Grace Urwin (00:00)

One was like, don't be afraid to take risks. Two, don't be afraid to have a voice in the room. Especially when you've got a lot of people in a room and you're like, maybe that's not a good idea. Maybe it is. And until you actually just voice it, you won't know.

I'm Grace, your host, and I'm here to share a toast with Orlando's top marketing leaders. This isn't your typical business chat. We're going after hours, exploring the latest tips, trends, and strategies.

that drive measurable growth, all while winding down with our guest's favorite drink in hand. So grab your favorite cocktail and join us for a lively conversation that is sure to leave you buzzing with fresh ideas. Welcome to After Hours Buzz.

So excited to have you here with us today. And I appreciate, you know, one, all of your insights that you've already provided me in home builder marketing and us being able to chat about it, discuss different strategies. And obviously you have such an amazing experience in home building marketing everywhere from some of the bigger names that we know. know that you had experience with GoBot and interior design and everything to do with a home, which is so exciting to pull different strategies from. So to kick it off, I'd love to just learn a little bit more about you, you know, telling our listeners.

What do you focus on? I know that you do a lot of consulting in general from homeowner marketing. So tell us a little bit more about what you're up to, how we get in touch with you, what are the best things and ways for us to reach you? Absolutely. Well, of course, LinkedIn has always been my source, my way to source. so much, in depth, like from social media to website experience to, you know, the traditional collateral, what that looks and for a consumer. So.

I always just say all things marketing. I've now been in the home building, or kind of arena, I would say, for 20 years now. Kind of crazy to say, but to your point, yes, I've worked with a lot of really great national builders to now working an up and coming private based in Miami, working on making home ownership attainable. And not just doing it from like just basic, but just being able to ⁓

still have those little things in a home that everyone's looking for or want but necessarily can't afford. That's what this company is currently doing and I'm working with now. just the attainability of homeownership at a luxury level. That's incredible. That must be so fulfilling too. Of course, being in the community too and seeing how Florida has probably evolved a lot, which we'll get to the most questions in the whole building that I can't even imagine. But I'm sure that must be just so fulfilling to be able to help the community and give people that.

lifelong dream of HONO ownership as well for people who are probably moving out here too. Absolutely. And so I know you said 20 years of experience in home builder marketing in total. Bring us through that journey. How did you get started in the home builder marketing side, the marketing side? How did you grow to what you're doing today and really consulting different home builders on their marketing? So I was really lucky. I fell into the world of marketing. I really started in the sales admin role with the number one home builder, D.R. Wharton.

and started getting exposure to the marketing side. needed help. So I just kind of started helping the marketing manager at that time. I just started to really understand it and love it. And that's really where my journey began. And I just absolutely love the world of marketing because it's constantly growing and changing. It keeps you on your toes. What would you say, do think that it helped you starting off in the sales side first to kind of understand at like a younger age, okay, this is

some of the benefits that kind of bringing that into the marketing side, do think that was valuable for you at all? Absolutely. know, sales marketing are hand in hand. You see a lot, especially on the phone building side where they kind of intertwine the two. I have a feeling about that. However, they are, you know, a lot in the same. mean, they, you, without sales, no marketing, without marketing, there's no sales. So they're, they're intertwined and being able to understand that buying side from the sales team and what they experience.

in the sales center and what they're hearing from buyers allows us marketers to be able to understand the consumer that much more. So it was very empowering. Yeah. Yeah. I started with sales side. that's incredible. And then as you've had different experience across different builders, what do you think differs the most when you're going from maybe a bigger builder? Like we all know DR Horton. There's no like, who's that? Right. So some of the other companies that you've worked with that might be a little bit like just similar to the one that you're consulting with right now. That's more of those.

startup phases and really looking to grow. You know, it's about the story. And I think that being able to focus in about who that company is and what they're trying to offer to a consumer and painting the picture around that and in so many ways on the website side, you know, just even the lifestyle, how they present themselves is really important.

because we all have a story to tell whether it's on a branding side or an individual side. ⁓ So being able to focus in on that is really important. From your experience across the different home builders that you've worked with, is there a marketing mix that you find is crucial for builders to implement to be successful? So I know some things you said, website experience, telling that story, what would be the marketing mix that you would say, really, you shouldn't just be only focused in digital or only in traditional, what should they be thinking about?

