“We don’t need no education; we don’t need no thought control,” goes 1979 hit Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd. The trouble is, people do need education, particularly when it comes to topics such as home building.  Let’s face it, not everyone is a buff on the subject, and when it comes time for you to provide a proposal for a home building project it will help if your customers don’t have unrealistic expectations. Here are 4 reasons why customer education is essential to your home builder marketing strategy.

Reason #1: Knowledge Increases Understanding

The more people know about how home building works, the less likely they are to think your company can do everything overnight or for a really low price. By improving their knowledge of the components involved in building a home, for example, you can ensure realistic expectations of the timeline, process, and progress of the home build.

How to do this: Publish content such as statistics and infographics that highlight the relevant points without including any fluff. Answer commonly asked questions on your website such as what does a custom home cost? Cut to the chase and use best SEO practices on your website. This way, when a potential customer is searching for something and finds your site, he can immediately uncover the information he needs without hunting through tons of unrelated material.

Reason #2: Information Generates Interest

People love to know what other people are doing. When one homeowner in an area decides to add an extension to his home, the other homeowners are just busting to know what he is adding and why. Keeping an updated page for current projects and a gallery of photos for completed projects can help people follow along with what your business is up to.

How to do this: By posting blogs and video content about the project (with the homeowner’s permission, of course) you can keep everyone in the neighborhood informed and drum up interest in similar projects in the area. Time-lapse videos of a home build would also generate interest in the home building process.

Consumers like to see how things are done and speeding up the process for human's short attention span makes time-lapse videos perfect for the digital space such as your website. This content also makes great social media posts and helps people follow the project from start to finish. Send project updates to your social media page and get people thinking about their own home building dreams.

Reason #3: Education Builds Trust

Building trust is the number one most important factor in a client relationship, particularly in the home building industry where homeowners are entrusting their largest-ever investment to your company. Customers are more likely to contract with someone they believe to be trustworthy, and the more information you provide through your home builder marketing, the more likely they are to think you are a legitimate company and they can trust you. By providing education to consumers, you appear to be a thought leader in the space. This helps consumers understand that you know what you're doing in the home building industry and can help consumers be more comfortable choosing your business.

How to do this: Build up a reliable resource for information in the form of blog posts, ebooks, videos, podcasts and email newsletters that the customer can refer to for details of past projects. Answer commonly asked questions about the home building process and industry. Invite consumers who are researching home building to call your business and ask questions with no obligations. Add testimonials from real clients, with their names and contact info, which prospects can call for verification of your abilities.

Reason #4: Attention Increases Loyalty

By paying attention to your customers’ needs and wants and providing information that addresses them, you increase their loyalty to you and your company. Why would anyone go to a different company to get work done when they have been receiving nurturing emails from you since downloading some content? Most clients aren’t aware that email marketing is largely automated, they believe that you’ve been paying them personal attention ever since you got their name and email address. This attention can also curate a beautiful relationship that continues to grow even if they decide building a home isn't right for them at this moment. As they continue to receive your newsletters and see photos of your beautiful homes, when they are ready to build their own home, your company will be top of mind as you already have a relationship with them.

How to do this: Develop downloadable material that educates your market about home building issues. Nurture those who've downloaded your content with more relevant content offers and emails such as, blog posts you think would be useful and resources to help them on their journey. Create a database to store the contact details of anyone who provides them, and use tracking software to review what your audience is looking at, when and for how long.

Using customer education in your home builder marketing will take your company from being a regular contractor to being a leader in your field. Educating prospects will earn you and your company genuine interest, more business, greater trust, and increased loyalty.