“Green is for Idiots!” Part II- The Green Marketing Answers Home Builders Have Been Looking For…
If you missed Part I of this article and are a bit “miffed” about my title, you can get caught up in about 3 minutes by clicking on this link.
Below you’ll find answers from actual HOME BUYERS- Not from any crack pot marketer or 3rd party Green designation theories…
~Rick
In my humble opinion, the National Association of Home Builder’s (NAHB) Institute of Residential Marketing (IRM) courses are the finest the association offers. To become a member of the IRM, you have to write a case study on the history of a residential development.
I submitted my case study back in 2006 and when I received the critique from the IRM- two comments stuck out in my mind…
1. “How could the developer run out of marketing money?” This was 2006 and the project was a bit “ahead of the curve.”
2. “The developer did a great job of selling lots to builders.”
Yes the project was now in foreclosure. Yes, besides only a few end users, the only owners in this project were builders.
This story reminds me a lot of how the Green movement within the housing industry is selling itself today. It’s doing a great job of selling to our own builder members but how good of a job does it do relating to home buyers?
Have most home builders and remodelers taken some sort of formal education regarding Green housing?
Answer: Yes!
Have many of these same companies attempted to provide a 3rd party certified Green home or project?
Answer: Yes!
Have these marketing and positioning strategies been consistently successful?
Answer: No!
Why?
In a 2008 National Association of Realtors (NAR) study of Home Buyers, recent home buyers were asked what is the “Importance of a Homes Environmentally Friendly Features?”
The answers are below and will tell you EXACTLY home you should be promoting Green…
To See the full report use this link>>
Using the above data you can see home buyers are VERY INTERESTED in one common theme- more money in their pocket through lower utility bills.
What’s the Lesson Here?
The lesson is the same as the builders in my case study learned…
It’s why you need to Segment Your Green marketing and identify what is important to your target market. You need to make it personal, make it real and most importantly- use it to differentiate your company from used homes.
Do you agree? Disagree? Think I’m clueless? Have a better idea?
Tell me what you think. Leave your comments below…
Happy Selling!
P.S. There are 3 strategies to segment Green. Each of them can be used to create a niche for your business.Find out how you can use any one of these strategies to sell more homes in 2010>>
