“Size doesn’t Matter”-Small Builder Leverages Social Media Platforms to Compete

“Size Doesn't  Matter”-Small Builder Leverages Social Media Platforms to Compete

Three years ago Seattle based home builder Martha Rose, president of Martha Rose Construction, Inc., went to a lecture where the presenter talked about the importance of having an online presence.  Rose an award winning green home builder had a static website that was easy to navigate through and supplied her company with buyer, consulting, and land acquisition leads.

If it’s not broken why fix-it?  Rose, like most small builders, was dealing with tighter bank financing, falling home prices and skeptical home buyers. Rose hired consultant Adrian Willanger founder of Eco-Redux Media together they re-shaped Rose’s online presence.

“The best advice I gave them is not to rush into quickly” mentions Willanger.  I recommend doing a SWOT analysis (strengths, weakness, opportunities, and threats) this is the starting place for developing a strategic marketing plan. Developing an integrated social media platform was a vary cost efficient way to leverage the digital media they already had.

Without a good road map you’ll run out of gas and abandoned your vehicle. Most builders have a website, photos, videos and marketing collateral that can be repurposed into digital formats and re-used and optimized in their social media strategies.

Marketing strategy

We launched an entire marketing campaign leveraging social media and public relations. Staring with financing, showed lenders how we could reduce home market times, increase the buyer base and restore consumer confidence.

Starting the marketing buzz way before the first shovel of dirt or the first nail was pounded with an email campaign and  blog posts,  every key element of the homebuilding process was either videoed or photographed and blogged, posted and Tweeted about. Much of green home building is behind the walls, this help provide a level of transparency to what was being built as well large online following.

Online Strategy

Rose’s newest development, City Cabins on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, has had their site up and running from April 2011 and is using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to achieve higher search rankings over larger builders and has already gained community interest and support.

Finding and adding creative content to the various platforms is the biggest challenge, but what really helps is reviewing the analytics and web logs daily to get a real idea of what your online community is interested in and then making the necessary adjustments.

Adrian Willanger is founder of Eco-Redux Media is LEED accredited and has an MBA in Sustainability-consults with builders/developers to define and implement their online, marketing and media strategies.