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Interactive Floor Plans Engage Homebuyers

October 1, 2024
By Jim Sorgatz

“Why do we need interactive floor plans on our website?” That is one of the top questions digital marketing experts receive from home builders. This post discusses how interactive floor plans function and why they are critical for marketing to homebuyers.

Interactive floor plan showing selected structural options, furniture layout, exterior elevation thumbnail

What is an Interactive Floor Plan?

An interactive floor plan (IFP) is a digital structural option selection aid and space planning tool that home builders use to sell new construction homes. Unlike a static floorplan with structural options displayed along the side, interactive floor plans allow home buyers to customize a home online by adding structural options, like rooms, fireplaces, porches, alternate kitchen layouts, and more, directly to their plans. With the changes incorporated, your buyers have an accurate picture of the design of their new home. Also known as interactive house plans, many IFPs incorporate exterior house renderings, dynamic (real-time) pricing for options, and a furniture planner. IFPs may also feature hotspots that link to visual enhancements like virtual tours, interior renderings, photos, and Matterport tours. Top-tier IFPs increase viable sales leads by allowing buyers to save their customized plan and transmitting this buyer information to the home builder.

Detail of furniture placement tool showing bed inside in a blue box. The box makes it easier to move small items that makes items easy to move — *Resize furniture and place it anywhere. The blue box makes it easy to move items around on smaller devices like a tablet.*

How do Interactive Floorplans Sell Homes?

Homebuyers want to know if a floor plan will work for their lifestyle. Will their furniture fit, or might they need an extra room added to accommodate their family? With many households being multigenerational, flexibility is essential. An interactive floor plan encourages buyers to customize their home. This process creates an emotional connection and increases their chance of purchasing. Bokka Group, a customer experience agency for home builders, shows that more than 90% of new home buyers say interactive floor plans play a vital role in their buying decision.

The Outhouse Interactive Floor Plan Advantage

Outhouse created the first interactive floor plan a quarter-century ago, and ours is still the best and most affordable in the industry. Our Contrado VIP Interactive Floor Plans offer robust features starting with a to-scale furniture planner. Accurately scaled furniture is essential. When purchasing a new home, buyers want to be sure their belongings will fit. There are many IFPs with inaccurately scaled furniture. To test, take a queen size bed and lay it over a standard bathtub. The width of the bed should match the length of the tub.

Close up of options pricing tool, exterior elevation preview, and tabs for furniture and electrical component selection — *Close-up of options pricing tool, elevation preview, and selectors for structural options, components, and furniture.*

The Contrado VIP Interactive Floor Plan also includes an electrical component selector, exterior renderings, and hotspots for virtual tours, visualizers, Matterport tours, and more. One of the most advanced features is dynamic pricing for structural options. This tool calculates, in real-time, options pricing as buyers make their selections. The pricing details can be client-facing or restricted to viewing by your sales team.

Our IFPs also allow buyers to save their customized plans. When they do so, the builder receives a notification with their contact information and a copy of the saved plan. Buyer data can also be delivered directly to a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) through an Application Programming Interface (API). On the backend, Outhouse clients also have access to Google Analytics for a detailed look at IFP traffic, visitor trends, top plans, and more.

Close-up of save your plan box to have plan sent to buyer and and contact info and plan sent to builder — *The save plan feature captures homebuyer leads and structural options customization.*

Finally, our interactive floor plans integrate seamlessly with our interactive site plans and interactive kiosks through the Contrado Virtual Interactive Platform. Having all your digital assets in a single app makes it easy for buyers to find their ideal home online and in your sales office.

In Summary

In today’s digital age, interactive floor plans are no longer optional for home builders. They play an integral role in the sales and marketing process. They emotionally engage buyers by enticing them to select structural options, arrange furniture, and create their dream home. Research proves they increase time on builder websites and, ultimately, sell more homes. To learn more, contact Kevin at kevin.weitzel@outhouse.net.

New Home Sales Centers Take Center Stage

October 1, 2024
By Jim Sorgatz

Even Smaller Builders Can Have a Top-Notch Sales Office

With the slowdown in residential sales, home builders across the nation are investing in new home sales centers, or model home centers, to showcase their houses and communities. Sales centers are a great vehicle to draw homebuyers in and highlight all your homes offer. Large public builders may opt for elaborate buildouts with cabinets, multiple touch screens, and monitors, especially in larger communities. On the other hand, many small or mid-size builders may ask what it takes to install a sales center. With some creativity and an eye for design, even the smallest production builders can set up an effective sales center in the garage of a model home.

