How to: Getting Home Shoppers Emotionally Engaged

Consumer engagement can be thought of as a very broad topic but... it's considered the lifeblood of an organization's marketing strategy.

How would you define it?  We suggest consumer engagement is the interaction between a brand and its customers.  

When consumers make purchase decisions -- especially large dollar purchases -- they are doing more than buying a product; they are making a statement as to how the product resonates with their identity and lifestyle. 

How is your marketing collateral engaging home shoppers and moving beyond product?   A Harvard Business Review article, To Keep Your Customers, Keep It Simple, suggests applying the "decision simplicity index" to determine how easy it is for consumers to gather and understand information. The easier a brand makes the purchase decision journey, the higher the decision-simplicity score.  

Shifting the orientation toward decision simplicity, it is argued, is a significant change requiring marketing teams to rethink how and what to communicate.  Too much (information, product samples, views, floorplans....you name it!) can produce an excess of input leading to indecision.  Too much choice, in other words, often paralyzes decision-making

Take a look at the Bella Collina interactive presentation image, above.  Can you see how it would resonate with identity and lifestyle -- and it very simply defines what you will see as you engage: a club, golf course, villages and home builders.  Aren't you encouraged to jump in and explore?  Hasn't this SalesTouch interactive system simplified and personalized the journey toward purchasing at Bella Collina?

Take advantage of CPS' experience in developing engaging interactive presentations focused on presenting information simply, yet powerfully.

How To: Adding Color To Your Marketing Strategy

Did you happen to see Wade Harman's recent Color Psychology blog? You can read it here.

Color is powerful: it triggers emotions

Harman discusses why color -- or visual stimulation when done correctly -- is so important when your objective is engaging an audience.

Color is powerful -- because it triggers emotions. 

Home builders, for example, want to take home shoppers on an emotional journey when they're considering a home purchase. Correct color selection, in sales office design and marketing collateral, can do more than create a mood.

Consider developing a color strategy as a result of evaluating the message you want your audience to know. And, color strategy considerations get more involved than knowing there are cool and warm colors!

Go Blue with Boomers! Generate a sense of trust & security

As an example: red is frequently considered a warm color, sometimes triggering feelings of anger and hostility.

Yet, a HubSpot study found that a red Get Started web button outperformed a similar green button by 23%. Red has been found to be very effective when trying to create urgency, in other words! What do you think about adding red to your I'm Included option buttons?

On the other hand, blue is thought to generate a sense of trust and security. Think about developing marketing collateral including a SalesTouch interactive touchscreen presentation; wouldn't including a blue palette create messaging that will resonate for your Boomer home shoppers?

Ask us to help you create an engaging interactive touchscreen presentation -- or a Social Media Wall featuring traditional marketing copy and content along with your #GetSocial input. CPS can help you analyze maximize the power of color as part of your marketing strategy!

Construction Data Portals: Immediate Collaboration

Are you familiar with the concept of a Portal -- sometimes referred to as a neutral platform in the cloud?

Portals provide users with the ability to view -- and sometimes update -- information developed by a variety of systems and managed by different organizations in a single location. Typically, they're accessible via the Internet.

What could a construction Portal do for you, your organization, vendors and/or buyers? An effective Portal provides data access, governed by credentials, to all appropriate stakeholders.

Construction Portals facilitate Collaboration

Let's take a look at a real-world example. Vendors can log into CPS' Field Collaborate Portal and view or print their construction schedules, punch items, and safety assessments.  In addition, they are able to view builder documents and drawings.

Home buyers, on the other hand, log into the Field Collaborate Portal and find their home's schedule as well as stage-of-construction photos.

If we considered just this set of participants, can you think of the reduced number of phone calls, faxes, emails and misunderstandings? Portals make the entire enterprise more productive!

Home builders use Portals to share information internally, as well.  What's more disruptive than having multiple sources for information?  A well-managed Portal provides the same information to everyone (governed by access credentials, of course) -- and it's all available anywhere, anytime via the cloud!

Grab Some Construction Scheduling Benefits...here!

Did you have a chance to attend the IBS Education Forum in Las Vegas called The Best Builders are The Best Schedulers?  CPS' Troy Warr partnered with Builder Consulting Group's Noelle Tarabulski to provide an overview of benefits offered using a comprehensive construction scheduling process -- and a roadmap to successful implementation.

Good scheduling improves day-to-day-operations and your bottom line!

What benefits, you might ask.  Many builders report limited success with new automated construction scheduling software, for example. Others mention getting conflicting answers to a single question due to a variety of reports and methods.

