It is far from surprising that home builders might have shortcomings in understanding the intricate complexities of modern marketing. After all, you’re busy doing what you do best: building homes.
However, when you stop for a moment to consider how today’s consumer shops for a good construction contractor, you will quickly realize just how important a solid marketing plan actually is. In particular, home builders can benefit immensely from strategic inbound marketing efforts.
The Typical Home Building Consumer Journey Begins Online
Inbound marketing is essential for any home builder who wants to reach highly motivated potential clients where they are. And where do people go when they want to investigate their home building options and choose a home builder to make their residential dreams come true? In overwhelming numbers, they go online to gather general home building information, research their various options, and read individual contractor reviews.
From SEO to tactical company website design, there are countless ways to earn the attention of these home building consumers and compel them to give focused consideration to the services that you offer. The path that they take to your door is known to marketers as the “consumer journey,” and the efforts you take to guide them on every step of that journey is your “inbound marketing funnel.”
The Inbound Marketing Funnel Understood
When you think about online marketing, you probably immediately imagine outbound strategies, which take the form of pop-up ads and other conventional advertisements that may interrupt and aggravate internet searchers. Inbound marketing, by contrast, is designed to capture highly motivated consumers by aiding them on a journey that they are already eager to take.
No two businesses are alike, and neither are their target consumer markets. This means that, to be optimally effective, no two inbound marketing funnels will, or should, look exactly the same.
However, the primary function of the marketing funnel remains generally consistent. And its instantly recognizable shape provides a perfect visualization for consumers’ journeys as they move from broad, general interest to an informed, targeted purchase decision.
At the early stages of the inbound marketing process, marketers must launch wide-ranging initiatives to engage with as many potential consumers as possible. This initial engagement occurs as consumers enter the top of the funnel, where it is widest to catch as many of them as possible.
From there, the funnel gradually narrows as consumers move through various information gathering, shopping, and purchasing stages. The tapering and constricting shape of the funnel reflect that not all consumers will pass through all of these stages. Of course, marketers want to capture as many viable consumers as they can and want to fight the narrowing of the marketing funnel as much as possible. For this reason, marketers strive to facilitate easy transitions from one stage to the next, essentially attempting to reshape the tapered marketing funnel into a cylindrical marketing pipeline.
The ultimate goal of any marketing funnel or pipeline is to yield a repeat customer with enduring brand loyalty. This ideal customer will not only consistently choose your company over the competition but will likely recommend your company to colleagues, friends, and family.
Key Stages of the Typical Inbound Marketing Funnel
As we have previously discussed, there is no standard version of the inbound marketing funnel. Nor should there be.
Your inbound marketing funnel must be custom-built to fit your organization’s unique needs, the industry in which you operate, the specific nature of the goods/services you provide, the particularities of your target market, and the complexity of your marketing plan. While some marketing funnels consist of just three stages, others may encompass five, six, or even more.
Each stage of the funnel requires different marketing strategies and actions on behalf of the company and the customer. Specific necessary steps must occur before they can progress to the next stage.
Awareness
The majority of inbound marketing funnels begin with the “awareness” stage. True to its name, this stage is designed to make consumers aware of your company. The process begins with exposure to your company name in a way that is designed to help them recognize and remember it.
Ideally, your company will begin to familiarize consumers with the style, culture, values, policies, and messaging that makes it stand out from the competition. Although marketers can introduce consumers into the “awareness” stage through any number of traditional or digital media channels, the large number of people who begin the shopping process online cannot be underestimated. By gaining their attention during their first Internet search, marketers can immediately introduce them into the inbound marketing funnel.
Conversion
After capturing consumers’ attention, marketers might take them through any number of interest and consideration stages that ultimately lead to some manner of conversion. In your case, as a home builder, conversion is usually meeting with the potential client and then signing a contract. To reach the conversion stage, a company must demonstrate its advantages above and beyond its competitors. A good funnel will help to set you apart from your competitors.
Loyalty
Although some marketers employ inbound marketing funnels that stop short of this final stage, transforming a mere customer into a loyal customer should be the ultimate goal of any marketing operation. This is particularly true in the home building industry, where a company’s public reputation is often its greatest asset.
Inbound Marketing for Home Builders
Although a comprehensive inbound marketing plan may be unnecessary to sell routine, inexpensive purchases such as grocery store items, it is absolutely essential for big-ticket items such as homes. In short, the cost of building a home is likely to be the largest of their lives, so to call these customers invested and involved is an understatement, to say the least.
Like all invested and involved consumers, people who are considering building a home tend to research their various options online. For this reason, a strategic inbound marketing funnel that targets Internet activity is an absolute must for residential construction contractors.
By delivering information that prospective home building consumers want and need, marketers can introduce them into an inbound marketing funnel that will create awareness about your construction company and start them on a path to sales conversion and brand loyalty. And because loyal, satisfied clients are more likely to sing your praises to others, inbound marketing can yield untold benefits within the referral-heavy home building industry.
