designed to help you make contact using trusted sources. You as the builder can give each of your homeowners their own personal website to post and share pictures of their home with friends and family. You customers now have a platform to tell more of their friends about their new home. Your message and branding is embedded throughout the site so your information is getting to your targeted audience. It is affordable and effective.