really be all-inclusive to reach those sales goals that they have? Well, you said it. It's a mix. You can't go hard on one and not the other. think there's, think as home building in general, think we're still trying to figure that out. Yeah. Because the home buying process and experience and the customer journey is still evolving. As we continue to get into more, you know, digital components, AI components, for example, you know, home building is still working on.

how to navigate AI. And so I think that there's some importance there that we need to incorporate even internally first before we can start sending it out to the consumer of what that looks like, maybe even more interactive. But I think it's just about a mix. So depending on the digital, you're still going to always have some traditional, but you have to stay relevant on both sides still. Yeah, very important. I know it's interesting because some people come to us for just digital.

I always say like traditional, you can't ignore it in home building, right? Because you still have so many of those events, physical flyers, people want to feel it touch and have that story no matter where they want to go. So it's just a piece that you can't miss out on. mean, of course we love our digital stuff. We're a little biased, but we can't be fully. And then for you specifically, I know going into like an organization or a home builder who might not be doing all those things, where do you start to really be able to analyze, okay,

These are some areas of success for you, but these are areas that you really need to improve if we're going to grow in your marketing. Tell us about that process. Like if a new homeowner came to you, and not necessarily new, but you know any homeowner came to you, what would be the process that you'd follow to kind of engage them, conduct audits, whatever it may be to outline like what's the best marketing plan for them based on where they're at? Well, it's exactly just like you said, audits. So we start to, what have you done?

what's worked but hasn't worked, and then kind of build it from there. And sometimes it's saying, okay, we're scrapping everything and just based on past experiences, we're gonna start on the digital side and we need to get word creative with our Google apps. Who knows? And that's the fun part about this is that it's different for every builder, it's different for every company. There has not been one exact way of going in and saying, this is what you need to do in a strategy. We all know that we have home building.

is we have a consumer and we have our products based on location. Maybe it's a 55 plus community. So we know we're going to focus on the 55 plus lifestyle and we can't worry about the families of the young couples and so being able to target those. So, and that's kind of where you start first, who your buyer profile is going to be and then kind of branch out from there. Yeah, that's a great point. Do you think...

that there is a minimum budget that you would recommend home builders have? Even smaller home builders, let's say they're building two builds a month. Is there a minimum budget that you would recommend to start off if you're doing digital? Let's say with digital for now. Then like at that point you might as well not really invest in marketing because some companies will say like, I'm going to do 500 to 1000 on Google Ads, right? It's like, right. Maybe we could just spend that money somewhere else. You kind of always get put in a box and obviously you always get that.

budget box, you know, typically been used to the bigger builders, they have a percentage. And so it's based on percentage of revenue. And then you kind of get, you know, the dollars and you're like, you've got X dollars to allocate, figure it out. And sometimes it is like you're having to shift dollars around. You're like, okay, these are not performing. Let's try something new. But it's there. I've never had one exactly. Okay. Minimum $500. Yeah. Because it's based on me.

location is based on who you're trying to target as you know. it's always as it always ebbs and flows. absolutely. Kind of going back to your experience, is there any campaigns that you've run or any strategies that you've tried? And maybe we could look at it from two sides, like one that was like surprisingly like, wow, this did so well and I was expecting it.

maybe one that you thought was doing really, was gonna do really well. And then you're like, what the heck? Like this shouldn't work, but it did. Any experience or any stories that you can kind of tell them? You know, I was kind of reflecting on that a little bit. So many campaigns, but one that that brought me back a couple of years ago. I mean, this is when Facebook was still kind of evolving. Yeah. Pre Instagram. kind of dating myself there. And we ran a contest almost like.

