4 key takeaways for better builder marketing in 2022

Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, home renovations have been on the rise with no end in sight. According to LIRA, “annual improvement and repair expenditures by homeowners could reach $400 billion by the third quarter of 2022.” 

But what does that mean for your business? Some of the top trends and insights to keep in mind in this year include:  

• Kitchen projects are the most popular among renovating homeowners, and investment on major remodels of large kitchens jumped 14% in 2020 compared to 2019. (Houzz)
  
  • Top 2022 kitchen trends include: colorful cabinetry, multiple islands, patterned wood floors, linear lighting, and more. (The Kitchn)
    
• Walk-in pantries tied with double-basin sinks are the most desirable feature homebuyers look for in a kitchen. (NAHB)
  
• 85% of homeowners feel prepared to tackle DIY projects, but only 12% of homeowners consider themselves “heavy” DIYers. (HIRI)
  
• Pros expect to see increased demand in 2022 for projects aimed at adding functionality for homeowners—with the #1 project expected to be updates for energy efficiency, like HVAC. (Lowe’s Pro Pulse Survey)
  
  • 33% of end users want to make minor home improvements to reduce energy consumption (e.g., adding insulation or buying more energy-efficient appliances). (Forbes)
    

You now know the trends to anticipate from homeowner demand, but it’s time to flip that and ensure you’re meeting ever-changing consumer expectations as well.

A new customer experience

• According to Accenture, the customer experience has become liquid across industries and applications. This means, your ease of availability, purchase, and brand can be compared to Amazon, who may not be remotely close to being a direct competitor.
  
• 79% of customers are willing to share relevant information about themselves in exchange for contextualized interactions in which they’re immediately known and understood. (Salesforce)
  

When bringing these two insights together and thinking of the lifetime value of a customer, this is crucial information for all industries. Your customers and end-users want to make your job easier by providing relevant info that indicates their needs now and in the future. You need a place to store and analyze it. If you’re not already implementing personalization via a marketing automation platform, now’s the time. 

Going greener 

• According to Forbes Trends, The ultimate homeowner goal is to power HVAC systems via electricity that is generated by a clean energy source, like wind or the sun.
  
• And, not just limited to HVAC, these homeowners are often willing to pay more for the sustainability of options that are more environmentally friendly than others.
  
• GlobalWebIndex found a rising number of consumers were ready to pay for more expensive, eco-friendly products, including 46% of Baby Boomers and 61% of Millennials.
  

Beyond your product offering, is your marketing strategy set up to meet this demand? As consumers search for eco-friendly home trends and products, the right SEO keyword strategy across your website and paid search efforts work to capture this homeowner interest that is unlikely to wane. 

Accommodating for self-service

• 28% of consumers say the most frustrating issue is information that is simple but hard to find (Drift)
  
• 69% of consumers first try to resolve their issue independently, but less than one-third of companies offer self-service options such as a knowledge base (Zendesk)
  

The fickle thing about consumers is that as much information as they’re willing to offer, they want the chance to digest information on their terms first. Keep in mind the stat above: only 12% of homeowners consider themselves heavy DIYers. 

The manufacturer’s website is a key part of any buying journey—eventually, users are going to find their way over to your website. Without customer feedback, you may not know your website is meeting expectations without taking a look under the hood. Bounce and exit rates may be good indicators that your website is hard to navigate or lacks the information needed. And if you aren’t utilizing a knowledge base but are sitting on a wealth of resources, consider pulling them into one location on your site and ensuring your search feature is intuitive.

Reworking email marketing reporting

• The projected number of emails that will be sent every day in 2022 is estimated to be an astonishing 333.2 billion.
  
• Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) went into effect in September 2021 and stops senders from tracking open rates with invisible pixels .
  
• According to Apple, Mail Privacy Protection works by hiding the recipients’ IP address and loading the remote content privately in the background, even when they don’t open the message. This makes it harder for senders to follow mail activity.
  
• This essentially indicates that it downloads email content automatically in the background, regardless of whether the receiver read the email—meaning your open rates may be artificially inflated.
  

So what does this all mean for marketers? Email as a marketing tool isn’t going away anytime soon, but have you reworked your reporting in compliance with (MPP)? Open rates aren’t a dead metric, just a bit more unreliable—instead shift your focus to more meaningful metrics like click rates and overall email engagement. 

Hanson may very well be reporting on different homeowner trends come 2023, but actions businesses take now ensure that customer demands are met for years to come.