Time marches on. And as 2023 comes to a close, many home builders are looking for practical advertising opportunities. Whether you’re a marketing director trying to make the most of a use-it-or-lose-it ad budget or a small business owner looking for vital tax deductions for marketing after a prosperous summer, this is the perfect time to invest in more home builder signage.
Still, there are right and wrong ways to tackle builder signage.
This article aims to bring a method to your marketing madness when it comes to signage. From the big points like proper location and visibility to more nuanced tips for effective logos in 2024, you’ll be confident ordering your new home builder signs and billboards after reading this piece.
But let’s handle first things first. The most important point to remember is that your new home builder signage must serve a clear purpose to be effective.
Set Real Goals for Your Signage
Most home builder signage does one of two things.
It either:
- Builds the brand to attract new clients or
- Hides unsightly job sites (and any marketing effect is a bonus)
As a home builder, nearly any billboard or sign you can imagine does one of those tasks. Even if your advertising is less direct or “salesy” and more about community goodwill, it’s still out there to brand your business.
Therefore, your first goal when planning new signage is to set a goal you’d like to achieve. Well, what does that mean? If it’s been a while since you attended Marketing 101, it’s time to refresh your thoughts on marketing strategies and tactics before brainstorming new home builder signage ideas.
Marketing Strategies vs. Tactics
Marketing strategies help us identify the broader goals of an organization. For instance, your organization might be looking to:
- Attract more business in a specific community or region
- Create feelings of goodwill in a neighborhood during a build
- Promote your brand in a particular way (as green, socially responsible, diverse, luxurious, etc.)
- Increase overall sales revenue
- Or increase profit margins
Marketing tactics are the actions you’ll take to achieve these goals. If you’re hoping to increase profit margins, maybe your signage should promote a high-end flooring or roofing material that offers a fatter profit margin. If you wish to create goodwill in a community, your new home builder signage could promote some community involvement, like donations to the local animal shelter or the scholarship you’re funding at the nearby college.
Once you’ve chosen a goal for your new signage, it’s time to sort out the locations.
Location Is Everything When It Comes to Home Builder Signage
Location is everything. In the custom home world, you’ve likely uttered this phrase a few thousand times. We understand!
Visibility and impressions — the number of times an individual views a sign — are extremely important when deciding where to place your new builder signage. The location of your new signage must gel with your marketing strategies and tactics.
This might seem like common sense, but it’s worth mentioning. Save assets by promoting your most expensive flooring in low-income areas, and goodwill-boosting advertisements should be most visible in the communities you’re building (or hope to build.)
If your target market commutes to a downtown area — think Silicon Valley, the Las Vegas strip, or Wall Street — it makes sense to place your signage on the major commuter routes.
Your next question is, “How does one research traffic routes for billboards or signage?”
How To Find Good Locations for New Home Builder Signage
Billboard companies will present you with a wealth of statistics to sell their services. Compare those numbers with the US Department of Transportation traffic volume trends.
If this is your first billboard rodeo, canvas a neighborhood or commuter route that matches your target demographic. Ask yourself:
- How many people in my target market will see this sign?
- How many impressions (daily and monthly) does this sign need to create to be effective?
You May Need Boots on the Ground To Study Traffic
Sometimes, you’ll need boots on the ground to clearly understand traffic trends. Send an intern or new trainee to babysit a likely location with a handheld counting device during major drive times.
Generally, they are Monday through Friday, from:
- 6 am to 9 am
- 3 pm to 6 pm
- In some urban locations, the lunch rush of 11 am to 1 pm
Be sure to take data over several different days and a few different weeks. This is the best way to gauge how much traffic your new signage will see.
Use Every Tool Available Before Spending a Cent on New Home Builder Signage
Another excellent tool for home builders researching signage placement is the Haines Directory, but other lead-generation services can help, too. We like the Haines Directory product because it allows you to cross-reference addresses, phone numbers, and neighborhoods. If you’re looking to find significant intersections in affluent neighborhoods and fresh locations for your signage, try this tool.