I was like, I didn't see, like, we would put clues out there and you'd have to go out to the community or a certain area to find the prize, that kind of thing, all through social media, all through Facebook. then they would have to post and tag and do all these things so they potentially get the prize. And it was...

surprisingly, it went really well. And that's really the cool part about that. I mean, I've also had campaigns where I'm working, you know, from building, obviously, emails on the realtor side, and you're pushing, you're doing campaigns, and it's just complete flop. Yeah. Well, we were supposed to have a great event, and we have five people. so those are things that would say one of the the lower sides, you never, that marketing can be challenging.

still never really know how people are going to engage with it or just show up or, you know, RCP and not be there. like, have got this great robust list. And then you're like, OK, just kidding. know it's even harder in Florida, right? Because like seasons like we're getting into, when it starts pouring down rain sometimes in Orlando, like, oh, you're eight miles away. Well, that is an hour and a half. I want to be crunched.

That would be hard. Yeah, that would be extremely hard for event marketing. So I could see that. there any specific channels that you absolutely love? Like no matter what marketing strategy you're implementing, you're always including specific ones or channels, events from digital to whatever your thoughts are on that. I love video content and that's kind of something that's also evolved in the world of marketing and getting our sales teams, especially

ones that didn't kind of evolve into the digital space as quickly. Comfortable being behind the camera and sharing their experience and showcasing the product. it's being done better now and being able to continue to grow and enhance that. I always, and really I need to shout out again, like we need more content, we need video, we need engagement. Cause that's how the consumer is really relating to us now.

Yeah. And just like you said in the beginning, it's just such a great vehicle to tell a story. But some people will read through it, but not everyone because our attention spans are just getting shorter and shorter. Yes. So you have like 30 seconds, maybe a minute at best. At best, right. And that's like someone who has had their coffee, starting their day. I'm going with 45 seconds. Well, basically you're in an industry where people love to see beautiful homes.

It's the part of engaging versus really trying to pull someone's attention that is not as engaged. So that absolutely helps in different ways. So social media is obviously key in that side of it. And I've had to learn as an architect to really get more comfortable.

Because in my personal world, I don't even engage in social media at all. It's because we do it for work. It's just too exhausting to do it all the time. So I get teased a lot. we're like, you are not even present on social media. I mean, I have them, but I still post myself. So as a marketer, I had to learn to get comfortable with new tools for video content or editing and things like that. And that's actually been really fun for me.

You should try out one of our brand directors. She, one of our clients did not want to do a video. She made an AI video of him and I was like, that is freaky. I was like, you're not like that, but it came out well. I've done it. You know, it's so freaky. was like, oh my gosh. You could do so much in such a short amount of time, but that's like a whole nother world for me. like, I'm not ready to see myself talking on something I didn't talk about. Yeah, see those AI tools are starting to evolve. Are we AI right now? No one will ever know.

It is a little concerning. ⁓ That would be the creepiest part about it. So going into like kind of the smaller builders, right? How do you think is the best way for them to compete with the larger scale builders? So when you're looking at like the DR4N's little Linar's and you kind of look at them as the poster child, like, wow, these are all the things they're doing, but their budget is quadrupling some of the smaller builders. So what are the best ways that they can stand out?

If they're in the same market that there are some of the biggest competitors in, what are your recommendations for them? Don't try to compete with them. Don't try to be them. I go back to that whole storytelling where it's like, okay, what makes us different? Yes, we're all building homes, but just because we're building homes, they're going to be different. What are we adding in ours that they aren't? And vice versa. And so being able to kind of tell that.

side of that to the consumer makes all the difference in the world. We're not going to be the big ones. So why try to be? Yeah. There's no point to separating yourself through that. Right. Do you find a difference with the builders that you've worked with having a sales team in-house versus working with real estate agents? Do you think one is better than the other? Both are fine. Yeah, that's a love that you asked that. I've recently experienced that. And I will say no one can.

sell your product like someone who actually believes in the product. So I think it's really important to have in-house crew kind of thing who understand the mission of the company, understand the voice of the brand. So they're able to share that when they're selling a product, selling a home. when you have someone outside, they're not nearly as invested.

