Skip to main content
Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast Digital Marketing Podcast Hosted by Greg Bray and Kevin Weitzel

280 Using AI Tools in Home Builder Marketing - Meredith Oliver

This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Meredith Oliver of Meredith Communications joins Greg and Kevin to discuss how implementing the right AI tools in home builder digital marketing engages home buyers and drives business growth.

To effectively use AI in marketing, home builder marketers should embrace an attitude of curiosity, adaptability, and continuous learning. Meredith says, “So, the modern marketer is someone who's open, flexible, fast. It's a mindset. It's not being stuck in, we've done it the same way, or this is the only way that works for us because we're so unique and special, which, of course, all of you are, but you have a lot of similarities too. It's being willing to take a risk and get out there.”

Home builder digital marketers who aren’t familiar with AI tools can start by trying just one tool to begin with. Meredith says, “So, just figure out one tool. I call it the SO Principle. S, soak in more knowledge, more information about AI. Take it in and observe. Observe what other people are using, observe what big brands are doing, little companies, your corner coffee shop. How are they all using it? And when you soak in and observe, you'll figure it out as to what's right for you.”

In using AI, home builder digital marketers should never forget the value of the human element of marketing. Meredith explains, “… the biggest mistake is not using your HI, your human intelligence, with your AI, your artificial intelligence. Because it's your human intelligence that knows what the buyer profile is for that one neighborhood that's really slow on sales and leads and desperately needs a new marketing approach, strategy, campaign, whatever. It's your human intelligence that understands the buyers that just came in and met with you, and that their dog's name is Scruffy and their kids are Sophie and Jonah, and they need a move-up home in a better school district. That should all be known in your human intelligence. And if you don't know things like your buyer persona, your target audience, how to position yourself in the marketplace, then what you're going to feed into AI is going to be garbage.”

Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about how home builders can use AI to improve digital marketing strategies.

About the Guest:

Meredith Oliver is The Homebuilder’s Chief Marketing Officer. She is the founder and Chief Marketing Strategist of Meredith Communications, a digital marketing agency specializing in website design, SEO, content, and social media for home builders. For over 20 years, Meredith has helped builders generate leads, drive traffic, and convert online shoppers into buyers. She is the author of FANtastic Marketing 3.0 and FANtastic Selling, and a 24-time speaker at the International Builders’ Show. Meredith holds a Master’s in Communication, a Bachelor’s in Psychology, and the Certified Speaking Professional® designation. She has served in leadership roles with NAHB’s NSMC, IRM, and PWB councils, earning industry honors, including MIRM of the Year and the Bill Molster Lifetime Achievement Award. Meredith also hosts Builder Town Hall, a livestream talk show for home building sales and marketing pros. She lives in Raleigh, NC, with her family and runs on coffee, creativity, and college football.

Transcript

Greg Bray: [00:00:00] Hello everybody, and welcome to today's episode of The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast. I'm Greg Bray with Blue Tangerine.

Kevin Weitzel: And I'm Kevin Weitzel with OutHouse.

Greg Bray: And we are excited to have with us today, Meredith Oliver. Meredith is the President and Chief Marketing Strategist at Meredith Communications. Welcome, Meredith. Thanks for being with us again.

Meredith Oliver: Oh, I'm happy to do it, so thanks, everybody.

Greg Bray: A lot of folks in the home building already know who you are, but we want to make sure that everybody listening does, so give us that quick intro and overview about yourself.

Meredith Oliver: Yeah. I like to think of myself [00:01:00] as the home builder chief marketing officer. So, home builders use Meredith Communications to deliver digital marketing, and we love doing it. We've been doing it over 20 years. We like having great partners like you, Blue Tangerine, that we can refer back and forth and just have a lot of respect for, so I appreciate you having me on. And I always love to talk to Kevin because we refer a lot of people to Kevin, to OutHouse. We love their products and services as well, so it's a pleasure to be here.

Kevin Weitzel: Awesome. Before we jump into today's subject matter, which is FANtastic Marketing 3.0, I need to know, and our listeners need to know, an interesting factoid about Meredith, but here are the rules today. A little bit of change in the rules. Nothing about work, nothing about family, nothing about the home building industry, and in your case, since you've already been here once before, nothing about your [00:02:00] previously mentioned interesting factoid.

