I was having a lunch meeting with a new home builder client of mine the other day and, over the course of our discussion, we started to go into more detail about the current state of this particular business’ digital presence. They had seen a fair amount of success over the last few years, to be sure – but there were still opportunities for improvement that they were eager to capitalize on.
After taking a look at the current version of this client’s website, I asked what I thought was a simple question: “I notice that you’re not using your website to generate an email list. Have you given any thought about the ways that we can organically incorporate that?”
His response, of course, gave me pause:
“… I don’t understand. Prospects are already on my website, which means we’re already making contact. Why would I need to use the site to generate an email list?”
In truth, it’s an understandable perspective – but it’s also one that unfortunately misses the forest for the trees, so to speak. Because in my opinion, if you’re not using your website to generate an email list, you’re doing more than just failing to utilize all the digital marketing resources available to you in this industry.
You’re literally leaving money on the table.
Simply put, just because someone has found your website does NOT mean that they’re ready to make a purchase. In fact, the odds are high that they’re not anywhere close to ready at all.
According to one recent study, it takes between five and seven touch points on average to close a sale. Obviously, that’s going to vary based on industry – especially one that is as highly specific as this one. Someone finding your website as a result of a Google search may be the first of those touch points. But, if you’re not careful, it might also mean the last.
Touch points, for the record, can incorporate a wide range of different tactics – from phone calls to social networking interactions to, yes, email follow-ups. But if your site isn’t generating an email list in the first place, suddenly you’re closing yourself off from an important opportunity to continue to have a conversation with these people at a time when you can’t necessarily afford to do so.
Every buyer’s journey begins somewhere – and very rarely is that starting point “I’m ready to pull the trigger tomorrow.” People want to do a tremendous amount of research before they do something like build a new home. They want to find out what their options are. They want to feel out some providers in their area. They want to go above and beyond to confirm that they’re even making the right decision in the first place.
You can’t help them do that with a five-minute visit to your website alone.
What you really need to do is keep your company name and brand at the top of their mind and one of the easiest ways to do this is via email. If you have someone’s email address, it takes literally seconds to reach out to them and ask if they have any questions that you can answer. You could send them helpful articles that will let them make a more informed decision moving forward. You can even just send a quick introduction message to let them know more about you and what you do – thus establishing credibility and building trust along the way.
In other words, you need to remain as visible as possible across ALL points of the buyer’s journey. That way, when someone IS finally ready to make a purchase, the chances are significantly higher that they’ll be eager to do so from YOU.
The Raw Power of Email Marketing
The reason why email in particular is such an important part of this discussion ultimately comes down to just how powerful it is as a format. Consider any one of the following statistics:
- According to one recent study, for every $1 you spend on email marketing, you can expect an average return on investment of about $32.
- Another survey revealed that a massive 81% of small businesses say that they still rely on email marketing as their primary customer acquisition channel.
- A further 80% of SMBs say that email marketing is their primary customer RETENTION channel.
- Emails with personalized subject lines – meaning ones that incorporate a prospect’s name or some other small piece of information – have 50% higher open rates than those that are more generic.
But maybe the most important statistic of all is the following: about 49% of people surveyed said that they would actually like to receive more promotional emails from the brands that they’re interacting with on a weekly basis.
So not only is email marketing an incredible way to stay visible and put yourself in a better position to convert when someone is ready to buy, but it’s a communication channel that people are coming right out and telling you that they’d like to see more of.
Why, exactly, would you want to ignore something that important?
Think about it like this – if your website is already generating an appreciable amount of traffic, it means that you’ve already put in a huge amount of hard work. You’re paying real money to drive traffic to your site, but the truth is a very small portion of those first-time visitors are anywhere close to ready to make a purchasing decision as big as this one.
If you’re not capturing contact information – meaning if your website isn’t generating an email list – the lion’s share of that effort is going to waste. You may see some short-term gains, but they’re nothing in comparison to what you’re giving up over the long-term.
If your website DOES generate an email list, however, you’ll have a steady stream of enthusiastic buyers coming right to your (virtual) doorstep – which is a very exciting position for any home builder, construction professional or other business operating in this industry to be in.
