Have you ever found yourself driving tons of traffic to your site, only to realize they're not converting to leads? For many of you, this is a common scenario. Lead generation for home builders is a challenge that requires optimized strategies.To convert casual website visitors into committed home shoppers, you need to guide them down a clear path with a strong value proposition. This compelling promise distinguishes you from other home builders and resonates with home shoppers by addressing their pains. A clear and compelling value proposition can make all the difference in today's world, where attention spans are short.
As a home builder, your value proposition is the reason a customer should buy a home from you. In other words, it's your unique promise of value to your home shoppers. A strong value proposition includes clear benefits that outline what home shoppers will gain, simply describes what sets you apart, and addresses their needs, preferences, and challenges. When a builder nails their value proposition, it builds trust and confidence, ensuring home shoppers feel confident in their decision to build with you.
With your value proposition established, how do you go a step further and turn this trust into leads? Crafting lead-gen value propositions tailored to each persona is critical. To get a visitor to give up their name, email, and phone number you need to give them something of value in return. Something relevant to where they are in their home shopping journey. This specific type of value proposition is called a Lead-Gen Value Proposition.
If a prospect walks into a model or sales office and you shove a reg card in front of them right away and say "I need you to fill out this card" – they're not likely to complete it (with real info anyway). On the other hand, a good salesperson finds out what their needs are (i.e. interested in a certain plan) and says "I can send you a copy of this plan and some links to actual photos, just put your info on this card." In the latter example, you're providing real value in exchange for their contact info. And it gives them something to look forward to in your follow-up.
The same applies to website visitors. Identify specific needs of different personas, and use this approach to offer valuable content for them to download. The beauty of this is you can try all sorts of Lead-Gen Value Propositions and put them in different places throughout your website or landing pages. Some may work better than others, but you won't know unless you try. At Bokka, we've created hundreds of these for builders, which have become lead magnets that outperform average home builder conversion rates.
You need to create an enticing offer that home shoppers find irresistible. This can be achieved through various formats for downloadable content. PDFs are a popular choice due to their simplicity and ease of access. They're ideal for guides, checklists, and infographics that deliver quick, valuable insights. Here are some examples that provide immediate value to potential buyers:
For more in-depth content, consider offering eBooks or whitepapers for example:
These formats are perfect for delivering comprehensive information on industry trends, community benefits, and financial advice, such as tips on mortgage rates or understanding contracts. By providing detailed and professionally crafted content, you position yourself as an expert in the field, building even more trust with your prospects. Just make sure that all downloadable content is high quality and professionally designed. This will make readers feel they're getting something valuable, and improve their perception of your brand. Both of these increase the likelihood of them becoming a lead.
Just as important as creating a compelling value proposition is the follow-up strategy. A follow-up here is no different than the model home sales follow-up mentioned earlier. It's delivering what you promised in a way that continues to build trust and value. Crafting a good value proposition is only the beginning. The real magic happens with a well-executed follow-up.
Instant follow-up significantly increases your chances of turning a lead into an appointment and sale. When you follow up with an online lead within 5 minutes, you increase your chances of conversion by an astonishing 900% [Source: WebFX, 2024].
It starts with a simple ‘Thank You’ email. Automate this process to ensure every potential home buyer who submits their details and engages with your content gets an immediate response. Using marketing automation for builders can streamline lead nurturing and improve conversion rates. It sounds simple, but you'd be amazed how many builders have forms on their site that don't have an auto-response 'Thank You" set up. Following this 'Thank You' email, you'll want to send a personalized message providing additional valuable information. This should be part of your drip campaign. For instance, if a lead downloaded your floor plan guide, you can follow up with a personalized email offering a kitchen and/or bathroom guide.
This can be pretty resource-intensive for many builders, especially those without an OSC Program, so we highly recommend marketing automation when possible. Automating your follow-up process saves time and manpower. Use sequences to define when an automated ‘Thank You’ email is sent out after a lead submission.
And lastly, every follow-up should include a clear call to action to prompt the lead to take the next step. Examples include scheduling a call or requesting an appointment to tour a model home.
By following up with relevant and timely info, you ensure your leads are effectively nurtured, increasing the likelihood of successful conversion to appointment and sale.
Balancing a clean, simplistic, distraction-free design while effectively gathering information and highlighting your value proposition is key. Use fonts, colors, and layout strategically to draw attention to the conversion point, making it the focal point on your landing page. Place the conversion point strategically throughout the page to guide them to the form for downloading the content.
For example, you could be targeting relocation buyers. In this case, a well-designed downloadable relocation guide that walks them through the process of moving to a new city and finding a builder could be the perfect way to encourage them to share their information.
Or you could simply take all your current floor plans and put them into a comparison guide to help prospects narrow which type of plan they want (like the example below).
And keep your forms straightforward. By simplifying the form using progressive profiling (which includes only the essential details like name and email address), home shoppers can quickly access their downloadable content without unnecessary complexity and friction.
You've done the hard work of creating your Lead-Gen Value Proposition and establishing a solid follow-up process. But where should you place it on your website for maximum impact? This is a critical question that shouldn't be overlooked. Ensuring your downloadable content is highly visible will significantly increase the chances of potential customers engaging with it and providing you with their contact information.
Consider these prime placements for maximum visibility:
These strategic placements ensure that your Lead-Gen Value Proposition isn't buried or difficult to find. By displaying it prominently, you get better engagement and boost lead generation opps, allowing you to fully benefit from the efforts you've invested.
Choose your placement wisely to maximize your efforts and generate more leads for nurturing.
A Call-to-Action (AKA CTA), is more than just a button on a website; it's a compelling invitation to take action. Instead of passive language like "submit," use a powerful CTA with action-focused words that deliver the value such as "Click to receive your guide."
By strategically placing relevant CTAs throughout your web site and landing page content, you guide home shoppers toward the content that addresses their pain points directly. Each CTA should emphasize the benefits of the downloadable content they'll receive, reinforcing why they should take action now. This is another simple strategy to direct visitors toward the next steps in their home-buying journey.
We strongly recommend dedicating time to the continuous improvement of your value proposition. Conversion rate optimization is the key to a successful long-term lead generation strategy.
If you’ve implemented your Lead-Gen Value Proposition, and the leads aren’t coming in as you hoped, there might be reasons why visitors are hesitant to provide their contact information. Perhaps the placement isn't prominent enough. Consider changing it to a pop-up when someone lands on the homepage. Did your lead numbers increase after making that change? If not, maybe the design or color choices might not be appealing to your audience, or the CTA wording might not be compelling enough.
There are numerous elements to tweak and test. This is why the ongoing improvement of your value proposition and lead-generation tactics are crucial steps in this process. One popular testing method is A/B testing, which measures the performance of one version of an element against another. There are other testing methods available as well, and it's important to understand which one best fits your needs.
By continually optimizing, you can identify what works best and maximize your lead generation efforts.
As you can see, the value proposition is a powerful strategic tool in your arsenal for establishing trust. Using these best practices for Lead-Gen Value Propositions, home builders can better engage with potential home shoppers by providing valuable content that addresses different pain points relative to the customer's buyer journey. Whether you're refining an existing strategy or exploring new approaches, mastering the art of Lead-Gen Value Propositions can significantly elevate your digital presence and accelerate your lead-generation efforts.
I know this is a lot to tackle in one article. If you asked me to simplify all this into a few bullets and tips to implement into your home builder lead-generation strategy, here's what that looks like.
By implementing these best practices, you'll generate more leads and sales. If you need help implementing any of these strategies, or need advice taking your lead-gen game to the next level, just send us a message. We'd love to help elevate your marketing and sales strategy.