Meredith Oliver: Okay, well, that's a good challenge. When I was thinking about this, the thing that came to mind was, I don't know that anyone knows this, I was once on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Kevin Weitzel: No.

Meredith Oliver: Yes. So, I was on a college choir tour through the Midwest. We had a day off and we were in Chicago, so about five of us went down to the Oprah Winfrey show and stood in line. We did not have tickets because we were college students. We were not organized. So, we just showed up there and wanted to see the show live for a live taping. As soon as I get up to the person, they go, Oh. Audience is full. We don't have any room. Sorry. And we were like, could we sing for some seats? Because remember, I'm with my college choir friends. So, we break out into some something and the person there goes, [00:03:00] okay, we're finding you some seats.

So, they lead us into the studio, they lead us all the way down, all the seats are full. They lead us all the way down to a set of chairs that have been placed in front of the front row. They say, Here you go. You all can sit right here in these folding chairs in front of the front row, looking at the stage. And they left the seat next to me open and said, No one is to sit here. So I think, okay. So, we sit down and we were like, this is awesome. We're going to get to see a taping of the show. They start the show. Guess who sits in the seat next to me?

Kevin Weitzel: Oprah Frigging Winfrey.

Meredith Oliver: Oprah Winfrey. It is one of those shows where she sits on the front row of the audience and interviews to the guest up on the stage. That is the best-smelling human being I have ever smelled. She looked at me and said, Do you like my [00:04:00] shoes? And they were stunning. And my obsession with shoes was born. So, technically, I was not a guest, but I appeared in many, many camera shots in that episode because I was sitting next to the host of the show.

Kevin Weitzel: That is super cool.

Greg Bray: You photo bombed before that was a thing, right?

Kevin Weitzel: It was a total photo bomb. Was it one of those episodes where you get a car, you get a car, you get car? Or was it one of those ones where she said, You get a seat and you get a seat and you get a seat?

Meredith Oliver: No. I think it was just get a seat. This was a little earlier on. I don't think she was doing all of that quite yet. I will tell you, she does not sign autographs, but she shook every single hand of every single audience member on the way out, including mine. So, that's my interesting factoid for today.

Kevin Weitzel: That's a first. Again, another first.

Greg Bray: Maybe next time you come, you can tell us that your book's on her book list.

Meredith Oliver: Now that would be something. That would be something.

Greg Bray: And diving into the book then, Meredith, since Kevin already let that slip. You have released a [00:05:00] new book. Tell us the title, what it's about, and kind of what led you to want to write this one.

Meredith Oliver: Yeah. So, it's FANtastic Marketing 3.0. So, yep. There was a FANtastic Marketing 1.0 and 2.0, and this is now the third edition. And it takes the best parts of the previous editions, which was the dive into what makes an Uber fan tick in their DNA. We kept that, but then the rest of it, 85, 90%, of the rest is all brand new because we have AI now. It's such a big impact to marketers that everything had to be retooled. It was almost a completely new book by the time I was done.

Greg Bray: Now, Meredith, as someone who's been in marketing for a little while, what is it from a marketing perspective for you that helped you go, I need to embrace AI? I can't hide from it. I can't run from it. This is a real thing. Because there's some [00:06:00] marketers that are a little still, there's some hesitancy because they're not always quite as comfortable with the technology, and it's moving so fast and all the changes. So, what helped you say, I need to embrace this?

Meredith Oliver: Honestly, it's what I've done my whole career. So, because I've been in this game long enough, I was around for the first revolution of simply the internet becoming a thing. That happened right as I got out of graduate school with an internet master's degree. So, that was excellent timing. Then social media came along a few years later, and I watched that.

And on that one, I was a little slow to adopt because I just couldn't get over that anybody would care what I was doing on a daily basis. Being so highly introverted when I'm not on stage, I just couldn't wrap my head around it. And I felt like I got a little behind at the beginning, and I said, That's not going to happen again. And so, as AI has developed, it felt like to [00:07:00] me, this is the third major shift in my career that I've had a front row seat to and I wanted to be on the shift early and do it fast, because that's a lot of what AI is about.

