The Power of Brand in Generating Home Building Demand

We create brands to make our businesses easily recognisable. Brands are built on compelling and consistently repeated messages, and they set us apart in the marketplace. By putting your business at the front of mind with consumers, they have the power to create long-term, sustainable demand.

When you’re trying to run a profitable building business, one of the last things you want to do is spend your evenings on marketing. Thinking about generating more leads is incredibly difficult when you’re busy building homes. You might also be putting every last dollar into the jobs that you are currently working on and don’t have enough capacity to work on building your brand for the future.

However, if you really want to scale up and generate a consistent flow of leads in the natural upswings and downturns of the building industry, then you need to build a reputable, trusted, and distinct brand. There are a lot of small builders in the market and the bigger players are taking up more space, so it’s becoming increasingly hard to compete.

Customers Need to Know Who You Are

It takes a while to get started as a builder. It’s not easy to be discovered and you need to have a couple of successful jobs under your belt before word of mouth will spread. That’s why it’s important to have a distinct brand and to differentiate yourself from your competitors from day one. Decide what you want to be known for and then promote it. This makes it easier for your customers to share memorable stories about your business with their friends and family.

At G.J. Gardner Homes, we’ve recognised that our distinct offer to the market is that ‘we build joy’. We guide our customers through the home-building journey, and every experience that the customer has across our website sets that tone. We know that the process of building a home is emotionally and financially intensive, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. So, we ensure that every brand experience makes potential customers feel safe in our hands.

There are also a huge variety of marketing channels on which you can be found and your website is the first point of call for building trust with new customers. Google ads, social media, magazines, display ads, and TV can all be used to encourage people to check out your website and learn more about your business.

Brands Simplify Complex Decisions

Building a home is one of the biggest investments that most people will ever make. You can bet that customers will do their research. They will compare your price and offer with other builders, as it’s likely to be their first time designing a home and navigating the complexities of the building process. The home-building journey is so complex that it now takes 22 months for customers to sign off on a builder after making the initial decision to build a home.

If you can guide customers throughout this complex journey, then they are far more likely to work with you. Customers have high expectations for the experiences that they have with brands, so you need to ensure that every interaction adds value to their lives, while building trust, authority, and expertise.

At G.J. Gardner Homes, we achieve this by creating a huge library of educational content about the home building journey. From getting design ideas for the bathroom to selecting the right materials for a splashback, we ensure that potential and existing customers have advice and buying guides for every scenario.

These resources can be found via Google searches and we also advertise them to people who we know are in the market based on their online behaviour. This type of content can also be shared on social media or in email marketing campaigns so that you’re continuing to nurture relationships with potential customers.

It’s a lot of work. But if you really want to scale your business, then you have to put your customer at the centre of your brand, keep them interested, and set the tone for the building journey ahead.

Our franchisees have experienced the difference of having a national brand behind them. When they are the local builder who empowers customers with knowledge and has the backing of a national network, people feel far more confident in their abilities. As a result, it’s easier to stand out from competitors in the selection process and sell more homes.

Trust is Essential

It’s important that customers know what you stand for, especially in a difficult market in which many builders are falling over due to supply issues, project delays, and price increases. When customers are constantly seeing builders go into liquidation, delays, and huge cost blowouts, they will pay for safety and security.

Customers want to feel secure that their home will be built on time, in budget, and without corners being cut. That’s why you need to work hard to build a reliable reputation. There is a level of consistency and quality that is non-negotiable for customers, and you need to showcase that you can deliver.

You may also assume that customers are logical when they make decisions, however, a huge part of their decision-making process is emotional and 95% of purchase decisions are subconscious. So, if your brand is perceived as helpful or experienced in every interaction, customers will be more inclined to work with you.

Encourage Customers to Bank on You

People will invest in quality, safety, and security. It’s why customers fly Qantas, go to nice restaurants, or buy expensive cars. Builders often fall into the trap of thinking that customers are solely purchasing based on the price. However, people are setting up their lives when they build a home and a trusted brand is a brand that they will bank on.