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Ten Tips For Marketing To Homeowner Associations

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Marketing to Homeowner Associations

10 Tips For Marketing to Homeowner Associations*

370,000!

The number of homeowner associations in America

Homeowner Associations are Big Business!

With over 370,000 Homeowner Associations in the United States, planned communities are big business. Single family, townhome, and condominium associations spend over $15 Billion annually on their communities. In addition, HOA's control billions more in reserve funds for capital projects. More and more businesses are realizing the potential in selling their products and services to these neighborhoods. A quick look at any association's budget reveals that dollars are being spent for a wide range of products and services. The obvious are management contracts, landscaping, utilities, banking, insurance, legal and accounting services. Maintenance is a broad umbrella for paving, painting, pools, tennis courts, and ponds/lakes. There are niche requirements for gutter cleaning, snow blowing, power washing, pool furniture, docks, and pest control. This summary of products and services only begins to scratch the surface. The opportunities to market to this target audience are tremendous, but also challenging.

*For purposes of this whitepaper, when we reference "Homeowner Associations" or "HOAs" you can assume that we are referring to Single Family, Townhome and Condominium Associations. Different states and regions of the country refer to HOAs by various names. For this whitepaper it will be an allencompassing term unless otherwise stated.

Marketing to Homeowner Associations

The Greatest Challenge in Reaching HOA's...

As a market, homeowner associations are nearly invisible! Most HOA's do not have an office or a phone. Only a few maintain current websites and are rarely found on page one of a Google search. Without an identifiable customer, you cannot sell your product or service.

So how do you get in front of the board members and decision makers for these communities?

And what do you say in order to help them make informed decisions to better their community through you?

The goal of this guide is to help answer these questions. HOA-USA is here to help you market your products and services in a respectful and effective manner to these homeowner association board members.

10 Tips When Planning a Marketing Campaign to HOAs

1. Respect the Board Member's Time

People who serve as board members for their HOA all do so voluntarily. As an incorporated homeowners association, board members cannot be paid or otherwise compensated for serving on the board. Board and committee members put in a great deal of time into board meetings, enforcing covenants, collecting dues, and making their community a better place. About 35-40% of HOAs contract with a professional management company to help ease the load of running the community. The rest do so by themselves. In either case, board members are the decision makers for their communities and their time is quite valuable.

When you get the opportunity to speak with a board member about your products and services, keep these thoughts in mind. In most cases, boards are required to get numerous bids on a variety of different services. They want to (and need to) hear about what you have to offer, but often don't have a lot of time to hear it. If you are fortunate enough to get agenda time at a board meeting, keep your presentation short and offer to send more information. By being respectful of the board's time, you may find yourself in a better position for an RFP (Request for Proposal) and increased business.

Marketing to Homeowner Associations

2. Offer Value at the HOA Level

Remember that when you are reaching out to an HOA, you are speaking to the community as a whole and not just to one homeowner. Make sure that your message speaks to the ultimate goal of every board member: to retain and increase property values of the entire community.

If you are an attorney, a management company or an insurance provider, you may be accustomed to selling services directly to HOA Boards (i.e. Directors and Officers Insurance, HOA management services, etc.). However, if your company typically works with individual homeowners then keep several things in mind:

Often the HOA will have common area and amenities that need servicing. For example, the clubhouse may need carpet cleaning, or the private roads may need repair work.

The board member is in a unique position to tell the rest of the community about your products and customer service. A good impression to the board member can go a long way.

Offering discounts for multi-home purchases is a great way to ensure that the board or committee member will tell their neighbors.

Remember that HOA Board Members CANNOT be paid or compensated for their work as a board member, so offering them personal incentives to promote your product is NOT allowed. However you can offer incentives to the HOA or community as a whole. For example, a power washing company may offer a free exterior cleaning to the HOA clubhouse in exchange for advertising on the community website (a true example by the way, which lead to a great amount of new business).

3. Timing is Everything

Many of you may have products and services that are seasonal by nature. Pool companies, landscapers, and other types of businesses are often used to marketing their services at a particular time of year. There are certain factors to consider when reaching out to HOA Board Members that will influence their decision to choose your product or service.

Marketing to Homeowner Associations

Approximately 75% of Homeowner Associations hold their required annual meetings between the months of November and February. This is important because the annual budget also gets ratified at the same time. If a board is going to make a change in service provider for a bigbudget operating expense item, they are likely to make that change around the time of the annual meeting. These types of expenses include, but are not limited to, management companies, landscapers, utilities, and more. Marketing your services in the months prior to the annual meeting is often a good strategy.

That's not to say that all expenses are decided during the annual budget. In fact, much of the "operating budget" will be adjusted throughout the year. Seasonal influences are likely going to dictate the appropriate time to advertise.. For example, it would be inadvisable for a Snow Blowing Company to advertise their services in June. This is an obvious example, but it illustrates that most board members will not consider a change in service provider when they are "out of season".

Various states and regions of the country will follow unique patterns as well. For example, the summer months in Florida may see a lot of absentee homeowners and board members. Often they have headed north for the summer and may not return until Fall. Absentee board members are less likely to make decisions for their communities while they are out of the state.

A sound marketing strategy for HOAs will include some amount of marketing year-round, while leaving the majority of the advertising budget for the months of the year when board members are most likely to pay attention. HOA-USA Partners can discuss these strategies with an Account Manager to help make informed decisions about advertising.

4. The Role of the Management Company

Approximately 35% of HOAs contract with a professional management company to aid with the governance of the community. The other 65% choose to self-manage or are, for all intents and purposes, defunct. A number of factors go into the decision to hire a management company: number of homes, types of amenities, type of community (Condos and Townhomes are slightly more likely to be professionally managed than single family communities), etc. When an HOA contracts with a management company, they are assigned a community manager. This person aids with collections, ensures covenant enforcement and generally handles the financials for the board.

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