Social Media 101 for Home Builders: Boost Your Presence!

A bi-weekly round-up newsletter of the best new construction and real estate marketing, sales, and news in the industry.

This newsletter is best viewed online. Click here to read in your browser.

In This Issue:

💡 The Big Idea: Get great tips and ideas for your social media marketing
🐝 Industry Buzz: The latest marketing and industry updates.
🧠 Get Your Learn On: The Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit is getting closer!
🏆 Quick Win: Secondary CTAs can be a big win for your lead generation.
🧰 Tech Check: Step up your social media game with Post Planner.
🏅 Marvellous Marketing: A standout social post from Blue Haven Homes.
... and more!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
"Love the easy-to-digest format. Gives me a quick pulse check on the industry and some new things to try."

The Big Idea 💡

Social Media Marketing Basics For Home Builders

Want to level up your social media game? This guide covers the basics of social media marketing for home builders. Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to optimize your current strategy, we have practical tips to help you connect with potential clients and build your brand. In this article:

☑️ Understand the main categories of social media content.
☑️ Find the best time of day to schedule your posts on all major platforms.
☑️ Discover how to use video in social media (with recommended formats!).
☑️ Learn the top social media best practices to follow.

Industry Buzz 🐝

🏠 New 30-Year Amortization Option for First-Time Buyers in Canada
This is big news! The federal government's new 30-year amortization plan for insured mortgages up to $1.5 million, exclusively for new builds, is great news for Canadian home builders. It makes homeownership more affordable for first-time buyers. Builders can benefit from this influx of potential buyers who are now able to consider new construction thanks to more accessible financing options.

📝 Mortgage Applications for New Home Purchases Up 4.4% YOY in August
In August, mortgage applications for new home purchases increased for the 19th consecutive month, compared to the same period last year. This growth highlights continued demand for new homes, despite fluctuating economic conditions and rising interest rates. The steady annual increase reflects buyers' ongoing interest in new construction, even as affordability challenges persist.

🏗️ Acquiring Land in High Growth Markets: Q&A With Noah Breakstone
In an interview with Builder Online, Noah Breakstone, CEO of real estate and land developer BTI Partners, discusses the challenges of land attainability in high-growth housing markets. He highlights that the demand for land in key markets continues to rise, but constraints like zoning regulations and high land prices make it difficult for builders to acquire affordable land.

Breakstone also emphasizes the importance of innovative land-use strategies and partnerships between public and private sectors to address these issues and meet the growing housing demand.

Get Your Learn On 🧠 

🤝 Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit
Head out to beautiful Raleigh, NC on October 23 - 24th, 2024, for two days of insightful conversations, collaboration, and sharing of innovative marketing ideas. Register by Sep 30 and save $200!

You can learn more here: Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit

Quick Win 🏆

Try implementing some secondary CTAs on your site. This is when you give the visitor an option to the action you want them to take. Maybe booking a call is a little too much for them. Instead, offer a sign-up to your newsletter as a more introductory step.

Tech Check 🧰

Anything to make social media marketing easier is a win, right? Then take a look at Post Planner - this tool lets you schedule posts AND curate content from a ton of top sources. Connect all your accounts, find high-quality ideas, design and schedule your social content, plus much more!

AI Prompt Play 🤖

Replace anything within [ ] with your info

Goal: 10 topic ideas to share on YouTube

Prompt: Pretend you are an expert YouTube marketer specializing in getting real estate agents to show up at the top of search results. I am a [city] home builder looking to create content that shows up at the top of YouTube's search results when someone is searching for home-building related topics in my city.  Below are the titles of the top 5 videos that come up when you search “[city home building/new home builds/etc]” on YouTube. Based on these titles, give me 10 new topic ideas for videos I can create.

[LIST THE TOP 5 VIDEO TITLES]

Marvellous Marketing 🏅

Stand-Out Social Post From Blue Haven Homes
Today's stand-out social post comes from @bluehavenhomes on Instagram - we love this video to educate potential buyers on the four key steps to buying a new home. Short-form videos like this one offer an engaging and interactive way to learn more about the process and find answers to common questions. This home builder gets it and has created a series of educational Instagram Reels touching on various topics their ideal buyers are looking for.

Real Estate Market Update 📈

US Market:
According to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors®, the average existing-home price for August rose 3.1% year-over year to $416,700. This is down slightly from the July average of $422,600 but is holding steady.

The Federal Reserve has hinted at a rate cut near the end of the year and lower interest rates will only increase demand and home prices, as buyers who are on the sidelines get ready to enter the market.

Canadian Market:
New data from the Canadian Real Estate Association shows the actual (not seasonally adjusted) average home price in Canada was $649,100 in August, which is almost unchanged year-over-year.

Despite the Bank of Canada’s recent consecutive interest rate cuts in June and late July, housing market activity appears to be holding steady. With future rate cuts expected later this year and into 2025, home sales and pricing should see more of a jump as buyers time the market for improved affordability.

Just For Laughs

Final Countdown: New Podcast Almost Here! 🎧

We’re thrilled to announce the upcoming launch of The Home Builder Marketing & Growth Show! This podcast is dedicated to helping home builders, developers, and industry professionals master the art of marketing, grow their businesses, and stay ahead of industry trends.

Each episode will be packed with expert insights, actionable tips, and interviews with industry leaders. Plus, don’t miss our quick-hit segments like Marketing Minute and HubSpot Hacks: Builder’s Edition, designed to provide you with bite-sized strategies to boost your success.

Stay tuned for the release, and get ready to elevate your marketing game!

Points of Interest 🧐

🗓 On this day
On this day in 1580, Sir Francis Drake completed his famous circumnavigation of the globe.

🐹 Roaming Rodents
After an intense, week-long search, Cinnamon the Capybara has been apprehended and returned to Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World.

☢️ Atomic AI
The infamous Three Mile Island nuclear plant is set to reopen - to exclusively provide power for Microsoft’s AI division.

Whenever you’re ready, there are three ways we can help:

1. Visit our Home Builder Resource Library.
Find guides and resources covering many popular topics to help you sell more homes and grow your company.

2. Book a free Power Hour session.
Tell us about your company and what your biggest marketing challenge is, and we’ll give you actionable advice to put you on the fast track.

3. Hire us to do the heavy lifting.
Whether it’s project work, setting up HubSpot, or acting as an outsourced marketing department, you can rely on our 13+ years of digital marketing experience to deliver results.

About Velocity23

Velocity23 is a growth agency and has been specializing in digital marketing for home builders for 13+ years. As one of the first HubSpot partner agencies to specialize in the home-building industry, we’ve helped builders across the country solve their challenges with content marketing, lead generation, lead nurturing, and marketing automation. Our experience has led to the development of the Growth Engine Framework™️, a marketing system that’s helped our clients achieve:

🖥 7.4M+ website sessions
🙋 110,200+ leads generated
🏠 9,680+ homes sold
💰 $3.3+ Billion in reported client revenue

If you’re experiencing marketing challenges or you want to sell more homes and grow your company, book a call today and let’s see how we can help.

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Let’s Get Social 😎