G.J. Gardner Homes Finds a Custom Homes Marketing Solution

Franchise custom home builder, G.J. Gardner Homes, was founded in 1983 in Australia and has since opened franchises in seven U.S. states. The company has built more than 30,000 custom homes, building as many as 1,000 in a single year.

Britlyn Garrett joined G.J. Gardner in 2015 as marketing manager for the company’s California Master Franchise.

When she started, she immediately noticed that G.J. Gardner’s online presence needed to make a bigger impact on prospective custom home buyers and drive more traffic to their model homes and sales centers.

G.J. Gardner recently completed the first phase of its new home community, Vineyard Estates, in Selma, CA — its largest development to date — but the custom builder has even more single home listings that aren’t connected to a community.

Garrett looked to Zillow Group’s Promoted Homes platform to get more exposure to custom home shoppers.

Marketing single lots versus communities

Increasing the speed of marketing G.J. Gardner’s custom homes was one of Garrett’s primary goals. She needed an online platform that would allow her to quickly and easily upload G.J. Gardner’s listings to start attracting custom home shoppers right away.

Although she’s based in Sacramento, part of Garrett’s responsibilities is ensuring brand consistency for all of G.J. Gardner’s California franchises — and often beyond, as the Master Franchises in other states frequently collaborate on marketing efforts.

Garrett needed a solution that would fit any G.J. Gardner franchise, regardless of its location.

Finding a solution for custom built homes

Garrett received an email about Zillow Group’s Promoted Communities platform. She had already researched many solutions, but after connecting with an account manager who reviewed her marketing objectives and needs, Garrett considered Zillow Group the best fit.

Garrett added some of the California communities to the Promoted Communities platform, but asked Zillow Group about solutions for G.J. Gardner custom homes that weren’t attached to a community.

“G.J. Gardner was looking for a solution to market complete tear-down or rebuild projects because they operate in areas that don’t have space to hold an entire community,” recalled KC, the Zillow Group account manager for G.J. Gardner.

At the time, Zillow Group didn’t have the solution Garrett needed, but KC let her know it was developing a beta program that might deliver exactly what she was looking for.

A month later, KC called Garrett to ask if she might be interested in testing out the new program, Promoted Homes.

“They called me and said, ‘Hey, our single listing beta platform is now live; want to try it?’” Garrett recalled. “I was really impressed with the speed in which Promoted Homes came to fruition! Being part of the beta platform was a no brainer for us after the success we had with Promoted Communities.”

Garrett first added eight single lot, custom built home listings on Promoted Homes. After only two months, five out of the eight homes had sold or went into escrow.

“Our two Bakersfield homes sold in less than two months and were not listed on the MLS: They were exclusively on Zillow when they sold,” Garrett noted. “I wasn’t really surprised when I heard they sold so quickly because of the sheer number of visitors who visit Zillow and Trulia each month.”

A growing toolbox for custom home builders

“G.J. Gardner is always interested in improvements to the Promoted Homes platform, and engaging with us about consumer insights and other tools like the Grand Opening feature and Lot Availability,” KC observed.

“They’re eager to find ways to best use Zillow across its other franchises and get the highest performance from their investment — including the Promoted Communities platform, as well.”

G.J. Gardner’s other franchises have seen the success that the California office has achieved through Promoted Homes and ask Garrett about how she does it.

“They ask about cost first and I tell them, ‘There’s a cost to any marketing that you do, but if you look at the numbers — cost-per-impression and the average time it takes to sell a home with or without Zillow and Trulia — there really isn’t anything that compares,’” Garrett explained.

Building G.J. Gardner's brand awareness

Currently Gardner has three custom home listings on Promoted Homes and will add eight to 10 more in the next few months. Although single homes are its primary focus right now, Gardner also has two communities live on Promoted Communities, with one more coming in the next two months.

“It’s just the peace of mind knowing we’re on the number one site for real estate, that we’re doing what we should be doing, and being in front of the right people who are looking to buy a new home,” Garrett reasoned.

“We understand that not every home we add to the Promoted Homes platform will be sold to someone who found us through Zillow or Trulia; however, being partnered with Zillow Group is significantly strengthening our brand awareness and success in home building.”

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