Maybe ask me now, but not typically to sell a product versus someone in-house who is really kind of, I would say, the cold drink. Yeah, that's very true. It's interesting you say that because we're always doing brand messaging. I think I've even spoke to you about brand messaging because I'm so tied into it now. But I do think it's so important because the marketing process is only half the battle. So it's like, you're a tone and the messaging and the benefits and all of those things change so dramatically from the marketing campaign and

the you're communicating on your website and your ads versus when they speak to that person, could completely lose them. Yeah, absolutely. Because then it's like, even, again, they're buying from the brand, technically, right? But it's like the benefits are really pulling them in too. If they have a totally different experience when they're walking into the sales, you know.

welcome center versus what they've seen online. like, what is this? But it's a brand shock. It should be kind of decent. Yeah. perfect. Well, I'd love to hear that. I mean, that's just a question I've always had because we've worked with both. But sometimes they just don't tell you that, right? Like it's kind of, it's interesting sense. Like you take what you can take, but I would assume that, but that's also great to hear. So it's funny that you even answered this without me saying it at all, because they even asked what role do you think community storytelling plays in brand building?

And that's our whole conversation. Every single thing. This is also another good one. obviously we're marketers. We know the ultimate question is always ROI. So what metrics do you really measure and you look at as the most important measures of success while you're running different marketing strategies, whether it's traditional, whether it's digital, what are the most important ones that you are constantly looking at and are showing you you're on the right track?

Absolutely. So in the marketing world for Homebuilding, we always look at our web traffic, our engagement, all the different marketing bundles, you will, from running ads, our social, our email marketing, and potentially traditional marketing. So you look at all of those buckets.

And they go into, we're trying to drive them to one location, of course. We want more engagement on our website, which you get more engagement on your website. That will lead to more of what we would say traffic, if you will, going into our actual storefronts, our welcoming centers, to then, know, translating into sales. you know, I was joking. I'm like, you know, sales are great. Way to go sales. If sales was not doing great, what's marketing not doing?

So there was very close to that. So, you know, that's kind of the funnel and you know, we work from, but, you know, we also learned that now more than ever, the buyer journey is just evolving so much because of how the digital space is evolving. you might have someone click on an ad and then click on an email and then maybe go into the welcome center. But then they're also re-engaging in your, you know, email marketing or ads again before they're going back.

to this. Yeah, so I don't know very bad. And it's interesting to kind of see how that's evolving. it is. Even like, obviously this on a different side, but it's like B2B used to be 20 touch points. And now it's like something like 82 touch points from like seeing advertisements and that's like just before like you didn't even like have a initial conversation. So, you know, the consumer side is even sometimes more hard because you're cutting through so much noise. Absolutely. And it depends on the consumer. So I saw, which was

I would like to say an anomaly, we had one buyer at the final purchase that had 300 touch points before they could forward the purchase in their community. And I would say it was a 55 plus where they were really diving in and researching. And that cycle, that buying cycle in general, it takes longer because they don't want to settle, they don't have to settle. So they do, they take a lot more time to go through that buying process. But I was just 300. That is crazy.

How long could that have taken? About a year, year and a half. Wow. And learning different blogs, educational blogs, and about how to take care of your home. They were really in it. But to your point, when it comes to that buying cycle now, just for average consumer, it increased a lot.

You have to be very aware of that. So you always have to be out there. Different areas too. That is really what I tell people though. like you cannot rely on one channel because not everyone goes after the same channel. I would also ask you, so first, a lot of our home owners, we were constantly doing content, right? We're like pumping out different content, whether it's guides for first home buyers or depending on what the community was, right? So much different content based on what people are searching. How do you think that?

has changed or will change when you're looking at chat TBT. Do you think it's still, well, I should just say that I'm bad at sampling someone and we've talked about this, but like any AI shout, do you think that homeowner should still stay on top of developing that content? Do you think it's not as important right now because a lot of people are researching on different AI tools? Yeah, I think that it's still very relevant. I still truly, as marketers, think we're...

we're getting really comfortable with using AI products to our benefit. I really believe that the general public still might be uncertain about it or may not know as much. I mean, part of AI is that we're still the ones kind of feeding AI. So we still have to feed content out there to the consumer so AI can even work properly. So there's that component. So I haven't seen a dip yet in that kind of content.

marketing as far as just the educational side of it, people still seem to be engaging with it. Yeah. It's not that you just don't know. We're so used to our life that you're used to all these facets. It's such a part of like our daily lives that like for us, it's like a part of the day. But for some people, you're completely right. It's not as relevant. You know, it just makes sense based on industries and when you need to use it, when you don't need to use it. But it is, it is so interesting to hear. I always have to think about that.

