home builder digital marketing

Why the Smartest Builders Won’t Miss the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit

Jim Sorgatz · 08/24/2025 ·

If you want to walk away with real strategies, fresh ideas, and actionable insights to grow your home building business, then the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit, September 24–25 in Atlanta, GA, is the place to be.

“Why this event?” you ask. With so many conferences competing for your time, here’s what makes the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit stand out:

HBDMS Image showing down town, and attendees raising hands and taking notes.

Scale That Works

Bigger isn’t always better. Sure, massive shows like IBS or mega-hotel events can be exciting, but they’re often overwhelming—too many distractions, too many sessions, not enough takeaways.

The Summit flips the script. With a smaller, more focused setting, you’ll actually get the answers to your burning questions, without being rushed out the door the moment a session ends. It’s all about connection, clarity, and conversation that sticks.

Hosts With Energy

Keeping things engaging are Kevin Weitzel (Partner, Outhouse) and Greg Bray (President, Blue Tangerine)—the same dynamic duo behind the popular Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast. Their mix of energy, humor, and know-how guarantees no dull moments.

Specialized Tracks

This isn’t a one-size-fits-all program. In addition to the main Marketing Track, you’ll find:

OSC Track – Led by Leah Fellows of Blue Gypsy Inc., designed to sharpen online sales counselor skills.
Leadership Track – Guided by Kimberly Mackey of New Homes Solutions Consulting, focused on leadership strategies that drive sales teams forward.

Each track is powered by industry experts who live and breathe these roles every day.

Industry Voices You Want to Hear

You’ll also hear directly from some of the brightest minds in home building marketing. A few names lighting up the stage:

Patrick Johnson, Head of Home Building Experience / Rilla
Melinda Byerley, Founder & CEO / Fiddlehead
Heidi Schroeder, Senior Consultant / ECI Lasso
Brian Kernohan, Chief Revenue Officer / Lumin AI
Sylka Millner, Director of Business Development / Zonda Homes / New Home Source
Chris Thornton, VP Digital Marketing & Technology / Ashton Woods Homes
Matthew Wilson, Executive Vice President of Innovation / Mironda Homes
Jamie Godwin, Director of Marketing Communications / Kolter Group
Courtney Stewart, Vice President of Client Services / Denim Marketing
Plus many more seasoned voices bringing insights you can apply the moment you return home.

Roundtable Power

Sometimes the best ideas come from the builder across the table. That’s why roundtable discussions are built into the Summit, giving you a chance to swap stories, share challenges, and uncover peer-driven solutions.

Summit Round table: Outhouse Partners leading fun conversation

Real Value, No Gimmicks

At the Summit, your investment goes straight into learning and growth. That means no nickel-and-diming, no “time-share-style” sponsor pitches—just pure education and insight you can put to work. Our goal is simple: send you home armed with fresh ideas to elevate your marketing, OSC, and leadership game.

And because we know great learning happens when people connect, your registration also covers breakfast and lunch both days, plus a lively evening mixer on Wednesday with heavy hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Oh, and one more perk: this year, we’ve secured rooms for just $125/night—so you can enjoy Atlanta without breaking the bank.

Your Call to Action!

The countdown is on! You’ve got 30 days to lock in your spot, arrange travel, and make your way to Atlanta. Seats are filling quickly, and this intimate setting means space is limited.

Don’t miss the chance to connect, learn, and elevate your marketing game. Reserve your seat today – your future marketing/sales/leadership self will thank you.

“Learning Never Exhausts the Mind”

Jim Sorgatz · 05/02/2022 · Leave a Comment

Builder Digital Marketing Summit – Live!

September 21-22, Phoenix, AZ

“Learning never exhausts the mind.” We love this quote from Leonardo da Vinci. And learning from experts and peers is the objective of the Home Builder Digital Marketing Summit, a two-day, action-packed, educational event! Reviews from prior years’ attendees bring this point home:

“I love that you had actual builders speaking! We hear from the same people over and over…. It’s wonderful to have some new voices in our industry!“

“The Summit was thought-provoking and insightful; I took away valuable information that I could use with my team.“

“Relevant topics and a plethora of actionable processes that can be implemented to start garnering results are a win in my book!“

Our Summit is Back and In-Person!

