Developing a successful marketing strategy for a homebuilder is similar to constructing homes. Think about it. Both have a budget, a plan, deadlines and a tight-knit team that’s dedicated to a singular goal: To sell homes. Enter Riverside Homebuilders. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re a Dallas-Fort Worth-based homebuilder that focuses its construction on single-family homes and they’re having a record year.

However, things weren’t always that way. A few years ago, their sales were solid but knew they could do better, especially when it came to digital marketing. On April 1, 2018, they partnered with Builder IQ to improve their digital marketing strategy. And the results show.

In a little more than a year, Riverside Homebuilders has experienced Texas-sized results.

Before Builder IQ

Before Tim Fleet, Riverside president and founder, chose BIQ, his company was selling about 175-200 homes per year, with limited digital marketing. With so many homes and communities in the works, the in-house marketing team struggled to delve more deeply into a comprehensive digital strategy.

Rachel Morton, Riverside Homebuilders’ Online Sales Counselor and Marketing Coordinator, sent out emails and posted on Facebook once a month, but with her limited time and resources, she just couldn’t manage more than that. She wanted to build more integrated campaigns that blended social media with digital marketing. 

Enter Builder IQ.

Why BIQ?

Rachel researched marketing firms to provide the digital marketing support the company needed. She tried a few local firms but was disappointed in the results.

“In our first conversations with Builder IQ, the attentiveness and personal approach made us feel like we were important...they followed up with doing what they said they would do, which just wasn’t the case with the other marketing firms.”

Ultimately, Riverside Homebuilders engaged us to develop the creative strategy and execute SEO, Facebook ads, social media content (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn), blogging, targeted emails, website hosting and content management.

“Our strategy starts with a high-performance website and then focusing on driving a blend of organic, social and paid traffic to their website. Finally, we rely on data to drive conversion %” says Chip Johnson, Builder Designs' CEO.

Building Results

When we took over Riverside Homebuilders’ marketing, we proposed a strategy for every aspect of the digital marketing program. No area went unnoticed. We conducted an extensive marketing audit, researched keyword activity to build the ads, and built content calendars to demonstrate how the campaigns would work in sync—both in timing and content.

“Builder Designs has been great about helping us improve our brand recognition in the digital world by giving us valuable advice as well as providing detailed monthly reporting,” Rachel says. She particularly likes using Builder Cloud, the platform that puts all of a client’s marketing information and access in one dashboard. Rachel uses it to keep track of campaigns, make changes to the website, track campaign results, monitor social media, and even access their CRM, through a single portal.

“I love using Builder Cloud! It’s so easy, and if I ever have any questions on how to do something, the Builder Designs team is always friendly, helpful, and quick to respond.”

One recent Google display ad that promoted the overall Riverside brand, which showed photos of some of the model interiors, generated 81,364 impressions and 864 click-throughs. According to Elizabeth Humburg, our Advanced SEO, Link Building & Google Services Director, the average cost per conversion for Riverside Homebuilders’ ads is $1.95.

“Riverside Homebuilders is experiencing a 1.49% conversion rate, which is very strong, and users are visiting 3.62 pages per session, which shows good engagement and targeting,” she explains. “We craft each ad to the specific demographics and with the latest SEO practices. It’s a fine-tuned science combined with the creative use of words and graphics.”

By the Numbers

Riverside Homebuilders is having a banner year. They sold 64 homes in May, and 162 homes in the three preceding months, and expect to close more than 400 homes by the end of 2019.

Rachel mentions, “After partnering with the Builder Designs team in early 2018, our internet presence has skyrocketed, our sales have doubled, our closings have doubled. 2019 will be our most successful year ever, and it’s no doubt a direct result of turning over and trusting Builder Designs with our website design, social media, and overall marketing strategy.”

"It has been a pleasure working with Builder Designs. We have been very impressed with their responsiveness, knowledge, and professionalism,” says Rachel. “They are always patient and friendly with the multitude of questions and changes we have, handling every request with ease. They have provided excellent guidance in our marketing and have contributed greatly to our success!”

So, really, we aren’t that much different than homebuilders. In fact, we’re pretty similar. We’re here to help your company sell homes. It’s as simple as that.

Download the full Builder Designs Spotlight: Riverside Homebuilders Case Study.

When you’re ready to move off the plateau of marketing and sales, we’ll help elevate your business with an extensive array of services and a team of knowledgeable, creative professionals. Contact Amber at Builder Designs to unleash the potential that our full-service web design and marketing firm presents.