By Matt Doyle
I have been selling custom homes for many years, but it’s only just recently that I started thinking about how my branding needed to change. I started off building homes at a typical price range several years ago. Back then, I branded myself as a "no-B.S." builder who wouldn’t pressure you or go over cost, and that was a message that really resonated with my clients at the time. However, as my team started to develop together, we moved toward a focus on technology and luxury, and our branding stopped resonating with our clients.
I kept the old brand stringing along for a few more years, but conversations with my clients showed that word-of-mouth was doing all the work. The leads that were coming in from people who only knew my brand by marketing weren’t ready to pay what we were charging, and that made things awkward for us both. It became clear that I had to find a way to communicate our cost in our brand, and that’s what I’ve been doing over the last couple months. Here are some of the ways that I’ve improved my site that might help you create a more premium brand.
Switch Up Your Color Scheme
You should first consider the colors on your website, as well as how they may be affecting your audience. You want to make sure the colors on your website reflect the right mood, the right gravity, the right "feel" for your brand. Let me use an example: My first site was inspired by the classic white-background-and-simple-color look that was pioneered by sites like Facebook. I loved this look for how clean and sensible it was, but I became convinced that was the wrong message for my site. After browsing websites that might be used by clients in my target groups, such as luxury vehicles and jewelry, I discovered that those selling big-ticket items took advantage of deep, dark colors to create an atmosphere of gravity and elegance.
Research is the only key to understand the right color scheme for your website. You should look begin by reviewing the websites of your competitors in the market. Any trends you notice with just a visual inspection may be a clue to a better way to reach your customers. For me, dark blues, purples and blacks were revealed by my research to create the right impression. The colors I'm using may not look as “inviting,” but the idea of the brand now is to communicate a sense of exclusivity.
Say It With Images
The images you use on your website communicate more than just the objects in them. They set boundaries for your visitor's expectations. You need to use images on your websites to communicate more than your visitors will read. You can make images talk very loudly. For example, my first site featured a lot of images of quaint cottages and craftsman houses. These home styles are very popular on the east coast, and I have many wonderful pictures from the dozens I built in earlier years. However, I waited too long to notice that the images that built my brand were no longer a match for the homes I was building now. As part of the upgrade to my branding, I went through and replaced all of the images — on the entire site — with only the types of homes that I had been building in the past few years. As a result, I got fewer leads I couldn't use.
You may be able to discover important miscommunications if you take the time for a full review of your website images.
Emphasize the Perks
One of the ways to clarify what you offer is to be very attentive to how you offer it. You need to make sure that what best sets you apart from the rest of the market is what is communicated on your website. For example, as we changed the clients that we served, we also changed the ways that we responded to our clients. We are much more focused on a concierge level of service and communication with our clients, and that was not reflected at all in our branding. As we redid the site, I focused on communicating our perks in addition to our basic services.
You can do the same by performing a review of your website messaging and how it compares to the products that are moving, and why. Try to align your messaging with what's more popular by using sales data.
Start Paying Attention
More than anything else, you need to make sure that you're aware of the hidden things that your website is communicating. The colors, image scheme and the types of features that you emphasize can all play a powerful role in setting expectations for your brand. Take some time before the New Year to really think about what your website is saying and how you can improve it.
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Matt Doyle is the VP and Co-Founder of Excel Builders, a truly unique custom home builder, creating homes that make every day easier.