Helpful Design Tips for Home Builders
While brainstorming your new home builder signage, check that:
- All signage uses vivid contrasting colors for high visibility (even at night or during stormy weather)
- Your website is very prominent
- Your license number is available
- All the essential details translate well through a cell phone photo
- If you’re promoting a phone number, it should be straightforward, like 555-HOME or 1-800-NEW-HOME
That final point may be the most critical. Think back to all the driving you’ve ever done and how many times you’ve called a phone number from a roadside billboard. Chances are, you’ve made five or fewer phone calls because you saw a number on a billboard. Roadside signage is a long-term branding tool unless you’re promoting incredible discounts.
Just remember that roadside signage only leads to phone calls if a phone number is easy to remember and makes sense.
Billboard and Signage Companies Can Help With Design
Most billboard companies have a production department, and if you’re stumped, they can be a tremendous help. Remember to proofread your new signage carefully! A misspelled website could become a real problem.
Onlinebillboards.com published this list of the best 25 digital billboard companies in the US. Of all the signs featured, we love the iconic Las Vegas strip sign, created by YESCO. It’s a great example of outstanding signage because it’s:
- Created with contrasting colors
- Placed in a high-traffic location
- Not cluttered with too much “noise” or distracting information
That leads us to our next point, choosing where to place your home builder signage.
Place Your Signage Where It Is Needed Most
A billboard on a lonesome country road in Arkansas might cost $250 monthly. Conversely, Times Square (NYC) billboards can cost $50,000 per month. But in the homebuilding industry, that $250 billboard could be far more valuable if you’re building nearby. So be sure to place your signage where it will do the most good for your marketing strategies and tactics.
And remember to follow up on your new signage to ensure it’s working.
How To Tell If Your Builder Signage Is Working
Community goodwill is difficult to quantify. But qualified inquiries are easier to count.
To test the response of your new home builder signage, you can:
- Use a dedicated phone number for signage in specific regions.
- Direct inquiries to location-specific websites and monitor the monthly traffic.
- Offer meaningful discounts on your signage to test response.
Managing Discounts on Signage
The trick with discounts on signage, by the way, is that they must be significant. No one will call for a 5% discount or a free front door. You can test your signage by offering a meaningful discount — like 50% off all roofing materials, or build a home and get a garage for free — and see how much action it creates. But you’ll need to keep an eye on it if your marketing strategies include wider profit margins.
You can always eliminate the discount once a billboard is proven or maintain it as a loss leader for a while to generate more inquiries.
Now that we’ve covered how to find great places for new builder signage and a few ways to use it, let’s get into some tips and tricks for effective visual communication.
Marketing to Millennials in 2023 and 2024
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Research Group, older millennials bought the most homes in 2022. And here’s a fun fact: very few individuals in this generation can read script. Even fewer can write in cursive.
Is It Time To Reimagine Your Logo?
Thanks to the advent of digital media, modern educators know that cursive reading and writing are dead skills, so they aren’t teaching them. And that’s why Ford, Ram, and Coca-Cola logos have changed in recent years. Think about it the next time you’re behind RAM or FORD or even buying a Coke.
Since you’re reimagining new home builder signage ideas, it’s time to eliminate old-fashioned script logos. They do not resonate with millennials or Gen Z.
Home Builders, We Invite You To Check Out AtlasRTX
At AtlasRTX, we don’t sell billboards or new signage. But we do work with home builders every day. We aim to provide you with intelligent digital tools to supplement your marketing team and sales crew. Our digital assistants can help you qualify leads and address your customers’ pain points.
Check out our blog for more great articles for home builders. We are here for you.
Related Reading & Resources:
Experientialexecutive.com: Use it or Lose it: How to Spend Your Marketing Budget
Blog.hubspot.com: Everything You Need to Know About Billboard Advertising
