Social media is changing the way people shop for homes, and TikTok is leading the charge. Buyers today don't want to scroll through super-long lists or static property listings. They want content that is short, visually rich, and easy to share. However, the pivot from traditional forms of advertising to a new platform like TikTok can be a challenge for some home builders. But just because it's a new(ish) medium doesn't mean we change our objective as marketers: creating scalable content that resonates with our target audience.
Using TikTok as a strategic marketing tool for builders
As consumers rely more and more on short-form video to find brands, learn about communities and see different lifestyles, TikTok is a perfect opportunity for builders to connect with shoppers in places they already are. Rather than replacing other marketing strategies, TikTok builds on them by providing a platform for builders to personalize their message.
It's a way to show homes "in-action," and take advantage of model tour content, community feature content and homeowner testimonials in ways that feel authentic and relatable. Using TikTok in conjunction with other paid media, social media, and web-based marketing tools allows for extended reach and greater engagement. And it's better at reaching earlier stages of the buyer's journey than traditional channels alone.
Think of TikTok as an amplifier - a tool that lends credibility, relevance and personality to a builder's marketing effort without needing a complete overhaul of what you're currently doing. It's about creating energy, maintaining cultural relevance and making sure your brand remains top-of-mind in a competitive, growing marketplace.
Utilizing AI for TikTok content
Everyone's racing to use AI for all kinds of content generation. But how can homebuilders utilize AI for TikTok content without it looking like every other builder that's doing the same thing? Just think of it as a creative partner. We already know buyers are on TikTok and we know it takes a bunch of touch points before a shopper converts (especially when converting on high consideration items such as purchasing a new home). Therefore, simply being present on TikTok is no longer an advantage for generating leads. You need to use it to stand out, not blend in.
Here is an example of how AI can help builders with TikTok
Let's say your team has developed a "coming-soon" strategy for marketing a new community that's not built yet. By taking your strategy into consideration, AI can assist in developing hooks, captions and story lines relative to new construction homes, new communities, grand openings, etc.
Whether you're showing off a model home tour or providing quick financing tips, AI can be your creative partner for ideating scripts and storyboards for your short form video content. The short form videos that AI assists with can then be utilized as the basis for longer form content including blogs, community news, walk-throughs, etc., thereby allowing builders and developers to maximize their marketing dollars through a self-sustaining marketing loop.
It's most useful when you get stuck trying to think of what to create. You can just request a ton of different options. Just be sure to give it as much info as possible about you, your team (that will be featured in the content), personality styles, and what's unique about your product and company. Otherwise the content might look amazing on the surface, but blend in with your competitors' messaging.
TikTok is one part of your scalable builder marketing plan
Home shoppers are now utilizing TikTok to research neighborhoods, review floor plans and envision lifestyles prior to submitting becoming leads. According to industry research, it generally takes 8–12 touch points to convert a buyer to a lead. Since these types of transactions require significant amounts of time and money, it is no longer a nice-to-have. Instead it is a required component of increasing the number of touches made to buyers, building brand recognition among potential buyers and increasing the likelihood that buyers will make contact with you during the course of their buyer's journey.
With every coming soon or selling community that a builder develops a plan around for promoting their project(s), TikTok becomes an important vehicle for sharing messages related to those projects. Because of its ability to deliver messaging in a highly impactful and repeatable manner, short-form video allows builders to experiment with different hooks, headlines and value proposition ideas (i.e. Price, location, incentives/move-in date) and optimize their content based upon actual engagement metrics such as views, save/share/click-thru activity.
Additionally, because of its ease of use, TikTok is an easy way for builders to efficiently produce content. Successful videos can be reused across paid social media initiatives, landing pages, email campaigns and blog posts thereby maximizing the life cycle and ROI of your great content.
This results in a closed-loop marketing process whereby performance data informs the development of future creative, messaging is reinforced across all touch-points and each individual piece of content is used to support all phases of the buyer's journey, from awareness through conversion.
Because of the growth of new home communities in markets across the US, layering TikTok onto your home builder marketing plan is a way for you to boost the number of times a buyer interacts with content related to your product offering, it validates messaging quicker, and drives more qualified leads without the need for hiring a studio to build your videos.
Want more social media strategies that generate leads and sales for you?
Drop us a message below. We'd love to brainstorm with you and share bulletproof strategies that have worked for countless other production builders.
And the best part about working with Bokka: we can help implement these strategies, or just coach you on how to do it yourself. We're flexible like that.
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