Where should 2016 marketing money be spent? Great question.
Home Inspections in the Kankakee Bourbonnais Bradley Illinois area have been dominated by a very small number of inspectors for years. We are a rather odd kind of market. Very close to Chicago with a very definate rural surrounding. Often I overhear a Chicago visitor comment that we are just so much closer than he realized to the city. It's 60 miles but they think we're in El Paso,Texas.
Marketing in the size area we live in has been dominated by traditional phone book yellow pages ads and agent referrals. I have always focused on agents word of mouth and face to face relationships. I use the phone books because that's where my competition is at and while they don't have great results, they do at least pay for themselves, mainly with mold and air quality testing.
If I was given an extra $300 to spend on marketing and advertising I would probably use it in a variety of different ways. I have never seen any direct mail from a home inspector delivered to my house so I feel it would help my company stand out in front of mind for the thousands of people that have never even used a home inspector before.
First I would target the local apartment building tenants with an introduction post card direct mailer that would include a scratch off discount dollar prize to be used at their home inspection. The card would be designed to promote the fact that home ownership is a great investment, helps build the community and that now is a really great time to buy a home instead of renting. Our area has an unusually large amount (60% in one citiy) of apartments or rental homes.
New construction has been at a virtual standstill for several years due to the housing crash of 2007-2008.
Today as I am writing this post, there are signs that the new home construction market may be picking up. Several new home construction permits have been issued recently and several more are pending. The new construction starts have been in assorted subdivisions and send a very good message that there is a demand growing for home inventory. The print campaign utilized for these new homes would be a direct mail post card promoting a new home 11 month builder's warranty inspection. Most homes come with a one year builder's warranty. The buyer can request the builder repair or replace items found to be defective within the first year. A warranty inspection can locate and report these defective or non-working items and create a report the home owner can present to the builder. Waiting until the one year warranty period has expired and the homeowner will find himself paying for all these items out of pocket. The inspection is not part of a real estate transaction so the rules of state SOP do not apply.
Scott Seaton
SLS Home Inspections @815-644-6271
Inspecting homes like yours in the Kankakee, Bourbonnais, Bradley, Illinois area since 2007.
Real Estate inspections with same day report delivery. Mold and air quality testing.
FREE 90 day Homeowners Warranty. Included with every inspection.
FREE Recallchek appliance recall service. Included with every inspection.
FREE MOLDSAFE 90 day coverage. Included with each inspection.
FREE SewerGard 90 day coverage. Included with each inspection.
Visit my website at http://www.slshomeinspections.com/ or www.bourbonnaisHomeInspector.com or
like me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SLSHomeInspections
Comments (0)Subscribe to CommentsComment