Come on in and explore. Simple furnishings, large framed panels, a touchscreen display, and an acrylic logo create an inviting, sophisticated room for the K. Hovnanian Looks sales center.

A great place to start is with signage experts like Outhouse. With experience in top-of-the-line installations for some of the most prominent builders and scaled-down designs for smaller companies, we can offer suggestions and advice on model home centers to fit any budget. Large framed panels that tell a story create emotional connections and are cost-effective. A large acrylic logo on the wall and smaller directional signs and nameplates give the room a polished look. A wrap covering an entire wall packs a punch and creates a memorable wow factor.

Large format print. A wrap with the image of motorcycle racers covering two walls in a garage. — *An inspirational wall wrap in a private garage. Imagine one like this in your sales center!*

The key to a thriving sales center is excellent storytelling and uniformity of the design elements. With this goal in mind, builders sometimes combine their sales center with a design center bringing in additional warmth and visual appeal.

A wall wrap with the image of a boy capturing a firefly in a jar. An acrylic panel with text overlays a portion of the wrap. — *Starlight Homes sales centers may have a new look these days, but this is still one of our favorite iterations. Storytelling at its finest.*

In today’s digital age, an interactive kiosk is a must. Essentially a mini-website, interactive kiosks integrate your digital marketing tools in a single app for easy use onsite at the sales center. Responsive, device-agnostic kiosks like those provided by Outhouse integrate point-of-interest maps, interactive site plans, interactive floor plans, interior and exterior visualizers, virtual tours, and animations for a seamless home-buying experience. They engage homebuyers and can be installed on any device. Even something as small as a tablet becomes a powerful sales tool. Imagine buyers customizing their home through an interactive floor plan while touring your models.

The home page of an interactive kiosk produced by Outhouse. Buttons along the side link to a Welcome page, Point of Interest map, interactive site plan, and interactive floor plans. — The Outhouse Interactive Kiosk with links to a welcome page, point of interest map, interactive site plan, and interactive floor plans. Buttons can be customized to include virtual tours, interior and exterior visualizers, or whatever else you’d like.

With a more significant budget, consider installing large touchscreen monitors to elevate the impact. Visitors to your sales center will feel like they are in a sci-fi movie as they whiz around maps, floor and site plans, house renderings, virtual tours, and more, all on a grand scale. Hang a monitor on the wall or install it in a custom cabinet or table for a more sophisticated look. Creative License International and the Temeka Group are a couple of companies that build custom furniture for sales and design centers.

Cachet Homes Arizona sales center. The complete package in a compact space. Wall mounted acrylic panels, touchscreen monitors featuring an interactive kiosk, and print collateral engage the senses.

The final element of a thriving sales center is print marketing. Although some digital marketing agencies may lead you to believe that print is no longer a viable marketing tool, statistics show otherwise:

Infographic with images representing print marketing statistics which are listed below the graphic.

95% of people under 25 years old read magazines (Top Media Advertising).
82% of consumers trust print ads the most when making a purchase decision (Burstein).
Combining print and digital ads makes online campaigns 400% more effective (Top Media Advertising).
Print drives higher levels of brand recall vs. digital (77% vs. 46%) (Newsworks).

Think about it. We go to trade shows and expos like the International Builders Show, Pacific Coast Builders Conference, Southwest Builders Show, Southeast Building Conference, and more for human connection. We meet with business associates, physically test new products, and pick up many samples, catalogs, and marketing brochures along the way. When we get home, we review those brochures in detail as part of our decision-making process. Print still plays an integral role in marketing.

A print brochure for Capital West Homes in Arizona featuring a cover with photos of a family, community landscape, and house renderings and floor plans inside. — *Print brochure with house renderings and floorplans for Capital West Homes in Arizona. The perfect takeaway for model home center visitors.*

Outhouse installs sales centers/model home centers and provides print marketing for home builders across the nation. If you’re ready to install your sales center and would like a quote on signage, interactive kiosks, touchscreen monitors, and print collateral, contact us at info@outhouse.net. If you are unsure where to start, call the Outhouse experts at (602) 371-4394. We are here to help and can guide you in the right direction based on your design requirements and budget.

“Life Is Messy” – “Beat Your Promises”

October 1, 2024
By Jim Sorgatz

Nuggets of Wisdom from the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit

“Life is messy. Not every home purchase comes from a beautiful situation. People sometimes buy a new home because they got divorced or someone died. If you have kids, your home is likely not perfectly manicured – you probably have toys scattered on the floor. Picture-perfect homes look great on a website, but they are not realistic. Being human is critical to building trust. Another component of building trust is transparency in pricing.”