After two years online, we are excited to be hosting our fourth annual Summit in person once again, September 21-22 in downtown Phoenix, AZ. Taking place at the Found:RE hotel, we have an exciting line-up of leading industry experts who will guide you through two days of presentations, round table breakout groups, builder panel discussions, and networking. The curriculum is designed specifically for home builders seeking to optimize website and digital marketing strategies, furthering your ability to effectively grow sales.

Learn from the Experts

Explore with us the use of digital marketing to evolve the home buyer journey. Our speakers including Greg Bray and Cabe Vinson from Blue Tangerine, and Kevin Weitzel from Outhouse, will lead attendees through discussions on the most effective online tools, SEO, lead generation, digital marketing tactics, and more. Featured speakers include:

Stephanie McCarty Chief Marketing & Communications Officer Taylor Morrison

In her role, Ms. McCarty leads brand marketing, employee, customer and shareholder communications, media relations and PR, ESG initiatives and reporting, and crisis and issues management. In the last year, she has implemented an online customer experience strategy that includes innovative, industry-leading customer acquisition tools and products—establishing Taylor Morrison as a differentiated, progressive brand and helping to move the future of home shopping forward.

Dana Spencer National Vice President of Sales K. Hovnanian Homes

Ms. Spencer has been in the home building industry for nearly two decades beginning in 2003 with Pulte Homes, Pardee Homes, and Woodside Homes, generating over $70 million in sales in her career as a sales consultant. In 2011, Dana relocated to Arizona moving into sales leadership. In 2018 she was recruited by K. Hovnanian Homes to serve as Vice President of Sales with the Arizona Division. Six months later, she was promoted to her current role as the National Vice President of Sales where she leads the corporate sales efforts, initiatives and strategies on a national level.

Bob Mirman CEO and Owner Eliant, Inc.

The mission of Mr. Mirman’s 37-year-old firm Eliant, Inc. is to assist consumer-driven companies in systematically delivering an extraordinary experience to every customer, thereby turning delighted customers into referral generators. Eliant has provided international customer experience monitoring, training, and consulting for over 1,600 homebuilders and major mortgage and escrow firms across the U.S., Canada, and the Middle East. They also provide customer experience management services for BMW, Toyota, Beckman Instruments, IBM, and many others.

Network with Other Builders

Valuable learning takes place not only when we listen, but when we actively engage with each other. Alongside presentations are round-table discussions, builder panels, and an evening networking event. These opportunities to interact with each other help participants see how the knowledge we gain can be put to practical use.

Take Away Valuable Information

The valuable expertise packed into these two days will help you turn up the volume on your digital marketing. Whether you need to fine-tune your existing strategy or decide what first steps you should take to get your homes online, you will come away with new ideas, questions answered, and some great new business contacts. We can’t wait to see you there! Learn More & Register

5 Tips for Selecting the Right Digital Marketing Agency for Your Home Building Company

Bill Gelbaugh · 10/20/2020 · Leave a Comment

As a successful home builder, you know that the home buyers in today’s world begin their home buying journey online. They are searching for homes and evaluating builders’ new home communities and floor plans via their websites long before they ever decide to make contact with a salesperson and visit a community.

Lady checking out builder website. — An engaging website is critical to new home sales.

You know you need to have a home builder website that generates quality sales leads, and you also want to grow the number of qualified home buyers that visit your site.

You know it would be terrific to have a trusted partner agency to help you navigate the increasing complexities and options that are available in today’s digital marketing toolset. But let’s be honest. You are not an expert in digital marketing techniques and technologies, and you don’t have the time to become one. You are also working with limited marketing resources and can’t afford to waste money on selecting the wrong partner.

We all fear making mistakes, especially when those mistakes will cost us time and money. So how can you move forward with more confidence to find the digital marketing agency that is right for you and will help you sell more homes?

Here are some key questions to consider to help you evaluate a digital marketing agency that you are considering as a partner.

1.) Do they understand the home building industry?

There are a lot of agencies out there that are very good digital marketers but don’t have specific experience in working with home builders. Your local agency down the street may be very good at understanding the nuances of SEO, paid search, email marketing, and more, but do you want to pay them to learn the difference between a floor plan and an elevation, or between a model and an inventory home?

