Are you effectively leveraging the potential of millennial buyers in your real estate marketing?
There’s a whole new generation that’s starting to make its mark on the housing market: millennials. Although they’re a little bit later to get into the housing game than other generations, there will soon be a huge shift in the market towards them. As a real estate agent, you need to be ready.
Newer and younger real estate agents have a bit of an advantage over older agents as, well, they ARE millennials. They instinctively communicate in a way that’s relatable to other young people. That said, there’s no excuse for any real estate agent to ignore this generation and simply hope that they’ll be like others. It’s time to embrace the millennials!
Who Are Millennials?
Millennials are the generation that was born roughly between 1980 and 2000. They’re not only the largest generation is US history, with over 92 million people, they’re also the first generation to grow up during the advent of the internet and social media. As a result, they grew up learning to communicate differently than any other generation before them.
Many millennials also came to age during a very financially unstable period. They tend to be loaded with more student debt than other generations, and tend to earn less. As a result of this, and also because of changing social norms, they seem to be moving into the marriage arena a bit later than other generations have in the past. This is one of the major reasons that they’ve been putting off buying homes, but that’s changing. While some millennials prefer not to purchase a home until they have someone to live with, that doesn’t necessarily mean a spouse. Millennials are beginning to buy homes and rent out rooms to friends. However, for the most part, until they reach the stage where they feel financially secure enough to build a family, most millennials are more likely to rent.
They Live Online
Now, we’re not talking about the cartoon of a millennial that has been pushed into popular culture. Forget about the selfie-snapping, self-absorbed stereotype that many people seem to think that young people are today. Millennials just communicate a little differently than generations past.
The big difference between millennials and other generations is the internet. They grew up during the early days of the internet and learned whole new ways of communication WHILE they were being developed. Their fluency with the digital world means that real estate agents might have to adapt in order to effectively communicate with them. For example, although a physical real estate business card is still an essential tool for an agent, you will also need to have a digital version of it ready on hand. You’ll also have to be more flexible about communications via text message and social platforms.
Marketing Differences
You’ll probably need to develop an entire digital suite of marketing tools in order to really connect with these younger clients. A digital signature, mobile responsive website, professional cover images for social platforms, a digital business card, and high-quality digital photos of yourself are all non-negotiables.
If you want to be able to effectively market to millennials, you’ll have to embrace the power of social media. The very first thing a millennial will do when they’re considering you as their real estate agent is an online search, but they’re actually more likely to visit your social profiles first rather than your website. If they find a Twitter account that hasn’t been updated since 2015 and a Facebook page with no posts, likes, or content, they’re instantly going to assume that you’re out of date, and they certainly won’t have interest in working with you.
You need to make the effort to be active and engaged with your clients online, the exact same way as you would in the real world. Become part of the online conversation about real estate. When you make a sale, celebrate that online. If you get an exciting new listing, immediately post it to Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you write an interesting article or blog, I bet that there are people online who would want to read it. So post it! If you’re too busy to stay on top of all of that yourself, engaging a small social media marketing agency or virtual assistant is worth the investment.
What Do they Value?
This is a question you should be asking yourself whenever you come face to face with a new client. You need to know what a client values in order to effectively sell them a new home.
Eco-friendly and high-efficiency homes will be something you’ll want to highlight with millennials. Their relationship with technology means that showing off any smart home features during a showing will pay dividends.
Millennials also value honesty and transparency. They believe that many institutions and businesses are untrustworthy, especially in real estate (as a result of the 2008 market crash). You need to build a relationship of trust with millennials. Far from the “thin-skinned” stereotype of millennials, you can actually be more blunt with them than with other generations. They’ll appreciate it far more than they would you trying to gloss over a problem.
Millennials and You
The bottom line is that millennials are more like all of the rest of your clients than they are different. They want the same things: security, building equity, family, a home. The only real difference is that the way you have to communicate with them to build a trusting relationship has to evolve.
One thing that millennials show in spades is brand loyalty. If you prove to them that you can be trusted, that you have worked hard for them, and you got them the result they wanted, you can bet that your name will come up the next time they’re talking to friends about real estate. And you can can take that kind of word of mouth referral power to the online, digital bank!
Despite the digital focus that needs to be put on millennial marketing efforts, physical print marketing is just as important. With SureFactor, you’ll find a balance between the print and digital world. Our physical real estate business cards are professionally printed, high-quality, and come with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. The same can be said about our digital marketing options, like our digital suite package or our digital business cards. You can trust SureFactor to help you connect with every generation out there, but especially millennials!