You have to of put yourself in the consumer shoes. I'm like, okay, I'm not the buyer for this particular community or this location. So who is? And how do they live? And what do they do? that's kind of the cool part about my building too. It's changing. You're always going after something a little bit different, whether ⁓ by location to the community or things like that. people live differently.

like you and I in the world. Yeah, that's really true. But it must be fun because then you have to like really put yourself in the shoes of who is that person, right? What are the interests and what do they want to hear? What are the benefits to them personally and really being able to position it in those different ways? So it always, like you said, it keeps finding those. It does. I love it. All the fun things. So over, I know that there's probably a couple different ways that this question is going to go in the answer to, but what are the ways that you've seen home building marketing change?

let's say 20 years ago, 10 years ago to where we're at now. What are the different facets that you've seen, even in the industry, doesn't have to be solely based on marketing too? We'll go for marketing first. So just that from traditional marketing to even having digital marketing really exist. If you think about it, Google hasn't been around that long. But it's definitely evolved and come a long way. And there's still some that, you you've

You still want to do press releases. There's event marketing still exists. And now we're just, we've evolved in how we engage the customer, engage the consumer. Where I remember running double-trump ads to get the word out. There's a new community out there. That doesn't exist anymore. Maybe you might have it on a really high-end magazine, but that was still kind of far-fetched.

how people live, we'll take COVID for example, how people realized that maybe their home wasn't working for them because they've outgrown it and needed different functionalities. And home building also has to evolve quickly and say, okay, they need niches for offices, because that's gonna be the new norm. We're seeing that, like we're still working from home, like remote or even hybrids. So those functions needed to,

come together really quickly on the home building side. just little things like that. And the tech side of home building has evolved in a big way. It's still evolving. So I would say it's evolving and growing, but it's always kind of a little bit behind on the tech side than the other brands and things out there. But sometimes it has to be, just like you shared, like for your consumers, not everyone is that very tech buyer.

So it's like they still want some of the simple things and people can always change out the things that they want to be more tech friendly and otherwise. But that would make sense. What do you think are the biggest challenges that home building is facing right now as an industry as a whole, whether it's in Florida or nationally? It's consumer confidence. There's always so much you can do in the world of home building when the world is kind of doing their own thing at same time. That's true. The reality is that

you can't stop living. People are still growing families, they're relocating for career advancement, they're leaving their parents' homes and wanting to buy their own home and maybe they're buying it with another roommate or siblings. So it's still evolving, but there is a lot going on in the world to constantly stay on top of too. there's always so much you can control.

So as a marketer and anything, just focus on things that you can control. Yeah, absolutely. What are the best ways that you prep for new development? So if you know there's a new community coming up, what are those steps that you would take to accurately plan your budget to make sure everything's set so that you can start seeing some traction in those communities before they're even obviously ready to go to market or necessarily start being ⁓ the sales.

team really coming into sell some of those lots. So in the world of building, it's very collaborative. And that's what I love so much about being the space as a marketer, because you're working with land and land has the story of like why they want to pick this piece of property based on, you know, maybe home mix based on location, based on school system, et cetera, et cetera. And that's how we're able to determine, you know, we're probably going to see this type of consumer, whether it's more of

you know, a growing family or young couples or individuals. And so we're able to kind of start painting a story that way. So then build a budget around it. Then you've got, you know, build your products around it. So we do still do focus groups, which sounds kind of old school. We might get the realtor community involved and say, is the product that we're looking at, know, developing in this area. What are your thoughts? I think that it's really important to still have that and people ⁓

want to still be heard in that type of way and setting. So that's kind of the process of how we start to kind of build and grow a marketing campaign for the community. that's so cool. I never really thought of it that way either. Like, you hear the, like, I remember, obviously I went to school for marketing as I told you, like, it was a passion I had. And obviously, passion I still hold. Luckily, thank goodness, I didn't waste my tuition money.

But it was like so interesting hearing about, you know, as you're learning about marketing, like hearing about focus groups and all these different things. So was like, how come I haven't ever gotten chosen? I don't have a lot to say. You still have the one. It's really fun. Yeah. And I do think it's so important because you don't know, like you said, sometimes you get so busy in your own life. There's sometimes like companies coming in, like who the heck would ever use this? And then I'm like, wow, there is a whole community that is just focused on this specific topic or thing, right? That I would never ever buy or be interested in servicing.