*Stephanie McCarty from Taylor Morrison sharing her thoughts on building trust.*

Observations like these from Stephanie McCarty, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at Taylor Morrison Homes, are thought-provoking. Fresh perspectives and nuggets of wisdom from a variety of home builders and digital marketing professionals are what draw me and others to events like The International Builders Show and the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit. The 4th annual Summit in Phoenix, AZ, was the second live event sponsored by Blue Tangerine and Outhouse, LLC focusing exclusively on digital marketing. The 80+ attendees spent a day and a half learning from experts and sharing their knowledge in roundtable breakout sessions.

Thoughts to Ponder

Greg Bray, President of Blue Tangerine: “Only 20-25% of web visitors start (land) on your home page.” Wow! We spend so much time making our home page perfect. Time to go back and review our site to be sure every other landing page is just as impactful.

Thank you so very much for including me in the Digital Summit last week. It was a good event and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to hear from leaders in the industry as well as the different vendors who have innovated to make our jobs easier and more effective.
Gena, Marketing Manager
Keystone Homes

Cabe Vinson, Director of New Business Development @ Sr. Strategist at Blue Tangerine: “Good meta descriptions can improve click rates. Write for the end user, not the search engine – Google can tell the difference.” Also, “Google My Business reviews are huge, but perfect is not the goal. A 4.8 is better than a 5.0, as it seems a little more realistic.”

Mila Sorenson, Sr. Director of Marketing & Client Services at Blue Tangerine: “The big change to Google Analytics 4 is coming. Be sure to link GA4 to your Google products before that happens.” Mila also discussed using heatmaps and recording tools to see how visitors interact with your website. Very interesting.

*Bob Mirman from Eliant at one of the roundtable discussions.*

Bob Mirman, CEO of Eliant Inc.: “Be careful what you promise. Satisfaction is not the goal. It is the result of meeting promises and expectations. The only way to delight a customer is to BEAT your promises. So, set your buyer’s expectations at a level you know you can consistently BEAT, not just meet! The result – higher levels of TRUST.”

Cory Dotson, Sr. Director of Development Operations at Blue Tangerine: “Influencer marketing is much less expensive than traditional marketing.” As host of his own YouTube channel with 40K+ subscribers, Cory knows his subject well! “The biggest challenge is finding the right influencer. They don’t need to be in the same industry. The goal is to find an influencer who attracts your desired audience.”

Panelists Susan Paul from Costa Verde Homes, Sharon Baker from Camelot Homes, and Kim Ross from Christopher Alan Homes: Winter is coming – it always does. The time to prepare is when times are good.

From Dana Spencer, National Vice President of Sales at K. Hovnanian Homes: “Creating emotional connections with buyers is critical. Leveraging digital tools to create an emotional connection while reassuring potential buyers is more important now than it was 12 months ago, and we must accomplish this in a cost-effective way.”

*Dana Spencer with K. Hovnanian discussing creating emotional connections*.

One of the ways K. Hov is creating an emotional connection is with their new Looks program. Click here to check it out. I get teary-eyed every time I watch the video – it’s beautiful!

Kristi Allen, Owner of WoodCastle Homes: “It was way more challenging than I expected but also so much more rewarding,” Kristi says as she relays the story of starting her own home building company. “I also learned when faced with change you cannot be afraid to make mistakes. There are huge changes taking place within our industry, and no single person has all the answers. You have to be willing to ask questions and learn.” Kristi also inspires many through her volunteer efforts, one being the lead contractor for The House That She Built home. This project, and the accompanying marketing campaign by Mollie Elkman of Group Two Advertising, are elevating careers in construction by educating young readers, girls in particular, about the people and skills that go into building a home. This makes me wonder what else our industry can be doing to elevate careers in construction. Building new homes for families is not just a job but a major contribution to the American dream.

*Kristi Allen with WoodCastle Homes sharing her experience with change.*

A Great Relaunch of Live Programming!

With 80+ participants and presentations by more than a dozen builders and marketing experts, this year’s event was a successful reboot of live programming by Blue Tangerine and Outhouse. In addition to the inspiring presentations, attendees learned from each other through roundtable discussions. They competed in games of Kahoots for some terrific prizes provided by sponsors. The Wednesday evening mixer at Pedal Haus Brewery was also a lot of fun, offering participants a chance to mix, mingle, and build deeper connections at an offsite location and to see why downtown Phoenix is the “happening place.”

