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Homebuilder's Market Rises to Number 1 with Genius Monkey

About the Subject

The subject is a prominent homebuilder throughout the nation, founded in the 1950s, and to this day remains one of the country's leading builders of quality homes with divisions that span across the nation. The subject offers a variety of communities to match any lifestyle. That, in combination with the fact that they offer superior standards, exceptional home designs and a high level of customer care, certainly lends to their success.

Genius Monkey Joins the Team

The Senior Vice President and Executive Director at the advertising firm that manages the marketing needs of several divisions of this homebuilder recognized a need for a more effective advertising campaign that would boost online traffic and sales.

The Phoenix market of this homebuilder was one the first in its company to incorporate Genius Monkey's programmatic platform, and within months rose to the number one market in the division; something that had not occurred within the last decade. There was a significant jump in the homebuilder's online traffic when Genius Monkey began running ads. This is attributed to the increase in brand awareness and targeted Internet traffic.

The Results

Evidence that the services provided by Genius Monkey continues to justify the expenditure. They were provided the following data that was helpful in the evaluation of Genius Monkey's ad performance:

  • Genius Monkey was the #1 source for non-bounce sessions with only eight out 20 plus active divisions
  • Genius Monkey was the #1 source for new visitors-non-bounce sessions
  • Genius Monkey was the #1 source for return visitors-non-bounce sessions

The client was informed that the increase in website sessions are a result of Genius Monkey reducing the first week's spending while he and the divisions revised each of their demographic targeting information using updated homebuyer reports provided to him by a partner Mortgage Company.

According to one the managing advertising executives for the homebuilder. "The GM platform is set up to reach all levels of the purchase funnel rather than just the lower levels. Lower level shoppers convert better, but to have a larger funnel at the bottom, we need a larger funnel at the top and mid-range. There is no more cost effective way to do this than with Genius Monkey."

He went on to explain to the client that sessions from Genius Monkey, in almost every case, dwarfs traffic from other "like sources" to the client's website that have the same, or close to the same, budget allocation.

What Genius Monkey Provides

Jeremy Hudgens, Director of Client Solutions at Genius Monkey said, "What we provide to the homebuilder is a branding campaign; not too different than billboards and TV, only we can specifically target their audience. If someone sees one of our banner or video ads, they are seeing it because they have engaged in online (or offline) behavior that indicates that they are interested in a new home." Hudgens added, "Rather than posting a billboard on the side of the road, we are pasting the advertising on individual windshields!"

Genius Monkey currently provides the homebuilder with two of their signature platforms-Optimize Video and Optimize Display. This has driven large amounts of online traffic and increased market share. The marketing specialists at Genius Monkey know that the majority of shoppers change their mind about which brand they initially set out to buy. They know they must reach potential customers with the right message-the first time.

Results are Crucial

Hudgens explains that Genius Monkey is continually evolving, along with the marketing industry. He adds that careful testing is constantly being conducted to assure that the client is getting the biggest bang for their advertising dollar as is possible. Some of the factors that Genius Monkey continually monitors and measures are:

  • Total leads
  • Total calls
  • Total gross sales
  • Market share
  • Community traffic (in the homebuilder's case)

Hudgens added that the secondary indicators Genius Monkey looks for are; traffic to the website, as well as the correlation between the traffic when they are running the campaign verses the traffic before they started. Without measurement, there is no way to verify and validate the success of the campaign. As an example, in January of 2015, one the homebuilder's divisions paused some of their advertising budget considerably (from 80K to 10K). By February, the measurements indicated that there was a noticeable drop in the organic traffic, and as a result, sales started to suffer. They ended up increasing their advertising budget back up for the month of March.