M/I Homes won the 2021 Market Proof Award for Innovative Content for their National Facebook Live series. 

Jeannine Kranchick, Marketing Communications Director for M/I Homes, said that they were looking for a way for their audience to have the opportunity to see their models and product at a time when in-person events became more of a challenge in 2020. Their first live event in the series was a cooking event, giving their audience a chance to see someone using a model's kitchen space and highlighting some of the features. The 30-minute show consisted of a local chef cooking a holiday meal and an M/I employee as a co-host who highlighted their models and homes. 

The Facebook live video was viewed approximately 15,000 times, which was a big success. Jeannine pointed out that when compared to an in-person event, they would have never seen that many people walk through their model home in a 30-minute event. 

To produce the Facebook Live event, they partnered with a local production company and spent six to eight weeks planning the event. They created scripts to focus on capturing engagement with the audience. Then, on the day of the shoot, they set up the different cameras and lighting, went through a few practice sessions, and then went live! 

Now they’ve expanded to other kinds of events, including a live gardening event about how to enhance curb appeal, a live event about charcuterie and champagne, and a live tailgate party, highlighting outdoor entertaining. They’ve continued to get approximately 15,000 views from each of the events. 

Since so much of their business has moved online, including virtual tours and virtual appointments, it made perfect sense to showcase more of their homes and communities digitally. In the end, the content engages their customers and helps them drive more traffic to their website and out to their communities. 

Explore all the winners of the 2021 Market Proof Award at https://www.marketproofawards.com/2021-winners/.