Looking ahead to 2023, we are planning a more significant event. Dates and location will be announced in the coming weeks, so watch your inbox for full details.

A big THANK YOU from Outhouse to all attendees, speakers, and sponsors. See you next year!

*Summit and Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast co-hosts Greg Bray with Blue Tangerine and Kevin Weitzel from Outhouse.*

3 Tips to Keep Marketing Momentum in a Slowing Economy

October 1, 2024
By Blue Tangerine

The economy is slowing down which makes it especially important that your marketing is up to speed. Competition is stiffer than ever and buyers are being more cautious, so how do you ensure your marketing continues to work for you? Here are three tips that will help you keep marketing momentum so you don’t fall behind:

1. Seek Out In-Person Learning Opportunities

Marketing tactics and technology continue to evolve and change, even when the economy is slowing down. To keep your brand strong and relevant, you must continue to learn and innovate. In-person learning keeps you up to date on the latest trends and introduces you to new ways to market and make connections with your audience.

Learn from industry peers and experts to keep your marketing fresh and up to date. Some of the best ideas are born out of conversation and collaboration and in-person learning provides the best opportunity for this type of growth. Summits and conferences offer not only expert advice and instruction but networking opportunities that encourage conversations that help you put the learned information to practical use.

The Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit is a unique opportunity to learn and grow in an atmosphere you won’t find at larger, mass-marketed summits. With engaging, hands-on learning, small group discussions, and networking opportunities, our summit will give you the edge you need to keep your website and digital marketing ahead of the competition.

Some of the topics and speakers you will see at the Summit:

Meeting Your Customers Where They Are – A Fireside Chat with Stephanie McCarty of Taylor Morrison Homes
Using Digital Tools to Create Emotional Connections with Dana Spencer of K. Hovnanian Homes
Buyers Navigating Change for Success with Kristi Allen of WoodCastle Homes
5 Secrets for Achieving Over 40% of Sales from Referrals with Bob Mirman, Eliant
Builder Panel: Preparing for an Uncertain Future with Kim Ross of Christopher Alan Homes, Sharon Baker of Camelot Homes and Susan Paul of Costa Verde Homes
Discover Hidden Gems in Local SEO Optimization
An Insider’s Look at How to Use Social Media Influencers to Create Buzz
5 Analytics Tools to Improve Your Website: Hands-On Learning

Take a minute to look through the full schedule and speaker lineup and see what we have in store, then get registered so you don’t miss out on this great in-person learning opportunity. You can register now using the code outhousefan for a $100 discount. This means you get your registration, including summit meals and a networking happy hour, all for the low price of $495. This is a small investment for a big return on your marketing efforts.

Grab your seat today and save $100! Register with code outhousefan

2. Dial Up Your Marketing

When budgets are tight it can be tempting to put marketing on the chopping block. Failing to ramp up your marketing efforts during an economic slowdown can be a costly mistake for the long-term health of your business. Maintaining brand recognition and providing information and visuals about your homes is vital. There are still buyers who want to buy now, an actively marketing builder will attract their attention and their business. Cautious buyers are using this time to plan. They continue to look for homes and research builders, continued marketing efforts is important to remain relevant and stay on their radar.

Increase your digital visibility. Effective SEO, robust audience lists and active social media engagement take time, you can’t flip a switch and expect immediate results. Expending effort to grow these aspects of your marketing is the only way to remain visible to your audience now and in the future.

Become a trusted resource. Look for ways to create content that resonates with potential buyers’ current concerns. Enhance your website with images, floorplans, and visual tours of the homes you build. Collect customer and partner testimonials to share on your website. Reliable, educational content makes you a trusted resource and builds relationships.

Dig deep into your analytics. Knowing where your audience is coming from, how they find you, and what they are looking for will help to refine targets and get the most out of your marketing spend.

3. Listen to Podcasts

PODCAST: DIGITAL MARKETING IS WORTH THE MONEY – JULIA MALLOZZI

Listen to this episode as guest Julia Mallozzi of Bill Clark Homes and Legacy Homes has a discussion about why digital marketing is worth the money you put into it.

LISTEN NOW

Podcasts are a great way to hear from a variety of experts and peers, providing a broader perspective and new ideas. By providing a break from the large amount of visual media we are exposed to each day, it is easier to focus when listening to podcasts and we absorb more information. Easily accessible, they provide an opportunity to engage in learning at no cost, even if you only have half an hour to spare.