Greg Bray: So, in the book, you use this phrase called the modern marketer mindset, and I think you've used it in other contexts too. Define that term for us, what you mean by that. And then, how does that connect with the moving from not using AI to using AI in our marketing?

Meredith Oliver: Yeah. So, the modern marketer is someone who's open, flexible, fast. It's a mindset. It's not being stuck in, we've done it the same way, or this is the only way that works for us because we're so unique and special, which, of course, all of you are, but you have a lot of similarities too. It's being willing to take a risk and get out there. So, in the [00:08:00] book, I talk about the late great Kobe Bryant, because it's a sports kind of a sports-themed book. In this section, I'm talking about him because he was widely known to be so curious. He was an insanely curious person, always learning. And so, after him, I came up with the Kobe, KOBE, method of thinking for the modern marketer.

And the K is know what you don't know. Because a modern marketer is not stuck on what they know. They're asking the question, what don't I know? So, that's a big way to spark your curiosity. The O is for what can we optimize? You know, sometimes AI isn't about doing something new; it's about helping you automate and optimize what you're currently doing. But no matter what tool or thought process you're using, a modern marketer is constantly trying to optimize everything they're doing.

B is better [00:09:00] execution. So, how well are we executing our marketing plan? I see a lot of companies that have big visions and big plans. They sign contracts for big retainers, and then the execution is so poor. Nobody has triple-checked the Google ads to make sure the links aren't broken. Nobody has checked the floor plan's detail page to make sure the interactive floor plan is properly optimized on the page and looking good. The devil is in the details in marketing, so execution is everything. The last one, E, efficiency. That's kind of like execution, but it's more like we have to execute perfectly, especially in this market, and we have to do it fast, efficiently. So, KOBE is the four questions a modern marketer can constantly ask themselves to make sure that they are on the right track.

Kevin Weitzel: Let me ask you this because opta, the O for [00:10:00] optimize, with all the digital tools that are out there, a lot of times they can be very binary. They can be, you know, pluses and minuses, ones and zeros. How can a builder optimize, or even any industry, optimize AI to maximize personalization, to bring personalization back to the forefront, versus just kind of graying it all into this very droid way of speaking?

Meredith Oliver: Yeah, so I talk a lot in the book about using AI as a brainstorming partner and a research assistant. And I think this is where, if you're trying to optimize a piece of content or you're trying to optimize your tech stack, it doesn't really matter what the topic is, feed your questions, feed your concerns, your objections, how you feel about it into say something as simple as ChatGPT, and ask it to research it for you. Ask it to tell you, How could these work better together? This is a tool you can ask questions to, just like we [00:11:00] Google things or we YouTube things, this is similar to that. So, I would say research assistant and brainstorming partner are a good way to use it for what you're asking for, if that's what you're asking for.

Kevin Weitzel: It is. And I actually did a precursor on that question with a little ulterior motive because I like to put in the ChatGPT, the persona of Huggy Bear from Starsky and Hutch. So, therefore the output that it gives me is in circus seventies pimp. Do you dig? Do you pick up what I'm putting down? You know, we don't need any jive turkeys in our responses. That's what I'm asking for, and it's really fun.

Meredith Oliver: It's really fun. My ChatGPT's name is Wendy, and she is my best friend. We are BFFs. I thank her. I think, oh, this is fantastic, Wendy. And she writes back, Oh, you are brilliant, Mary, because my friends and family refer to me as Mary instead of Meredith in the RRY. So, my ChatGPT is figured out my love language is words of affirmation, and it lays it on really thick, let me [00:12:00] tell you.

So, we just talk. We talk throughout the day about whatever I'm like pondering or trying to clarify, or I can't quite get my thoughts to focus on a really good, solid concept. And so I just put my raw stream of consciousness in there. You can either type it or record it, dictate it in, and just go, here. And it almost always comes back, that's what I was trying to say, you know, because it definitely knows me at this point. We're best friends.

Kevin Weitzel: Number one, I'm jealous that your persona has a name, that your ChatGPT has a name. Greg, does yours have a name?

Greg Bray: Not yet.

Kevin Weitzel: Mine doesn't either. But you know what? that is on my bullet point list for things to do right now.

