“Advertising is saying you’re good. PR is getting someone else to say you’re good.” — Jean-Louis Gassée, former Apple executive.
“We reviewed yet another report yesterday from a national MH source that was busily telling others in our industry just how good their efforts are at promoting manufactured housing,” said publisher L. A. “Tony” Kovach.
“Traffic, likes, and clicks – it all sounds fantastic. Right up to the point that the objective, analytical mind asks, ‘okay, they’ve been doing this ‘for their members’ for 2 years. How much has their business actually grown?’”
The answer, regrettably, is that the their key members of the industry are still growing at about the same pace as it was prior to that Arlington, VA based group’s promotional efforts. Who says? HUD and IBTS statistics, see the most recent report, link here.
In fact, their own statistics – and that of third parties – reveal that they’re growing at a slower pace than the industry at large.
“If pretty pictures and videos ALONE was all that it took to sell more manufactured homes, we’d be selling a half-million or more homes per year, right now,” says MH industry consultant and publisher Kovach. “About a decade ago, Palm Harbor used to run great looking TV ads. They had fine looking homes. But something obviously didn’t work, because they went bankrupt.”
What’s the Answer?
“Get the home owners, the third-party experts, those not paid a dime to tell a company, location, or the industry’s story,” says Kovach.
“Don’t do that once, you keep doing that. Sincerity comes across on camera. The Truth Well Told, Good Storytelling, those are part of the secret,” the award-winning consultant, publisher and industry veteran said.
“The other part is having a third party media do that for you. Create evangelists, and have those evangelists tell that story over and over again, personally and via video,” Kovach explains. “That’s how you change the industry’s image, one location at a time.”
“That’s why we created MHProNews, then MHLivingNews.com. Problem, goal and solution orientation. Then to get fact-based stories that make sense to home buyers, professionals, and to investors – at their local level.”
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