But for them, it's a huge opportunity. So it's so important to just kind of get out of your own mind, let people who are in that community share, and then speak to them aren't being that way. Okay, because I mean, we're all humans. all have our own style, our own beliefs, our own thought process around it. It's hard, but then you have to take a step back and say, okay, I'm not the consumer, so let me hear from people that I think will be. Yeah. And so I think that's why they're still so important and still relevant. Yeah.

Because I mean, that's a huge change in how we interact with this mass. Oh my gosh, that is so cool. I would love to see one. One day you're going to be telling me, we just did this focus group. There's also usually one, and if we feed them, we free free free free

different areas can be very different. Just on how the consumer processes things or how long it might take them, even the loyalty between relationships demographically could be all very, very different. And that exists in different states too. But I would say the biggest difference on the homebuilding side of that for different states is just even how they're able to

buy really just both different products. You message that product where Florida's pretty, you we don't have basements. We always forget about Just seeing different products in different states. like, oh, that's neat. That's how they can play golf in their basement. I would say more on the lifestyle side of it is what makes it different for me as a marketer in home building.

but it's a good place to be, so that helps. Do you see it your communities? I'm sure this probably changes on communities, so I'm like, this is gonna be a hard question for you to answer. But do you find that most communities people are moving from the same state or from different states? Like, do you see a percentage that's usually more relevant, or is it really changing based on timelines, based on what we're, I mean, obviously COVID was very different than others, but what do say about that?

I mean, yeah, to your point, that landscape evolves and changes all the time. Currently, the company I'm working with, have property in Ocala on the Palm Coast and we're seeing influx South Florida moving to those locations. would have never thought that. Me either. And massive influx of people from South Florida. The South Florida market is great market, but it's becoming a less affordable market. And so they're deciding to move to those.

locations instead. So that was an interesting take for me. That's current right now. it does. We get people from New York and the West Coast for all different various reasons, job relos and even state tax purposes. There's bunch of reasons. How would you approach the balance between digital versus traditional marketing and home building?

Especially when you're dealing with demographics, like different diverse demographics. So typically now what we'll see and I'm talking about something like my big builder side experience, it's like a 90-10, 90 % digital, 10 % traditional, unless you have, know, I always just say 55 plus, but they are all branded a little bit differently. And then that, you know, changes a little bit. typically for

your standard marketing strategy. It's a 90-10 roll. wow. Well, that's good for us. I know, it is interesting. I think traditional startups, it's on the front end. It's almost like in the beginning. So once you have it developed for those communities, it's done. it's like, now once you have it completed, then you're good to go. And then also kind of going into a little bit more of your experience. So with your background and leadership roles, how do you coach or develop?

junior marketers to grow in this space? What are the areas that you'd recommend to stay on top of the different trends and consumers changing and all those great things? You know, I love working with the team and making sure they understand all the facts of the business on the buyer side and why we're making the decisions that we're making. But my biggest advice when it comes to younger marketers, especially in the number-one phase,

Be okay with change. Be flexible. Also go to educational conferences and still take online courses. You're still staying relevant. I make sure I do that for myself because even the world, the digital world as you know, is growing and evolving every single day. So stay relevant and don't be afraid to change. The two most important things to get to in life as well. But especially like you said, such a changing industry, it's crucial.

And digital too, like I even feel that way. It's like I'm always like one step behind and then sometimes it helps you when someone doesn't know something. like, thank God. I can just breathe for a second. But it is, know, like you said, it's always, there's always a new webinar. There's always a new course. There's always a change that you kind of have to think about staying on top of and incorporate. Similar to, it's funny the story you told about the Facebook campaign.

It's interesting because you guys did that before, many other people do similar like contests now, but I love that yours was kind of like more of an experience of like a step by step. I feel like once contest came about, that was like a whole other way of doing something new. was very cool. But it's like sometimes you have to have the freedom to try it. But some people won't try something, they just don't want to invest it. So it's nice that once you can try it and then can prove success, you can use that as an experience. Okay, I mean, that's a big part of that. Like you can't be afraid to fail because you're going to.