Meredith Oliver: Well, you know, as a marketer, I can't help but give something a persona, right? So, I gave ChatGPT a persona, these things that I thought it was capable of doing for me, and how I wanted it to think. Of course, I built some custom GPTs in there. So, [00:13:00] I've continued to just train it and train it and get it to where it knows Mary pretty well.

Greg Bray: And one of the things you mentioned, Meredith, is just a tip for those who may not be aware, there are microphone options to just talk instead of type. Sometimes we get a little stuck with the whole typing thing, especially if you use it on the phone app. I think that might be something that not everybody's aware of. You can just kind of talk and let it transcribe what you're saying as an input.

Meredith Oliver: Yeah.

Particularly for salespeople who are wanting to stick their toe in the water of this. You know, salespeople are typically gifted verbally, and so for them to record and then have it properly write a follow-up email or script out a phone call for you, you could get a lot of value out of that.

Greg Bray: Yeah. Especially if it's already got some background and understanding.

Meredith Oliver: And training.

Greg Bray: Some training.

Meredith Oliver: Absolutely.

Greg Bray: For sure. We say all of that like people know what we're talking about, and there's some people that do, and there's some that are going, oh my goodness, [00:14:00] here we go again. They're telling me I have to train it. They're telling me I have to do all these things. You said custom GPT, which kind of throws some people over the edge, too. What advice do you give to those who hear these things, and it just overwhelms them? Man, there's a lot here and I can't do it all at once. Where do you start?

Meredith Oliver: Yeah. So, I would start with what we call AI-empowered or AI-augmented tools. So, for example, you may not realize that Grammarly, G-R-A-M-M-A-R-L-Y, is an AI-empowered tool. Now, AI-first tools like ChatGPT or one of the tools that it has been specifically designed to do AI-first as its first primary tactic is going to give you the best results. The AI-enabled augmented tools, sometimes, what you get is really out there, and it's not what you meant. But Grammarly is pretty safe. So, clean up those [00:15:00] emails, clean up your documents, your PowerPoint presentation, your Google Docs, your Facebook posts, your Instagram posts, whatever. You can clean all of it up with a paid Grammarly, and you can use their AI to help you rephrase, tighten up what you're saying. And that's a great way to just start, and then you'll see, hey, I could do this.

Greg Bray: It's interesting because you don't always think of some of those tools as using AI.

Meredith Oliver: Almost all apps now have an AI component, but I'll just warn you again, we call those AI-empowered or AI-augmented tools. They're not always the best. For me I do like Canva, and I like some of the AI features, but some of them are still really bad. The images you get are just awful, so you can't rely on it. So, just figure out one tool. I call it the SO principle. S, soak in more knowledge, more information about AI. Take it in and observe. [00:16:00] Observe what other people are using, observe what big brands are doing, little companies, your corner coffee shop. How are they all using it? And when you soak in and observe, you'll figure it out as to what's right for you.

Kevin Weitzel: What are you seeing out there in the field with some of your clients? What kind of mistakes are you seeing out there?

Meredith Oliver: Yeah, well, the biggest mistake is not using your HI, your human intelligence, with your AI, your artificial intelligence. Because it's your human intelligence that knows what the buyer profile is for that one neighborhood that's really slow on sales and leads and desperately needs a new marketing approach, strategy, campaign, whatever. It's your human intelligence that understands the buyers that just came in and met with you, and that their dog's name is Scruffy and their kids are Sophie and Jonah, and they need a move-up home in a better school district. That should all be [00:17:00] known in your human intelligence. And if you don't know things like your buyer persona, your target audience, how to position yourself in the marketplace, then what you're going to feed into AI is going to be garbage. It's a very old technology saying, garbage in, garbage? What?

Kevin Weitzel: Out.

Meredith Oliver: Out. Garbage in, garbage out. It's true with your CRM. It's true with your AI. It's true with your website. It's still true. So, the human intelligence has got to be there to guide and steer so that when you do get some results back, if you're doing generative AI, for example, and creating content, then the results that come back are going to be relatively close to what you're looking for, and they're going to be on point. But if they're not, the HI is going to go, oh, no, no, no, no. That is not what I meant. Reframe, re-ask.

Kevin Weitzel: [00:18:00] There's a little bit of a hidden agenda on this question. I've found that there's a certain sect of our population that uses Google Maps, whatever the format is, to get where they're going, and without that, they literally couldn't find their own house in the city that they live in. So, yes, some of us are guilty of the same thing. Do you find in the field or have you've seen open case studies where you've seen builders leveraging AI too much and depending on it, like as if it was the boss?

