When it comes to real estate development, marketing isn’t always an easy task. Rather than selling just one home, you’re selling a whole bunch of homes at once, and that means speaking to a much larger number of people. That’s why it’s so important for real estate developers to tell a story. If you think about it, you’re selling people on a lifestyle, not a piece of land. No homeowner is going to purchase a home in a real estate development because the land is really nice. Instead, they’re looking for a place they can call home, where they’ll hang out with their neighbors and raise their kids. That’s why real estate developers need to find their community’s story, and tell it in a way that rings true with the right people.
So, if you’re working on beefing up your real estate development marketing strategy, here are a few tips to help you pinpoint the story of your development. To help illustrate our tips, we’ll be using real-life examples from one of our own housing development clients‘ website.
What do your residents do?
What does a day in the life of your ideal resident look like? Do they work full-time, and if so where? If they don’t work, is it because they’re home with the kids, or because they’re retired? When you have a better idea of what your residents’ lifestyle looks like, you’ll be able to market to them more directly. You can tailor your development’s story to fit their unique lifestyle, and when you know what they do for a living, you’ll also have a better idea of where to set the price point.
Our client, Sovereign Oaks, worked to pinpoint their ideal resident, and found that their perfect buyer was the type of person who wanted to live somewhere peaceful, where they could raise a family or take in the beautiful natural surroundings, but who also valued cultural experience. As you can see from their homepage, they made sure to incorporate those values into their development’s story by showing potential buyers that their development was located in the peace of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but just minutes away from downtown Asheville.
What do your residents like?
Once you know what your residents do in their daily lives, you’ll want to discover what it is they do in their free time. What do they like, what are their values, and what sort of community do they picture themselves in? If you’re building a retirement community, your residents will want to know about things to do that are very close to the community. They’ll also want to know what sort of support they’ll have access to at home, like a lawn care service, or help with around-the-house repairs. If your community is geared towards younger residents, know that they’ll care less about community services, and more about what they can do in the area, like music and shows going on in town, and possible activities to do with the kids.
Sovereign Oaks recognized that a number of people in their price point wanted to live in a community that valued sustainable living practices. They included things like a community garden, and encouraged backyard farming and beekeeping. But since their residents are younger, they also made sure to show that they were up-to-date technologically.
The above slider, with just a header and a single sentence, convey both of those ideas neatly and easily. Here, Sovereign Oaks is telling potential residents their development’s story. It’s a simple, easy place to live, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have all of your technological luxuries. With state-of-the-art technology they’re able to provide a fiber optic line to each house, ensuring each resident has a superior internet connection.
Choose three words to describe your community:
The best way to go about telling your real estate development’s story is to start with a concise idea. One way to make sure your story is consistent, and your marketing content is always on message, is to pick three words that together, describe the culture of your community. For Sovereign Oaks, those three words are something like: tranquil, sustainable, and convenient. From there, and using those three words as core concepts when describing their community, it’s easy to explain to potential residents that when you live at Sovereign Oaks, you’re living in a community that’s peacefully quiet, that values sustainability, and that’s easy to get to-and-from.
Since the Sovereign Oaks story is so clear, it’s easy to qualify or disqualify potential leads, and they’re not often approached by people who won’t be a good fit for their community. In addition to attracting potential buyers who are well suited to purchase their homes, they’re also attracting home buyers who will fit in well with the rest of the residents already living in the community.
Put your story on the web
Once you’ve decided what your real estate development’s story is, it’s time to write it down and put it out on the web. Make sure your message is clear and accompanied by beautiful professional photos of your community. Remember that buyers are most compelled by a community that’s easy to envision themselves in. Show visitors to your site what life looks like at your development, because if they can picture themselves living there, they’re likely to pick up the phone and give you a call.
If you’re interested to know more about how HA Digital Marketing drove proven results for Sovereign Oaks, check out the case study below. Or if you’re looking for information on marketing your own housing development, get in touch.