How to Communicate with Millennial Buyers Using Tools You Have Right Now

As big a group as the Baby Boom generation is today the millennials have surpassed them in the homebuyer pool. Communicating with those 25 - 39 year olds effectively takes some skill and definitely some technological savvy.

The following are some of the tools that will help you reach millennial homebuyers and to attract them to your firm at their earliest stage in the cycle - the home search. Best part about it is that you have the tools at your disposal right now. We will help you to start taking advantage of them today.

Text Replaces Talk

Millennial buyers do not remember push button TVs or actually using a rotary phone. They pass notes via Snapchat and Google answers to questions. In order to convince this group that you are the type of agent that they need in order to get the home that they are looking for you have to learn how to “talk” to them.

Since the majority of real estate agents are over 45 years old, the idea of sending a text as your first communication with a prospective buyer may seem rude, but in millennial culture, it’s typically preferable to calls. Not all millennials are the same so you may want to try a combination of the two.

However, beginning to understand the culture is the first step in positioning yourself to be the go-to real estate agent for first-time homebuyers; the large majority of whom are millennial buyers.

Mobile Replaces Desktop

Everything for the millennial age group is instant. You want to watch a movie that isn’t out on cable yet, get it on Netflix. If you want to see pictures of a property listing, you go online and view the pictures from your phone.

Mobile users reached a milestone in 2015. For the first time, they outnumber the amount of desktop users accessing the internet. That means that your website as well as your social media platforms have to be mobile capable.

You may get a request for more information sent to you from a Smartphone at 11pm at night these days. That’s because users do not have to be at home or lugging their laptops around in order to access the internet.

They could be bored waiting for their plane to board and stumble upon your website. Make sure that you are capturing that kind of traffic by ensuring that your website is mobile ready.

Links Replace Mailers

In addition to changing the way that real estate agents communicate with millennial buyers the internet is actually making the cost of advertising cheaper for savvy agents. Instead of paying printing costs for mailers and postcards that will likely get tossed with the junk mail pile, your website link is now your mailer.

That’s where your email newsletter comes into play. You build your database from newsletter subscribers accrued on your website. When they receive your e-mail, you share with them links to like your FB page or to view more information on your website.

Use your links wisely and your reach can be even more effective than sending random flyers to millennials in your service area. On your business cards, on your website, on your social media platforms, always provide links to help your followers engage with you online.

Social Media Replaces Word-of-Mouth

Online marketing today goes beyond building the best real estate website. It is using multiple social media platforms in order to attract more users to your website. However, new social media sites are popping up all of the time. Staying in touch with millennials requires you to stay ahead of the new top social media site.

Take for instance Facebook. It was all the rage among millennials until their parents and grandparents started using it. Then they all fled to Instagram. Now they are moving away from there to Snapchat and Tumblr. Each different platform provides you different tools for reaching millennial homebuyers:

• Facebook is good for referring users to your website and sharing interesting information.
• Instagram is good for encouraging shares of your property photos and video tours.
• Tumblr uses quick blog posts to convey funny stories, silly messages, and links to full website posts

Social media is the modern day version of word-of-mouth. Since most millennials communicate with their friends and family in texts or online, they also share their positive buying experiences that way.

You have to be familiar with these apps and platforms yourself in order to use them effectively. Posting on Twitter is not the same as posting on Instagram and posting on Instagram isn’t the same as posting on Facebook.

Millennials can spot an imposter or a newbie on these sites faster than anyone. Familiarize yourself with them before you start posting or tweeting. Get help from the millennials in your life if you have to. The bottom line is you will need to be a social media pro in order to connect with today’s first-time homebuyers.

Tools for Finding Millennial Clients

Whether you are one of those agents who feel as if technology is going too far and destroying good old fashioned face-to-face communication or not, you really have no choice if you want to compete for prospects in this day and age.

Instead of resisting the next new thing among millennials, embrace learning the next new thing and mastering it. No matter how advanced they are with social media, you have the benefit of years of experience buying and selling homes.

You will have your chance to shine as the real estate hero you are but first you have to get their attention. These are just some of the ways that we can help you master your online marketing strategy and to utilize the tools already at your disposal for reaching the largest group of homebuyers today.

Start building the type of real estate website that meets your prospects where they are. Let our team at Agent Image help you master your millennial communication techniques to maximize your lead conversions. Contact us now for your free one-on-one consultation.