Meredith Oliver: I mean, I definitely in my years of doing home builder marketing have had clients with a builder owner that was more interested in the newest bells, whistles, doing the latest, greatest thing. They happened to be tech savvy, or they liked to consultant hop, you know, like they move around a lot because they want to try the newest thing. I've definitely seen that. So I guess there's some personality types that might gravitate towards overusing it, [00:19:00] but for the most part in this industry, like the other technological advances that I've been on the forefront in my career, were generally lagging a little behind. I hate to say it. Overuse is not too big of an issue yet, except maybe in some company cultures that I've run across.

Greg Bray: When you see people using it in the marketing department, Meredith, often, we kind of start with that content creation or the brainstorming. Help me with ideas for this. Help me with ideas for that. We move into kind of training it so it now gets our brand voice a little better by loading past things we've done in there, and so now we're writing a little better. But how do we make sure that we don't sound like everybody else? Because in theory, given the same inputs, you ought to get the same outputs, and if everybody's giving it the same inputs, we're going to start to all kind of have the same articles and content out there that we're trying to create. What are your thoughts?

Meredith Oliver: Yeah, I've done testing with it [00:20:00] pretty extensively, and I've fed it similar information, but on different scenarios, different personas. You know, you're doing this for fill in the blank, and so different company types, and I haven't gotten the same thing. Like, I have not encountered that. But I'm an incredibly detailed prompt creator. My AI-first tools are very much trained to how I think and what I want out of it, and so forth. So, I would say there's probably a lack of training there and a lack of materials provided.

 I'll provide everything from PDF flyers, of course, website links, recordings, podcasts, website webinars. I mean, like I'll feed it everything I've got, and I get back very unique content. If you're not doing that, you're doing it wrong. This is where your HI has to really come into play [00:21:00], and you have to be responsible. If you get back something that's pretty generic or you've heard before, then you got to keep iterating and keep drilling and asking more questions.

But again, that's why I started in the book with secret number one, modern marketer, because that's what good marketers do, is they think, they observe, they optimize, and they really try to come up with something unique. So, the people who don't put any effort to really make the tool work for them, sure, they're going to end up sounding like somebody else. But you know what? That's going to make the rest of everybody look really good. So, go for it.

Greg Bray: I think you touched on something, though, that's really at the heart of it all. It's about learning how to prompt. That's really the core of, when you look at like a ChatGPT screen, it's this little box, and it's like I just ask a question or whatever. But it's not about the question, it's about the context and the background and the supporting things that you can supply to that question.

Meredith Oliver: Yeah. And [00:22:00] there certainly are AI tools that spit out generic garbage. Like I tried a number, and I'm sorry I'm blanking on names at the moment, but I also don't like to say negative things about specific brands. Even if I could remember, I wouldn't tell you. But I tried a number of those marketing AI apps in the testing and writing of the book, that will create 50 social media posts for you from one prompt. It was garbage. I worked at it and worked at it and worked at it, and I never could get it to give me anything that wasn't super generic. I think I tested five of the products for over a month, and yeah, they weren't good.

 So, sure, could you end up with a tool that is not great? Yeah, absolutely. This is where your human intelligence has to say, no, this isn't giving me the quality, the uniqueness, [00:23:00] and it doesn't speak in our brand voice, so we're out. But you know what the issue with that is? You have to know what your brand voice is. I think that's another huge challenge for people. I write and I speak very conversationally. I know what my voice is. It's easy for me to use the tool for myself personally or for our business at Meredith Communications. But then, when we're using it to brainstorm client ideas, I know their voices too. I know them very clearly.

Kevin Weitzel: Do you two play the same game that I play when you're reading somebody else's stuff, and you're like, that's a hundred percent AI there?? There was no persona on this whatsoever. Do you two play that game as well, or is it just me?

Greg Bray: I definitely am trying to learn and see what people are doing and try to identify it, and there's certainly times you can tell. It just sounds a little too verbose and flowery.

Kevin Weitzel: Yes.

