And there’s nothing wrong with that – repeating what works is smart, but home builders need to be careful that their marketing isn’t becoming lifeless. Consciously incorporating storytelling into homebuilder marketing strategies is by far the most effective way to keep your marketing fresh and make fast connections with potential customers when you do use a new marketing strategy or platform.
Why is storytelling in homebuilder marketing so important?
Storytelling is where you create a narrative to communicate a message. Storytelling allows you to create an emotional connection and makes it easy for leads to identify themselves in your marketing. Whether you’re communicating your brand values or trying to get leads to imagine getting the keys to a beautiful new home, storytelling is the key.
Here’s what storytelling can do for home builders:
Storytelling creates an emotional connection
Buying a home is a significant investment, financially and emotionally. Home buyers want to feel like they are making the right decision, and a smart one, and storytelling allows you to craft that narrative.
If your ideal customer is more interested in feeling like they’re making a smart decision than the design of the home, you can share all the benefits of buying a home from you, such as how much money they’ll save on their energy bills by buying a brand new home, and how little money they’ll need to spend on maintenance.
If your ideal client is more design-focused, you can share the inspiration behind the design of the home and the community, and all the different choices they can make to put their own stamp on the home.
Storytelling differentiates you from your competitors
In areas where there is a lot of development, standing out from your competitors is key. Fortunately, telling your unique story through your marketing will allow you to differentiate your brand from competitors and allow you to connect with your ideal customer.
Storytelling increases brand loyalty
Many home builders overlook the benefits of brand loyalty because most home buyers stay in their homes for years before thinking of moving again. But brand loyalty isn’t just about getting another sale from a buyer – by telling the stories of your customers and your company, you can build brand loyalty in those who have already purchased from you and those who haven’t.
Remember, most people think about moving for months (if not years) before they are finally ready to buy. If you put in the work to develop connections with people long before they’re ready to put money down, you can ensure you’re the first builder they go to when they’re ready to pull the trigger.
How do you implement storytelling in your marketing?
Create multiple customer profiles
Your customers are coming to you with a huge number of different emotional experiences, so create multiple customer profiles so you know your ideal customers inside out. When you know what motivates them, what excites them, and what turns them off, you can make sure you tell the stories that best resonate with them.
Get clear on your brand story
What sets you apart from your competition? Whether you believe it’s the quality of your construction, the customizability of your home design, or the premier location of your communities, you need to tell it through your brand story. Think about why these things matter most to you (besides making money) and tell that story.
Tell real stories
People connect with people, so tell real stories of your customers and employees. Tell the story of the family who found their dream home and now have space for their kids to run and play, the community that had a party on the 4th of July, or the employees who are passionate about helping first-time buyers. All of these stories will help potential buyers envision themselves in your homes and communities and interact with your staff.
Tell the same story
You don’t have to find a brand new story for every piece of marketing – if you find a story that is exemplary of your brand and creates a real connection, you can retell them over and over again. Create a database of the stories that are most effective and reshare them across your marketing channels regularly. Remember, new people are joining your audience all the time, so reshare the most successful stories so they can connect with them, too.
Be authentic
Not every story needs to be a literal story of a couple moving into a home – sometimes, the story you tell will simply be through the lifestyle touches in your photos or renderings of a new home. But no matter what story you tell, make sure it’s authentic. People can spot stories that are disingenuous, so make the stories you tell accurately represent reality.
Storytelling is a powerful tool that home builders can use to create emotional connections with buyers, future, past, and present. It allows home buyers to differentiate themselves from the competition and increase brand loyalty. By knowing your audience and telling real stories, you can create marketing that resonates with your audience and drives results. Make sure you tell stories across all your channels – here’s how you can ensure your website tells a story.
