Importance of Builder Co-op Programs for Master-Planned Community Marketing

Master-planned communities utilizing home builder co-op marketing programs offer incredible benefits for home builders actively building in the community, and for the developer. A builder co-op program allows builders to participate in a large-scale project along with other builders and the developer to brand the community and its lifestyle. This garners name recognition for the master-planned community and provides boundless marketing opportunities. With a marketing coop, marketing campaign costs are shared and is not the sole responsibility of the developer or any one builder.

Savvy developers create marketing co-ops so that they don’t have to carry the branding and marketing costs for the entire community. This is a huge benefit for both parties, as it allows costs to be shared and a greatly expanded reach.

By joining forces to create a grand master-planned community, home builders enjoy the benefits of reduced costs and the ability to expand marketing efforts with impactful strategies for a broader target audience. Let’s delve into what a home builder co-op program entails and the advantages this system affords home builders and developers within a master-planned community.

What is a Builder Co-op Program?

Many master-planned communities are comprised of homes built by various home builders spread throughout different neighborhoods, pods or segments of the community. The developer typically puts a builder co-op program together in these master-planned communities to fund the community’s marketing budget.

Each builder contributes a prorated portion to the budget to support a strong marketing strategy that starts with the launch of the community and runs until the last sale. In a builder co-op marketing program, each builder is required to contribute to the budget anywhere from 0.5% to 1% of the total sales price of each home they sell.

This arrangement drives marketing efforts dependent on successful community sales, and the provided revenue from each sale allows for the master-planned community’s brand marketing to have consistent growth. This approach strategically deploys marketing efforts over the life of the community following the most impactful tactics and timing.

There are many benefits of a master-planned community builder co-op marketing programs regarding costs, marketing impact, extensive community offerings and widespread target audiences. Let’s take a look at them.

Reduced Expenses

With multiple builders funding the marketing budget, the first benefit is relatively straightforward – incredible cost savings. When a community has just one home builder, they are solely responsible for all funds necessary to market the community. The same can be true for the developer. In some cases, the developer may choose to brand the community on their own which is an expensive undertaking in the absence of a coop marketing program.

Depending on the community's success, a sole developer or home builder may experience strain to provide the necessary costs to bolster the community’s marketing and promotion. However, a master-planned community marketing budget is dependent on the success of several builders and the developer is likely to face fewer obstacles and considerably less budget strain.

Larger Budget

As well as reduced or shared costs, a marketing budget generated from the profit made by each builder also enables the master-planned community to amass a substantially larger budget than what a single builder might allocate for a smaller community. This means that each builder contributes less money than what is typically necessary and creates greater value by compiling their portion with other builders within the community. Without draining their assets, each builder supports and forms a solid foundation to promote the master-planned community to its target audiences. 

This larger budget buoys the developer’s budget and benefits the master-planned community greatly. Typically, developers form co-ops to support the community marketing budget and sell the overall lifestyle. If it’s a home builder and there is no marketing co-op, they’ll typically just default to their own marketing efforts and focus on their product (i.e., the homes) rather than the overall community story.

Opportunity to Implement Strong Strategies

Master-planned communities with large budgets are capable of implementing sophisticated strategies that effectively engage the ideal target audience. These elevated marketing opportunities enable master-planned communities to gain and utilize an in-depth understanding of the target homebuyers and produce impressive experiences that boost target audience reach and engagement.

Storytelling – Creating a larger-than-life community that offers homebuyers a sought-after destination is no easy feat, but it’s made possible through a sizeable and effective marketing budget allocated toward compelling storytelling. To illustrate the power of placement, master-planned community marketing implements strategies that position it as a desirable destination that genuinely feels like a wonderful place to call home.

With a substantial marketing budget, master-planned community marketing paints a picture of the target audience's lifestyle preferences and seamlessly incorporates those penchants into the promotional campaign story for the community. Offering homebuyers a great story is an exceptional method to share the scope of a master-planned community and deliver the story in an emotionally driven way that resonates with target audiences.

The master-planned community story should flow throughout every creative branding strategy, from the community’s website to its social media channels, digital and print advertisements, outdoor advertisements, radio commercials, direct mail, online and physical brochures and community signage. Many of these tactics are costly, which makes master-planned community co-op programs even more beneficial in making marketing opportunities affordable.

Large-Scale Events – Another way master-planned communities utilize an expanded marketing budget is by offering wide-scale events to attract homebuyers and real estate agents. Whether it’s a thrilling concert, mesmerizing hot air balloon festival or a remarkable agent open house, master-planned communities host incredible activities to draw attention to the community’s location and offerings.

By hosting these events, master-planned communities allude to the exciting lifestyle that awaits homebuyers in the community. While events provide an opportunity to build enthusiasm with current prospects and realtors, they also offer additional openings to boost reach and visibility by gaining coverage within local news platforms and magazines.

Greater Name Recognition

Master-planned communities often attract well-known, respected home builders, providing the community with opportunities for greater reach. As individual builders promote the homes within the master-planned community, this widens the spread of the community’s promotion among potential homebuyers.

With increased visibility and name recognition, master-planned communities gain greater trust and credibility among homebuyers. This positively established reputation enables master-planned communities to reach and engage prospects in large numbers during the community’s development as the home builders invite homebuyers to join VIP lists, open for sales and begin constructing new phases.

Diverse Home Selections

Rather than offering a singular vision, master-planned communities deliver diverse home selections that differ in style, price, layout and more. With diversified offerings, master-planned communities possess widespread marketing opportunities to showcase the numerous collections available to homebuyers. Each builder within the master-planned community offers homes with unique benefits and appeal, an incredible advantage for the community’s marketing efforts. This diversity of home selections combined with sought-after master-planned amenities and a desirable lifestyle creates a broader reach and appeal in the home buyer market. This diversity also attracts local realtors providing them a wide variety of home designs for their clients.

Wider Target Audiences

With diverse offerings of homes and amenities, a master-planned community creates greater appeal for broader audience demographics. While the master-planned community brand story may be the marketing element that initially gains homebuyer attention, the community’s marketing should take the next step to distinguish the community’s appeal to several buyer personas.

Separate sections of a master-planned community may offer varied home sizes, layouts, architectural styles and prices that fit the preferences and needs of vastly different homebuyers. From affordable entry-level homes to stylish townhomes, single-family homes, ranch homes and large estates, homes within a master-planned community encompass an incredible variety and abundant choices.

Whether the audience is a first-time buyer, active adult or move-up buyer, the master-planned community marketing shares the community’s vast array of options and communicates how each section of homes meets the distinct needs of differentiated target audiences.

Let Milesbrand Create Exceptional Branding for Your Master-Planned Community

Although builder co-op programs provide master-planned communities with plenty of marketing potential, developing strategic branding is important to maximize a builder co-op marketing budget for the highest success. Successful master-planned community marketing starts with compelling differentiation that guides extraordinary branding.

At Milesbrand, we can bring your brand to life through incredible brand positioning and award-winning creative design. Set the foundation for your brand by contacting us today to get started.