This week on The Home Builder Digital Marketing Podcast, Brian Barrett of Oak Creek Trail joins Greg and Kevin to discuss how home builders can optimize their email marketing strategies to capture more quality leads.
Many home builders do not fully utilize lead information in email marketing. Brian says,
“… we know so much more about our leads than we take advantage of from an email marketing perspective. We know what community they’re interested in, what plan, what price point, so on and so forth. And then we take a one-size-fits-all all and just slam some promotional information on them or generic community information on them versus very easily connecting the dots between what we know about their behavior and what sort of information would resonate best with them.”
Home builders could contribute more time and money to email marketing and digital email marketing tools. Brian explains,
“So, the biggest opportunity is to invest. I see a lack of investment in human resources and financial resources in email marketing. It always seems to be kind of a last-minute endeavor to get something out to the database. I think there needs to be an increased investment in human resources. All the technology exists, but there doesn’t seem to be many that are leveraging the technology.”
Email marketing doesn’t need to be overwhelming or difficult for home builder digital marketers. Brian says,
“I guess my first advice and most successful is don’t overcomplicate it. There’s a tendency to create a big month-long, quarter-long, yearly long content calendar and make it email connect with website updates and social media, and all these different things. It’s okay to plan a month and make it just about email. You create a simple workflow, and everyone has a different organizational structure.”
Listen to this week’s episode to learn more about how home builders can simplify and improve email marketing campaigns.
About the Guest:
Brian has spent over 15 years in real estate marketing, with deep experience across new home construction, multi-family, and senior living. As Managing Director of Oak Creek Trail—a boutique digital marketing agency—he has found a sweet spot helping builders optimize digital performance, build analytics ecosystems, and navigate emerging AI technologies to stay in front of today’s buyers.
His background includes time on the builder side, giving me a unique perspective. He has been hands-on since the early days of Facebook ads, weathered the 2008 housing crisis, helped launch one of the first online sales rep models, and supported teams through mergers, acquisitions, and marketing tech transitions like Salesforce.
With roots in finance and a passion for data, He still delivers full-funnel digital strategies grounded in performance. But his focus now is moving builders beyond traditional metrics—using real customer data to create one-to-one marketing funnels that reduce costs, accelerate sales, and predict future performance.
