There’s no question that utilizing social media is an essential way to promote and grow your business in today’s market. Studies have shown that 94% of digital consumers between the ages of 16 and 64 have at least one social media account, which means developing an online presence on these platforms presents a valuable opportunity for home builders to increase brand exposure.
At Milesbrand, we specialize in creating compelling brand elements that can easily enhance an effective social media strategy. Creating a meaningful connection with home buyers is essential to brand positioning, and some of the most advantageous avenues to open engagement are through social media channels.
Home builders can enhance branding with the use of social media to build a stronger online presence, develop thoughtfully designed strategies to further brand goals, increase engagement with buyers and expand the brand’s identity.
We’ve gathered a list of useful tips to guide home builders in developing a strong and successful social media presence for their business.
When it comes to creating a social media plan for a brand, it’s essential to understand the brand’s goals to determine the tactics that should be employed to achieve them. Every post should have a pre-conceived purpose that furthers the overarching agenda of the brand.
Monthly social media performance evaluations and social media calendars are key factors to attaining a successful social media presence. Planning social media posts in advance for the month enables brands to frequently produce thoughtfully curated content that achieves the goals of the marketing strategy. It’s crucial to regularly assess a brand’s performance on social media to determine if the overall plan or goals should be altered to improve engagement with the target audience.
Primary questions brands should consider include:
With the wide variety of social media platforms available, a brand should not be limited to the singular use of just one. It’s important to consider the opportunities each platform offers, as well as the overall demographics to carefully choose where the brand should be present.
Developing a brand’s social media presence is a valuable opportunity to further share the brand with potential prospects and thus it should be thoughtfully considered which channels would be the best fit. Home builders can take advantage of the community-based engagement opportunities on Facebook, showcase finished projects on Instagram and Pinterest, offer short videos featuring inside looks at finished homes on YouTube or highlight their business to relevant industry contacts on LinkedIn.
When adding social media as an outlet for brand expression, it’s essential to develop brand consistency across all platforms. Although different platforms require variation in post formatting, the overall personality and tone of brand content should be carried to every channel to maintain a cohesive brand identity.
Timing – For best chances of post visibility, brands should post on a consistent, regular schedule with a routine number of weekly posts. It’s helpful to plan out posts ahead of time to maintain balanced activity on all applicable platforms.
Presentation – Logos and profile images should be uniform to ensure viewers can easily identify the business no matter the platform. Logos should also be sized correctly for each site. In some cases, an element of the logo, typically known as a favicon, might work better than the full logo and be as easily identified. Photos, graphics and any images should be optimized and carefully sized for each platform according to the requirements of each network for best presentation and consistent branding. For instance, Facebook is set up for horizontal photos and Instagram favors square images.
Extending a brand to social media means sharing aspects of the brand’s personality to distinguish it from competitors and expand followers’ understanding of the business and its values. There are several ways brands can build their identity to become more of a well-known brand on social media.
Be Personable – A home builder’s social media can be utilized to expand beyond the homes they sell by posting content that introduces the employees, corporate culture, and values within the company. A personable approach offers followers insight into the brand personality and makes them more likely to engage with the brand and consider contacting the business for its services.
Establish Hashtags – Using relevant keywords as signature hashtags is an effective method to establish a brand on social media, and it provides an easy way for supporters to find the business.
Share Industry-Related Content – Although it may be tempting to only promote content directly related to your business, it’s important to take a break from marketing messages on occasion to include relevant and trending topics within the brand’s industry. This establishes the business as a trusted authority and valuable source of information for potential leads in the early stages of the sales funnel.
Brands with an exceptional social media presence are often known for their strong connection with followers which is keenly cultivated with active engagement.
Take the time to engage with followers by exchanging fun comments, answering questions and creating interactive content. Openly interacting with followers outside of selling homes enables home builders to build necessary trust that promotes brand growth on social media.
Maintaining a social media presence provides an excellent opportunity to showcase the company’s work to potential leads and other followers. These case studies, testimonials and visuals are attention-grabbing and bolster engagement levels while also increasing exposure to the target audience. Research has shown that social media content accompanied by relevant imagery receives 94% more views than content without.
Creating regular posts featuring newly built homes provides consistent social media content, as well as steady promotion of the business’ finished masterpieces that may strike interest in followers and increase leads.
We are experts in developing home builder and developer branding and marketing strategies to reach and engage the right target audience. Today’s buyers are looking for builders and developers that are omnipresent and conveniently accessible across various digital media outlets, including social media platforms.
Social media platforms present a valuable opportunity to connect with home buyers and grow your brand exponentially. At Milesbrand, we can partner with you to create a compelling and successful brand and marketing strategy. This foundation is key to implementing effective online strategies and a solid social media presence. Get started with a consultation today!