How To Master the Homeowner’s Customer Journey | Elizabeth Dodson from Homezada

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition. Online Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro experiences like case studies, intro videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get access to 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us out on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Elizabeth Dodson from Homezada, co-founder with them. How are you doing today, Elizabeth?

Elizabeth Dodson: Good, Ernesto. Thank you for having me.

Ernesto: I’m doing great. I’m interested, I love the name. So interested to learn a little bit more and I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what HomeZada is all about. So let’s kick it off in your own words. Elizabeth, can you tell us a little bit more?

Elizabeth: Sure. So Homezada is all about making the homeowner journey really easily manageable. It’s what we refer to as a digital platform and it’s basically an all-in-one suite of applications to help people manage their home. These applications are about home inventory, so people can track it for estate and insurance planning purposes; manage a home maintenance calendar so no one has to nag each other anymore; manage home projects like repairs, design, and remodels to make the process easier; and understand all the financial components involved. Our home is one of our largest expenses and yet one of our largest assets.

Ernesto: I would totally agree with you on that. So that’s very important. And on that note, is there a certain ICP that you guys like to go for? Ideal client profile?

Elizabeth: Great question. So, it is targeted to homeowners, specifically in the United States. We also service our partners, like real estate, mortgage, insurance, property managers, and remodeling contractors. The average homeowner that looks at HomeZada is someone who has disposable income, wants to use a tool to manage their home, is tech-savvy, wants to understand what’s going on in their home, and is super organized or wants to be better organized. We look at psychographics versus demographics because it’s right down the middle with all genders and in every state. People use Homezada for different things depending on their situation, like home inventory for natural disasters, home maintenance for new homeowners, and remodeling projects for those changing their home.

Ernesto: Definitely. What would be your top client acquisition channel for homeowners to find Homezada?

Elizabeth: That’s a great question. Our website is the biggest acquisition channel for our homeowners. We need to make sure our website is clean, to the point, and helps explain what digital home management is. We also use PR to get people to our site, social media as a great educator for our client base, and different social media platforms to reach homeowners who want to be better organized and understand their home to save time and money.

Ernesto: That’s very important. So for our listeners to visit you, they can check you out at homezada.com. I see you also have a podcast for homeowners called “Be a Smart Homeowner.” That’s important. But does your website generate the leads you’re looking for, or is it more for gathering a newsletter and database?

Elizabeth: It does both. Our website is for gathering contacts and leads for our company, both professionals and consumers, and for converting traffic into customers who can sign up on the website. We use tools within our website to gather leads and nurture them, like the “Six Mistakes Homeowners Make” tool, which provides tips for homeowners. We gather emails, nurture those individuals, explain what Homezada does, and then convert those leads into customers.

Ernesto: Great to hear that from you. Well, let’s switch gears a little bit, Elizabeth, and talk about you as a leader. You being the co-founder for Homezada, what are some key tasks you like to focus on in your day-to-day work?

Elizabeth: As a co-founder, my core roles are business development, marketing, and financial planning for our company. I’m always involved in strategic and financial planning. My team may ask me to test something on the development side, so I might end up being a quality assurance individual. They may also ask for feature enhancements, so I might play a role in product management. My core role is to focus on business development, marketing, and financial planning, but it depends on the day and what we’re trying to accomplish.

Ernesto: Sounds like you wear different hats on different days. On a daily or weekly basis, how do you stay up with all the marketing trends that are going on? Is there a top channel you prefer?

Elizabeth: I stay on top of marketing trends from a variety of sources. I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, search for information, and read books related to technology and behavioral economics. We also use analytics to understand our customers, looking at trends and processes of how people come to our site and what they’re looking for. It’s important not to assume who our clients are but to let them come to us and adjust our messaging accordingly.

Ernesto: Great to hear that from you. Thank you for sharing. Let’s jump into our next section, which is our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready for them, Elizabeth?

Elizabeth: Sure.

Ernesto: Awesome. First off, what is the last book that you read?

Elizabeth: The last book I read is “The Thought Store.” It’s a simple, fun book about how our thoughts change the things around us. It’s great for anyone, including teenagers and people not in business.

Ernesto: Great. Next, what is one single thing that your company is focused on the most at the moment?

Elizabeth: AI. We’ve rolled out new AI features for inventory and projects. AI helps people take videos of their inventory, recognize items in their house, and speed up the inventory process. For projects, AI builds budgets based on what you want, helping you stay within budget and making adjustments as needed.

Ernesto: AI is amazing and here to stay. Next, if there were no boundaries in technology, what would be that one thing you want to have fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Elizabeth: I would want to know as much as possible about my customers to build products that benefit them. Knowing who they are would help us give them what they want.

Ernesto: Perfect. If there’s one repetitive task that you could automate, what would that be?

Elizabeth: Blog content and social posts. Automating these would help manage SEO guidelines and reach unique audiences on different social media platforms.

Ernesto: Lastly, with all your experience in marketing, what is one piece of advice you would give yourself if you were to restart your journey as a marketer today?

Elizabeth: Start marketing early. We waited too long with Homezada, wanting to surprise people, but we didn’t lead up to the marketing area. I would market as early as possible and let people know things are coming.

Ernesto: Great advice for listeners. Elizabeth, thanks for being on the show with us today. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what is one thing they should remember about Homezada?

Elizabeth: Homezada is here to help you manage your house in its entirety. I have personally saved thousands of dollars and a lot of time using HomeZada, and my contractors say the same thing.

Ernesto: Perfect. To our listeners, check them out at homezada.com, the all-in-one suite of apps to manage your home. Elizabeth, thank you for being on with us today. To our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I’m looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Elizabeth.

Elizabeth: Thank you very much. Thank you.