Troy and Noelle highlighted several key improvements available as a a result of good construction scheduling practices including:

• Fewer delays -- enhancing your relationship with both vendors and home buyers
• Fewer Cost Variances -- no question, fewer variances results in more consistent forecasting and better profitability
• Improved Quality -- using scheduling milestone checklists as well as inspection templates means spotting problems sooner and minimizing the long-term impact
• Reduced Cycle Times -- improved cycle times not only improve profitability per home but mean you're able to build more homes in the same amount of time
• Accountability, Accuracy and Consistency -- good scheduling practices enable the builder to have a single source of information providing consistent results across the enterprise (builder, vendor and home buyer).

Would improving any of these key indicators be useful to you?  Tara provides consulting services to help analyze, measure and prioritize an organization's construction process while CPS offers FieldCollaborate - a cloud-based, automated scheduling software application available on the job-site with mobile tablet/smart phone access and using desktop/laptop access at the corporate office.

We can talk with you to determine how an improved scheduling process will grow your bottom line as well as enhance day-to-day operations and increase home buyer satisfaction.

3 Housing Must Have's for Boomers -- with Marketing Solutions!

Baby Boomers are a diverse demographic but, says a recent MultiFamily Executive article, they're a generation that's never planned to slow down.

That diversity has tended to suggest Boomers aren't a "one size fits all" target market.  However, it appears there are some things almost all Boomers gravitate towards -- a "wish list trifecta" according to Brian Hoffman of Red Seal Homes.

Here's the trifecta -- and a couple of marketing ideas as to how to communicate with your Boomer audience:

Let your audience explore the neighborhood -- virtually!

(1) Walkable Locations -- the key, says architect Amit Price Patel, is housing's proximity to enough locations to meet their needs and enable them to stay healthy and spend less time driving.

Marketing solution: We're basically talking location, location, location -- with a twist! Why not put an interactive touchscreen system in your sales office allowing your prospects to virtually walk the new neighborhood?  Take a tour of the neighborhood, drop in at local restaurants and find out what is the favorite dish!

(2) Versatile Floor plans -- Many Boomers are ready to give up their large, suburban homes once the kids move out but ... they aren't always willing to settle for significantly smaller square footage because they don't want to reduce their furnishings. There's an interest in flexible space, storage spaces and room features.

Use an iPad to mix/match options; drag/drop furniture, too

Marketing solution: Take advantage of a SalesTouch interactive touchscreen's ability to mix/match structural options to meet individual buyer's needs.  Let your buyer decide whether they want the 5-piece bathroom or the extra bedroom -- and give them the ability to drag/drop furniture into their designed floor plan!

(3) Amenity Riches -- Boomers, according to MFE, aren't interested in rocking chairs! They want their new community packed with possibilities -- exercise rooms, proximity to trails and parks, pools, party rooms, concierge services.

Let your community introduce amenities!

Marketing solution: Make these amenities come to life via a well-designed interactive touchscreen system.  Let consumers browse the neighborhood, take a peek in the gym and learn more about your concierge services.  The information is at their finger tips!

CPS offers SalesTouch, an interactive touchscreen system used in sales and leasing centers, to virtually browse, explore and try on floorplans, neighborhoods and amenities.  And, Boomers love the ability to zero-in on the features of particular interest to them!

Instead of Broadcasting, Create Opportunities for Conversation!

The expression content is king has become something of a cliche but, Sophie Turton says, it's true as a blue sky is blue!

Sophie writes for econsultancy.com and suggests today's marketing community needs to be focused on creating opportunities for content creation -- Instagrammable moments, inspiring experiences.

Let's Get the Conversation Started!

Instead of broadcasting, she suggests, marketing's focus needs to shift to create opportunities for conversation. That's what is known as consumer-created content and it is the marketing hit for 2016, according to Forbes!

Imagine: live communities of digitally-savvy participants, engaging with your brand!

Don't those thoughts dovetail suprisingly well with Toni Alexander's recent article, A Wake Up Call for the Building Industry and the American Dream,  in LinkedIn?  Toni visited the recent National Association of HomeBuilders Show and asks if the industry has focused enough on millennials.

Toni asks two really interesting questions:

• Has the housing industry focused on millennials to examine both their motivators and what they want in terms of community, housing options and environment?
• Doesn't it make sense to embrace an education program targeted to this market to illustrate the benefits of home ownership from both a tax benefit and appreciation perspective?

Take a look at CPS' Social Media Wall and ask: wouldn't curated Social Media conversations open up marketing processes in my sales offices?  And, we were selected as a Innovative Building Product finalist at NAHB!

Contact CPS and learn how Social Media Wall can start conversations in your sales center.