Tools Down for the Break? Homeowners Aren't.
Online searches for home and property jump every January. Here's what that means for builders closing over the break — and three ways to stay in the search.
Research season is already running — whether you're there or not.
The research behind this campaign shows just how active homeowners are right before they ever reach out.
Sources: Ipsos iris, Jan 2026 · Uprise Digital, custom home builder marketing analysis · PropTrack property market data
We built three ways to close these gaps, each aimed at a different point where homeowners are already looking and builders usually aren't.
Lead Capture & Nurture Kit
Works while you don’t
- •Opt-in brochure or capability statement
- •Email automation strategy
- •Six nurture emails
Leads go cold while you’re closed for the break, because nothing’s catching or following up on them.
Builders with no automated capture or follow-up right now.
Quote & Proposal Kit
Win the quote
- •Contract / tender proposal template
- •Quote template
- •Collateral roll-out: signature, quote page, letterhead, cards
The lead comes in, then the job's lost at the quote or proposal stage — because you're sending a Word document that doesn't reflect your brand or the quality of your work.
Builders getting leads but losing jobs during the sales process.
Brand Foundations Refresh
Look like your work
- •Logo
- •Brand guidelines
- •Brand tone of voice
Your brand hasn't kept up with the quality and scale of what you're actually building now.
Builders whose work has outgrown their current brand.
By the time a lead arrives, most of the decision has already been made.
For a custom build, that research isn't a quick scroll. It's months of private research that peaks exactly when builders switch off.
Homeowners don't go quiet over the break
In January 2026, 15.1 million Australians — around two-thirds of the online population — visited a home and property website or app, spending more time there than almost any other category tracked that month.
Source: Ipsos iris, January 2026
The research happens on a phone, before any form
Custom-build buyers typically spend months researching, and shortlist three to five builders from portfolio and reputation alone, before contacting any of them.
Source: Uprise Digital, custom home builder marketing analysis
Research season peaks when builders are least available
Property listing views have surged by close to 50% in a single January — the long, private research phase peaks hardest exactly when builders are least available to be found.
Source: PropTrack property market data
Getting found is only the first gap. Two more open right after it.
Each gap is a point where a homeowner is already looking — and where most builders usually aren't there to meet them.
1. Found, but not captured
If a homeowner lands on your site or sees your ad over the break, is anything catching that interest and following up — or does it just evaporate?
2. Found, but not chosen
Getting the lead was never the hard part. Most builders lose the job after that, at the quote or proposal stage.
3. Found, but not trusted
Homeowners are comparing brands as much as builders. If yours hasn't kept pace with the quality of the work, that's the first thing a comparison turns up.
“We Have Increased Our Enquiry Rate By 6x!”
“Since working with Sea Salt Marketing, we have increased our enquiry rate by 6x. Our company has tripled in personnel and our turnover has increased by 5x. Once we started working with Sea Salt Marketing the stress of wondering when our next job would come in quickly diminished. No longer were we handcuffed by the bare minimum in enquiry that we were receiving.”
David, Roda DevelopmentsPick your bundle and we’ll be in touch
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