The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast is rapidly becoming one of the most trusted resources for home builder marketers. Hosted by Greg Bray of Blue Tangerine and Kevin Weitzel of Outhouse, this weekly podcast covers topics that include building your marketing team, website development and optimization, brand reputation and management, selling homes online, marketing to buyers’ needs, building relationships with buyers, embracing new technology, and much more.

Winner of the NAHB Nationals Silver Award in 2022 for Best Professional Development Series, and over 20,000 downloads, The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast is an invaluable source of information for any marketing team.

A slowing economy can be stressful; putting the brakes on your marketing efforts can be detrimental to the success of your business. Follow these three tips to keep up to date on the latest trends and tactics and to keep your brand fresh and relevant. Have questions? Let’s Chat.

Why Should I Attend Trade Shows and Summits?

October 1, 2024
By Tabitha Warren

Imagine being a market leader when your company emerged; you held 10% of market share. A couple of years later, that number grew to 20%! But you decided that you didn’t need to evolve. You stuck to what always worked. You thought that the innovations coming out were quirky. You thought they would quickly fail because of design flaws. You had such a following of dedicated customers that you thought, “I don’t need to invest in strategic, creative marketing.”

Meanwhile, your two top competitors put millions into research. One became known for being the leader in new and exciting technologies. They developed their flaws away, vied for market share, found fun new ways to market their products, and this company nurtured “super-fans,” to quote Meredith Oliver.

Moreover, you don’t even think that some projects they are working on are real. Why would you invest in replicating innovations like that?

Some of you may already recognize this cautionary tale. This is the story of Blackberry and iPhone.

What Blackberry never learned that Mac, Steve Jobs, and iPhone did is how to pivot. Home builders could learn from Apple’s clever moves. The company not only entered a market that wasn’t their primary market. They moved away from computers and iPods and into the cell phone market. Then, they continued to pivot away from being a product company to a service company. Their phones are only secondary to the apps and services sold through their various platforms.

What does all of this have to do with the title of this blog? Well, the answer is everything. Trade shows and summits bring together top industry partners and competitors. They put research and innovation all under one roof. If your research shows that your number one competitor is blowing you out of the water regarding sales and wait lists, go to a summit they are attending. You may have a chance to discuss strategy with them or at least overhear it. Maybe they won’t be there, but some of the services they use in their digital marketing strategy will be. These events are your chance to casually talk to vendors and experts in one place. They provide the opportunity to talk to other builders using those same products and see how the services have helped them succeed.

Are there holes in your online presence? You are bound to find a solution to digital brand equity. One thing we learned at a recent summit is that Google reviews are the new word of mouth. The difference is that word of mouth disappears; online reviews live on forever. You could learn how to get that 3-star review to a 4-star.

Wait a minute, you say you aren’t using Google to maximize your online marketing yet? Do you know exactly how much revenue should be attributed to your email marketing campaign? To that last Google Ad you ran? There is going to be a speaker who addresses that. You might overhear that a sponsor there offers those services. Google is at the center of sales and marketing these days. Every company needs to know how Google reviews help their company’s Google marketing plan. Google Analytics is the place to understand those metrics. If your company isn’t using Analytics, they should be. If you don’t have staff that understands Analytics, there is a speaker to help you get started. There are also companies to run those numbers for you. Industry events give your company a place to start.

Summits and trade shows aren’t just excellent places to find solutions and to keep up with industry innovations in a competitive market. They are also a fantastic place to take new employees to train them. Did you poach a brand new OSC or sales team from another industry? They know a lot about sales but not in the home building industry. Here is where you can throw them into the deep end. They will train with you, but that new OSC will learn a lot from networking with others in the industry. They will learn about technologies. They will hear stories about what others have done wrong and what they have done right. This strategy doesn’t only work for OSCs and sales teams. Your marketing team and many other employees can benefit from summits, expos, and trade shows as well. We live in the digital age, and your marketing team needs to know how to utilize their marketing budget to bring your sales teams the best leads.

One upcoming event that offers a deep dive into home builder online marketing and sales is the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit. Taking place September 21-22, 2022, in Phoenix AZ, full details are available here.

Tabitha Warren was an Income Tax Accountant for 15+ years. In the first months of the pandemic, she took a chance and re-careered to freelance in Marketing. She currently, and very happily, works with video and photo editing, social media marketing, and now blog writing.