NEW YEAR, NEW TRENDS

SOCIAL MEDIA STR[AD]EGY

How are you fitting into the conversation? Social media received an uptick in traffic last year by around 7% and many businesses, influencers, and content creators took advantage of the increase. According to Adobe Spark, Instagram was the most popular of the bunch, topping 1 billion monthly users ranging from businesses, to brands, to bloggers, to friends, and everyone in between.

Now, that’s an audience.

So, why does this matter to you? Instagram’s claim to fame is its intricate algorithm of beautiful imagery and stunning videos, catering to the need of its users based on what they “Like.”

However, did you know that you can buy your audience’s attention? Specifically, your target audience? Social ad spending in the U.S. will reach around $49 billion in 2021, which means businesses (like you!) are targeting specific members of their clientele and driving traffic, boosting brand awareness, building an organic relationship with audiences, increasing customer satisfaction….

The benefits are endless.

Here’s where it gets even more interesting: Have you heard of programmatic media buying? Think of social ads mixed with artificial intelligence. You can now use automated technology for media and ad purchases in the digital space. Programmatic media buying elicits the help of data insights and algorithms, so the right users see the ads at the right time, so you can’t lose!

Speaking of digital spaces…

VIRTUAL TRADESHOWS, WEBINARS, DIGITAL SALES CENTERS…. THE WORKS!

You might’ve heard we’re hosting our first webinar on January 15th, but let it be known that we aren’t the only ones. Wyzowl revealed that 83% of marketers said webinars are such an effective strategy, 42% plan to host or participate in a webinar in 2021. Webinars are a great addition to your marketing strategy, especially if you’re going for a more empathetic approach.

We’ve talked plenty about humanizing your brand and building a relationship with your clientele, which is why we’re excited for our audience and clients to put a few friendly faces to our name. Not only that, using webinars to your advantage allows you to create a confident thought leadership persona, building and solidifying trust between you and your customers.

If you’re hosting a booth in a virtual space, how do you keep your audience engaged without face-to-face interaction? We broke down all the digital tools that make virtual shows entertaining and informative, so you don’t have to:

• Interactive solutions like PanoChangers let your customers click through a space and make real-time changes according to their preferred design styles.
• The Configurator is another user-friendly tool that lets your buyers completely customize the product.
• While Zoom is not the same as face-to-face, it still provides your team the opportunity to connect with Others with product demos, Q&A sessions, and more.
• Animated videos are still a great way to draw attention to your booth. Stunning visuals paired with voiceover or on-screen text are the root cause of 85% of businesses using video marketing as a tool for ROI.

Even if you aren’t participating in a trade show, be it hosting a booth or attending, you can still maximize your online presence in a similar way with high-quality, engaging content.

THE MORE EDUCATED THE BUYER, THE SMOOTHER THE BUYING PROCESS

And it’s true. Homebuyers are more prepared than ever upon heading to your website or sales centers to pick out their dream home. The internet allows them to comb through numerous sources of information before they even reach your sales team.

In our most recent portfolio piece, our friends at M/I Homes detailed how informed their homebuyers were. With the help of Virtual Tours, Interactive Floor Plans, PanoChangers, and more, the potential buyers are doing a lot of the hard legwork.

This means your salespeople get more time with your customers. When you have readily available content that depicts every last detail of your homes and communities to your potential homebuyers, your salespeople are given the opportunity to better service them.