Millennials aren’t the outliers anymore. They now make up 38% of total home buyers in the U.S., making them the largest share of buyers. As first-time home buyers, millennials look very different from previous generations. The pandemic has shifted their priorities from modest starter homes and proximity to work to a home with more indoor/outdoor living space and as well as one they can grow into. This is driving millennial home buyers to the luxury real estate market.
So now you might be wondering how to reach this new tech-savvy generation of buyers. Look at Millennials’ behaviors and preferences, then look at your marketing strategy. Are they aligned? Here are three ways to adjust your business to help reach this now-largest demographic in the country.
Make your content mobile-friendly
Everyone these days spends a lot of time on mobile. In fact, the average adult spends about 4.5 hours a day on their phone. But Millennials use their phones more than any other age group. At this point, most businesses should have taken steps towards mobile-readiness, though you’d be surprised how many have not. It’s important to get into the mobile-first mindset for your business. For instance, you don’t want your paid search ads inappropriately sized for mobile or pointing to landing pages that aren’t mobile-friendly. Enter your website URL at mobiletest.me or Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to see how it looks on different mobile devices.
You also want your ad creative to be clear and attractive. Millennials love images and videos, and these are exactly what tend to draw the eye – particularly when it features a person. Design your content based on the idea that people buy from people. Adwerx has coined this Customer Relationship AdvertisingTM (CRATM), and it should be a staple to every real estate marketing strategy.
Provide relevant content
There’s a reason one-to-one marketing has become the norm. Nobody likes content that isn’t relevant to them, and this is particularly true for Millennials, with 75% expecting personalized marketing. Luckily with today’s technology, this is easy to do. Behavioral and geographic-based targeting can help you tailor your marketing to prospects at exactly the right time and place. Advertising through Adwerx will do this automatically, and deliver ads programmatically across the web, Facebook and Instagram. Tailor ad content to contacts from your CRM with Adwerx Sphere ads or CRATM, and automate personalized email marketing with a platform like MoxiWorks.
Show social proof
Referrals and reviews are going to drive Millennials to act. You already know you should be marketing to your sphere, because referral business is everything in real estate. It remains true with this generation, as 95% of Millennials consider their friends the most credible source for consumer information. Make sure you’re asking your clients for reviews too, and keep them updated. 73% of prospective clients won’t find a review relevant if it’s more than 3 months old. Millennials also grew up on social media and user generated content. The goal here is to get people to interact with your brand content on social media. This lends legitimacy to and helps humanize your brand.
For some, it might seem like a radical shift to attract and retain this generation of home buyers. But as a modern marketer, these should be tactics you’re already using or have on your radar. Millennials officially outnumber baby boomers, so this might be a good time to think about implementing a “Millennial-first” marketing strategy.