2 min read
There may be times when you feel like you’re pumping out content and information for your home building business at a furious pace. At those moments, you may even say to yourself, “Aren’t my prospects getting sick and tired of this stuff? I know I am!”
Here’s a true confession: There have been times when I’ve felt that way myself—and this is what I do for a living! Then I remember a few key things about marketing; the moment passes; and I get back to working on great content. I’d like to share a few of those insights with you.
You Get Tired of Your Material Before Your Customers Do
You think about your messaging. You wrangle with the words. You write and re-write. You’ve gone over this stuff a bunch of times before it ever gets posted. For many of your prospects or clients, it’s the first time they’ve seen it.
Your Clients Don’t Hang On Every Word You Write
Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that our clients or prospects are out there in suspense, just waiting for what we have to say. They’re not! They have lives, too. They may not have seen your last two posts because they were busy with something else.
Repetition is Essential
There have been all kinds of studies about how often a marketing message needs to be repeated before it sinks in. Some suggest it may be as many as seven times. Your audience could be busy (see above), or they simply might not be ready to receive the message—or to act on it.
Your Message May Need to be Modified
Sometimes you need to make small changes to the way you say something. You don’t really change your message, you just re-phrase it. Have you ever had one of those “A-hah” moments when you finally realize what someone has been trying to say to you? That happens in marketing, too.
Not Everyone Feels Overwhelmed by Information
There’s no question that there is a ton of information (including information about home building) out on the Internet. Sometimes those of us putting it there get the feeling that there’s a glut of information and that people are overwhelmed by it. But according to a recent Pew Research Center study, that’s not necessarily true. Pew reported that:
Americans with multiple paths to information — those having home broadband, a smartphone, and a tablet or computer — report being less overwhelmed by the amount of information present. Eighty-four percent of those with all three of these paths to access liked the amount of information available to them.
There are a lot of people (particularly younger home buyers) who are not in the least deterred by an abundance of information.
Here’s a final thought on how much information you could/should be putting out for your clients. This is actually kind of an old-school thought and goes back to the days when direct mail kind of ruled the marketing world. There was constantly a debate about whether “short” copy or “long” copy was more effective in getting your message across. The real answer to that question was: “Copy is too long when people stop reading it!”
Put in a slightly different way, it’s not the amount of copy (or information) that’s really in question. It’s whether or not the information is interesting, helpful, and engaging.
So what should you do when you feel like you’re drowning prospects in information about your home building business? There are two things to do. First, don’t stop. Chances are you’re the one who’s feeling overwhelmed—not them. Second, make sure the information you’re providing is interesting and actually helps your prospects solve their home-buying questions.