Meredith Oliver: Or the opposite, robotic, and there's no, we. I [00:24:00] talk in the book about the power of we, and that's when we make a connection with who we're speaking with. Whether we're doing that in sales or marketing or within our team. In our companies, we have to make a connection, and when we do, it's powerful. And so, when you read back what you're working with, if it's not making an emotional connection, it doesn't matter if ChatGPT wrote it or you wrote it; it's not going to be effective. So, again, we're going to apply a lot of the same rules that we've been applying all this time to content, we're just going to use a tool maybe to help us do it.

Kevin Weitzel: So, I intentionally hide some of my nerd factor, and YouTube being much higher belt in open nerdness. In every webinar, every summit session that's out there, there's always that one hillbilly in the audience that truly wants to come out of the hillbilly closet. They want to take that first step. So, for that hillbilly that's listening today and hillbilly's [00:25:00] out there, we love you because everybody has that first step they have to make. But what is that low-hanging piece of fruit that somebody, that hillbilly marketer, that somebody just getting into the industry that's just stepped into that role, what's that one little piece of hanging fruit that they could grab a hold of and get started today?

Meredith Oliver: Well, I talk about it in the book that everybody is a fan of something. Now the book is sports-themed because I'm one of the biggest college football sports nuts you'll ever meet. Go Gators. But I recognize that not everybody is a sports person. You could be into Harley-Davidsons, you could be into wine, you could be into comic books, or whatever. Everybody's a fan of something. So, identify what you're a fan of, the brands, the products, the services, and then start paying attention, the SO Method, soak it up, and observe what do they do to connect [00:26:00] with their fans and what I AI tools are they using.

Really, to get started, you just have to start paying attention. And then I would pick one AI-enabled tool like Grammarly, and I would just start using it. Identify one hole, something you're not strong on. You know, Greg mentioned he's used it for years for his grammar. Same over here. I know that's not my strength. I apparently cannot put the a comma in the proper place. I should name my Grammarly. Let's name her Greta for Grammarly. My Greta Grammarly corrects 3 million misplaced commas a day. But I know that's a weak spot for me.

So, like, what's your weak spot either in your personal daily work, just something you need to improve, you need to automate, you need to be more efficient, and then look for a simple tool to help you do that, and then start there. But meanwhile, keep [00:27:00] paying attention because whatever you're a fan of, you can learn how to connect emotionally, intellectually with your fans just by paying attention to what you love.

Greg Bray: I need to go on record, Meredith. I think somebody has changed the rules for commas since I was taught to write. They changed them because there used to be a comma there, and now it's saying take it away.

Kevin Weitzel: Not only that, but because I have to same thing, but also the semicolons versus colons. Those space rules are gone.

Meredith Oliver: And you know what is really sad, too, is Kevin brought up a great point about us all, I think to some degree, trying to play Gotcha with what's AI-generated content and what isn't. The use of a dash is now apparently a huge red flag. And I've got like dashes all in this book, but I did it. I love a dash. Like Grammarly is the one that edited this book and kept putting the dashes in. But if you read it, it's clearly my voice through the whole thing. There's personal stories. There's [00:28:00] everything. But you do need to know what is the latest Gotcha Game and make sure you're not accidentally doing that. Like, for a while, it was ChatGPT's bolded words from your prompt. And so you would read a piece of content and it would have all these bolded words in it, and if you just copy and paste that into your blog, it's like, gotcha. So, now it's the dash, you know, it's something.

Kevin Weitzel: Yeah, the dash is definitely one that everybody looks for. Me personally, this isn't even an AI thing. I am an overuser of the ellipses. You know, the dot, dot, dot.

Meredith Oliver: Whoa. I love a dot, dot, dot.

Kevin Weitzel: I overuse them. I love them, and I've found out that I actually misused them in a lot of cases. It's meant to be a segmentation of words that are just implied.

Meredith Oliver: I mean, for me it's like, I'm thinking dot, dot, dot.

Kevin Weitzel: Yes.

Meredith Oliver: You know, for people that need a minute, uh, it's like, dot, dot, dot. I'm thinking I'm buying time. Right?

Kevin Weitzel: Apparently, it's supposed to mean more of the yada, yada, yada. [00:29:00]

Meredith Oliver: Oh, well, see.