If you are looking for a partner who can help you execute on the tactical level, and will simply take your direction and implement it, then this type of agency may be a good fit for you.

However, if you are not sure what the best steps are to move forward online and you are also looking for strategic advice and guidance and an understanding of what others in the industry are successfully doing, then you will want a digital marketing agency who has not just worked with a few other home builders as clients but is also participating in industry events and sharing ideas on industry best practices.

2.) Can they explain the technical things they do in a way that you can understand and be comfortable with?

Just because digital marketing can be technical in nature, doesn’t mean that you must work with an agency purely on blind trust. It is important that you are comfortable with the direction and tactics that your agency partner is implementing on your behalf. While it is not necessary for them to train you to become a digital marketing expert yourself, they do need to be able to communicate the details of what digital marketing activities they are doing and why they are doing them and do that in such a way that you can understand and be comfortable.

These communication skills will continue to be important well beyond the initial sales discussions when you are deciding whether to work together. While fancy charts and graphs can look pretty and impressive, as the agency reports their progress periodically, ensure they will not just send a canned report but will explain the data and the implications of that report. With every report should come an understandable answer to the question: “Therefore, what’s next?”

3.) Can they describe their process and demonstrate that they understand where to start and how to get you where you want to go?

You feel like your business and the homes you build are unique and special, and they are. But usually, those differences, while important, are a relatively small part of the overall picture of what you do and the homes you sell. This means that an experienced agency is going to be able to see the commonalities between their clients across the services that they offer and define and create their process or framework for successfully serving you.

Having a process to follow does not mean that you will get a cookie-cutter service or that the solutions provided will not be customized to your needs. It does mean that you will get consistency in what they deliver for you and it demonstrates a deeper understanding of how the execution of digital marketing services can help you sell more homes, even when your homes are in a different location or target a different buyer demographic than someone else that the agency has worked with previously.

4.) Does the agency claim to be an expert in everything?

Confidence is great, arrogance is not. It is very challenging in today’s environment for a single agency to be an expert in everything. Be sure to ask where the agency draws the line of which services they will offer for you. For example, at Blue Tangerine, we recognize that we are not experts in helping our clients with their core branding or with logo design, so we have established relationships with several other branding agencies so that we can provide referrals if our clients have a need for those particular services.

5.) Will the agency clearly measure success in a way that you are comfortable with?

When working with your digital marketing agency, it is very easy to lose sight of the ultimate end goal, which is to increase qualified leads so you can sell more homes. This happens because agencies feel, often rightly so, that they don’t have the full control to be held accountable for that result. Instead, they want to focus on metrics like website traffic increases and specific keyword rankings. These are, of course, important metrics that need to be reviewed and will inform the tactical execution of your digital marketing plan and strategy. However, if you double the amount of traffic to your website or your website is now ranking number one for your favorite keyword phrase, and you still do not sell more homes, is that really success?

handshake — Trust between builder and marketing agency is key.

Bonus Tip: Most importantly, are they someone you can trust?

Regardless of how the digital marketing agency you are considering measures up with whatever criteria that you apply, at the end of the day, it’s all about trust. No partnership will ever be successful in the long term if both sides are not able to work together from a position of trust. While trust is something that takes time to develop, here are a few ideas of ways to determine if an agency is trustworthy even before you’ve started working with them:

Do they get back to you in a timely manner, the way they promised to when you filled out the form on their website?
Do they deliver a proposal or quote within the timeframe that they told you they would, or if not, do they keep you up to date with where things stand?
Do they have a demonstrated expertise by working with other home builders?
How do their existing clients feel about working with them?

At Blue Tangerine, we recognize that to be trusted as your digital marketing partner is both an honor and a responsibility. We’d love to earn that trust. If you are ready to start selling more homes, reach out today and let’s talk.

Submitted by

Mila Sorensen, Director of Marketing & Marketing Services
Blue Tangerine.

Blue Tangerine is your website design, development and digital marketing agency all rolled into one – from mobile responsive websites, SEO and PPC to email and social media, we provide full-service solutions to home builders, online retailers, and businesses.