It's not every campaign is going to be like amazing and like, you know, home run. Some of them are going to flop. Like that is just, but that's also how we grow one as marketers and two, like, okay, this doesn't work. And the best part about digital versus the traditional is that you can, you know, modify and change quickly. You can't change it.

know, billboard that you had printed. I don't think it's working here, please put a new one on the stack there. He saw the same message for two more months because I had to print another static banner. So that is the best part about digital marketing is that, you know, even if you look at campaign flops, you know, it's just not being received well, and it could just be the type of messaging it could be.

you know, the imagery, mean, could be a number of reasons why, but the best part is that you can change it quickly. Yeah. And that's what I love about digital marketing. Yeah. I be so agile with it. Exactly. I can't be afraid to take risks. So exciting. So I know we kind of, we kind of touched on this a little bit. So you've touched on the difficult side of things, but what do you think are the biggest trends or innovations in home builder marketing right now that you're excited about that you're testing or wanting to try out? I think I mentioned this to you before.

I look at beauty products, for example, and how they're able to come to their change, lipsticks, for example. And now we're able to start doing that a little bit more on the home building side where you're going on a home builder's website and you're picking your style of home and you don't even realize that you're picking your style of home. They're asking questions along the way. They say, how do you like this palette or how do you like to live this way? you prefer cooking? you prefer sitting in your outdoor space and the things like that?

So we're getting more interactive. You can see her that way. And that's a really cool function that is still evolving and growing. And I'm excited to see how that space continues to evolve. Me too. We all like something that's customized to us. So it's more fun. I almost feel like it's the different tests you take on like, Lime that's like, tell me what my personality type is. ⁓

This is me. You're like, But it makes a lot of markup. But you know, it is a home that you're really putting together yourself. absolutely. And a lot of builders now are going to, you know, I would say curated collections where it's making the home buying process easier, less overwhelming, but still having those interactive components and still allowing you to feel like it's yours. You know, your style, you know, that you can add in.

purchase this home for, like, I'm going to have the same home like everybody else. Yeah. So that's a really cool thing that's being, you know, tested and used right now. Yeah. That's a point too, because even for the sales team, it's like, you don't really have to sell me on anything. I made it. Like, I want it. Clearly that's why I'm reaching out now. So it probably just helps. The sales team has been thinking one day when you're all that done. So I know that you're constantly staying on top of trends and how would you recommend different marketers to expand their knowledge or stay on top of trends?

in the marketing world if they are in home builder marketing. Any things that you research or anything that they can use to stay on top of it and really be proactive about other than reactive to the different things that are going on in the industry right now. I read a lot of like articles and blogs from other home builders to honestly a lot outside of home building because as I mentioned before, home building will kind of always a little bit behind the times, on purpose.

by the time we realize it's a consumer once, it's literally sometimes right in our face. So we kind of have to be reactive. And it takes time to do that. Change products, for example. We go to market and the consumer is telling us that we missed it. So just being able to be productive in a sense that like reading a lot of in home building and outside of home building.

I love a lot of design, interior design too. know, what's the colors of the year? Things like that. Because want to see that showcased. That helps how we, know, model a new home. then that's also how we're able to get really good photography. And then we would take the photography and then market that creatively. So it all kind of snowballs. Yeah, that's perfect. That's great advice.

All right, well, you have a little bit of your wine before you get the last question. Our last question, always call spill it because we're spilling a tip, trick or tool, something that you believe has advanced your career or you wish you would have known previously that you think would just help your advancement further in the companies that you've helped evolve through marketing. You know, I can't even start to think about this and like, gosh, like we all kind of use similar tools and systems. I would say one thing that I really wish I did earlier on in my career.

It took me a little while to kind of learn that as a professional. That just because I might not think that it's amazing or I'm just like a little intimidated in a certain space doesn't mean it's...

could be something really good. Yeah. So I would say the younger version of me, which is I knew that sooner as marketer. Yeah. Oh, that's great advice. Well, we'll make sure to hold on to that. sure that will help listeners. Anna, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. Of course. always welcome. Yeah. We'll be around too. We'll see what changes next. Cheers.