Kevin Weitzel: Ellipses is more of a yada, yada, yada. More so than just a, hmm, contemplating.

Meredith Oliver: You know, before we wrap up, I do want to say the book's not limited to generative AI tools to create content. I do talk a lot about, for example, larger-sized companies that developed a personalized AI chatbot. So, for example, in the case of Progressive Insurance, they developed a Flow AI chatbot that would talk to prospective and existing customers and solve problems in the personality of Flow. So, that's just one example of taking the AI technology up to another level.

Certainly, integrating with CRM is a big one. Analyzing data. I mean, there's so many more applications we're really just scratching the surface here. But you know, if you're listening and you're a little more advanced user, you might look into some of [00:30:00] those types of opportunities to really incorporate more AI technology into your tech stack.

Greg Bray: Yeah, I think one of the big opportunities is helping with analytics reviews and reporting to dig in a little deeper and to finding the nuances in the data that just takes so long manually to look through.

Meredith Oliver: Yes. Yeah, that's a great application right there. So, I think back to that being the modern marketer is constantly asking what you don't know and then looking for those solutions and taking a risk, try them out.

Greg Bray: Well, Meredith, thank you so much for sharing today. Any last words of advice before we finish up?

Meredith Oliver: Well, I would say that I do believe in paying for tools. A lot of these tools, of course, you can get started on the free version, but if you get serious about it, upgrade to the paid version. It's generally not very expensive, but you do get more functionality. Sometimes you even get a little bit of support. So, I think that's worth it.

But the idea is to think [00:31:00] about, what do our fans, because that still is the heart of the book, what do our fans want, what do they need, who are they, how do we speak their language, and how do we connect with them even though we might be selling products. Some of you are not builders, you're selling insulation, you know, these not so sexy things, plumbing, pipes, whatever. You still can connect with your audience in a way that they go, Wow, they get us. And when they say, You get me, you're onto something. What you'll get is more leads, more sales, more success for everybody on the team.

Kevin Weitzel: So, number one, where does somebody get this book, FANtastic Marketing 3.0? That's number one. Number two, can they get it personalized and or autographed? Thank you for sending a little personalized note in mine. I do appreciate it. And number three, can they get it autographed, or are you like Oprah, where you're like, no, I'll shake your hand. I'll give you a hug, but do [00:32:00] not ask me to sign this book.

Meredith Oliver: Do not ask me to sign an autograph. Yes, they get it on Amazon.com, of course. You can search for Meredith Oliver or FANtastic Marketing. That's really easy. Of course, I'll be happy to sign any books as people need them. And you might notice what is on the personal note card that I sent you?

Kevin Weitzel: The Gator.

Meredith Oliver: Gator with a crown on because we are always, as marketers, demonstrating, sharing, and living our own personal voice. A dear friend bought me those cards, and it's like, this is awesome.

Greg Bray: Well, Meredith, if somebody wants to reach out and connect with you personally, what's the best way for them to get in touch?

Meredith Oliver: Oh, that's awesome. My email is meredith@creatingwow.com, or of course, you can find me on all the socials, LinkedIn, Instagram, all the things.

Greg Bray: Well, thanks again, Meredith, for spending time with us today, and thank you, everybody, for listening to The Home Builder Digital Marketing [00:33:00] Podcast. I'm Greg Bray with Blue Tangerine.

Kevin Weitzel: And I'm Kevin Weitzel at OutHouse. Thank you.


Related Episodes We Think You'll Like

267 Home Builder Customer Engagement AI Tools - Mike Bills

This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Mike Bills of AtlasRTX joins Greg and Kevin to discuss home builder customer engagement AI tools that answer customer questions immediately, schedule appointments, and help sell homes faster.

237 Leveraging AI in Home Building Marketing - Jason Rhoads

This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Jason Rhoads of Rhoads Creative joins Greg and Kevin to discuss how home builders can leverage AI in digital marketing to gain insights and improve efficiency.

255 AI Tools That Revolutionize Home Buying - Russ Wright

This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Russ Wright of VisionAIry Success Engineering joins Greg and Kevin to discuss how AI tools can help home builders revolutionize their business and transform the home buying experience.

Winner of The Nationals Silver Award 2022

Best Professional
Development Series


Digital Marketing Podcast Logo

Hosted By