Do you hear it? That is the sound of inevitability

June 19, 2009 | Posted by Bill Hunter
Trying to compare your website marketing to your print campaigns is like comparing an MP3 player to a phonograph (respectively). We all must face reality: newspapers and other print publications are becoming less viable as the years go by. Yet, so many builders and Realtors still put an inflated amount of value on their print ads, even when they know their ads have very little ROI. I recently came across an article (online, of course) that says it all:

"Builders are slashing Internet marketing budgets but still spend money on expensive and outdated marketing campaigns". What's up with that?" Really. I continually hear stories where builders/developers are spending tens of thousands of dollars on a one-day or one-month print ad while at the same time can't find half those dollars to breathe life into a flailing or inadequate consumer web experience. A consumer's first impression of a home builder used to be when he or she walked into the sales office and was greeted by a sales professional. When consumers started using the Internet as their primary home search resource, the builder/community web site quickly became the first impression.

The consumer first impression has moved from the homebuilder sales office to the Google search results page. Consumer impressions will continue to be a moving target because as technology evolves, consumer expectations will also continue to increase. The web experience has now become the most important customer acquisition element to homebuilders. Does your budget spending reflect this? If you want to stay in business, it will need to eventually.

Have you heard that 93% + of consumers start their home search on the Internet?
Have you heard there are 200 million + Facebook users? More than half of which are over age 25?
Have you heard there are 900,000 recorded blog posts added to the Internet daily?

Jim Adams, CEO of NewHomesDirectory.com, writes about the evolution of a consumer's first impression of a homebuilder and his community. His article summarizes much of the opinion of the "new age marketing firms."

What mistakes is your website making?