Parade of Homes
Parade of Homes
Project Summary
The Parade of Homes event for the Flint Hills Area Builders Association took place biannually. It is an event that coordinates 3 days of open houses across multiple cities/towns, from multiple builders in the region, with a member kickoff event on the first day. It involved coordinating the publication of printed and digital catalogs, selling of sponsorships, selling catalog and digital ads, marketing, photographers, builders, interior designers, realtors, event governance, creation of creative assets, venue scouting, mapping, industry research, feedback gathering, catering contracting, and media management. As a leanly staffed non-profit, much of the project management was coordinated and/or documented by Michelle Olesky.
Michelle managed the market research and surveying prior to events, informing the board if there was sufficient inventory of houses ready for participation in the event. She also managed the creation and content for the catalogs, traditional and digital marketing strategy and content, as well as the migration of the catalog to a digital format.
Results
The transition to a digital catalog and the marketing around the event and the catalog publication drove the highest website traffic the association has ever recorded. Each published catalog increased the website traffic leading up to and during the event by over 400%.
The events (even during the Spring 2020 pandemic) resulted in sales of all the homes participating in the event, and feedback from participating builders that they gathered high-quality leads for future custom-build clients.
Transitioning from printed to digital catalogs resulted in driving record numbers to the association’s website, an event budget savings of over $4,000, and a significant savings of staffing hours for delivery and refilling of printed catalogs to multiple locations.