Younger generations are increasingly striving for homeownership. Here’s how you can reach them!
Millennials and Gen Z are entering the housing market in greater numbers, and it’s a big opportunity for agents who know how to respond. Successfully courting these younger homebuyers starts by shifting your marketing mindset and adopting new tools and strategies in the process.
Many millennials were slow to enter the homeownership game, although not for lack of trying, and not due to eating too much avocado toast as a young Australian millionaire famously suggested in 2017. Having come of age during the financial crisis of 2007-2008, home ownership amongst this generational demographic has often lagged behind its predecessors, with educational debt being cited as one of the biggest contributing factors.
In recent years, however, the picture has changed, with nearly 62% of 40-year-olds now owning their own home. Right behind them is Gen Z, with data showing that 30% of 25-year-olds are homeowners, which is 3% higher than their Gen X parents when they were the same age.[i]
The implications for those in the real estate community are obvious. To connect with and convert this demographic, you need to reevaluate your marketing programs. By taking intentional steps to promote your services through channels these younger generations use, you can be better positioned for business success both today and tomorrow.
Social media
Let’s begin by focusing on social media. Although we have covered social in a variety of other blog posts, it merits repeating here. Why? Because it remains an incredibly important channel for younger individuals. Over 1 in 4 millennials use social media to find products and services, and nearly half use different social platforms to conduct research.[ii] By developing your presence on these channels, and by interweaving multi-media attributes like short-form video, you can make a larger impact and grow your brand awareness.
Mobile-friendliness
These days, having a mobile-friendly online presence is a must, especially if you are trying to reach millennials and Gen Z. Research shows that over 96% of internet users ages 16-64 own a smartphone[iii] and well over 50% of people use these devices to access websites.[iv]
What does this mean for title agencies? Just put yourself in the mindset of a consumer! Let’s say title agency #1 has a website that looks great on your device while title agency #2 does not, which one would you think is going to take care of your needs while closing on a new home? I would suspect you know the answer, and that should tell you everything you need to know about why a mobile website matters.
Online reviews
If there is one thing you need to know about younger generations like millennials and Gen Z it is that they grew up doing a lot of comparative analysis via review sites like Yelp, Google, Foursquare, etc. Take some time to establish a presence across these review sites and stay active by responding to user comments and complaints. The benefits of doing so are two-fold: Not only will you become more visible to younger users who are using the sites, but you will also showcase that you are a responsive, reliable company committed to customer satisfaction.
Partnerships
Even in a heavily digitized economy like ours, good old word-of-mouth marketing still can’t be beaten. One of the best ways to build this positive buzz is by developing relationships with real estate agents who help guide customers through the home-buying process.
As anyone who has been involved in real estate for a while knows, this is an industry that is forever changing. The rise of millennials and Gen Z home buyers is just one recent development. By getting digitally savvy and making an honest effort to create positive word-of-mouth, you can capitalize on this opportunity and capture more of their business.
The machines have risen; now let’s put them to work
In November of 2022, the buzz surrounding ChatGPT and its potential to revolutionize the workforce made headlines. While the predictions of a complete transformation have yet to fully materialize, it’s clear that AI programs like ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing AI and Google Bard are here to stay.
It’s easy to see why people are increasingly incorporating AI into work and life. With a few carefully worded prompts, you can create some truly amazing things using these programs. For agents seeking to leverage the potential of AI, one promising area lies in marketing. Let’s discuss some ways you can start harnessing AI’s potential today. As we’ll see, the secret to getting the most out of AI platforms lies in asking the right questions.
Begin at the beginning
One of the best ways to use AI in your marketing is to incorporate it right at the beginning – that is, during the initial planning before you launch a campaign. You can start by asking your preferred AI chat platform to act as a marketing expert that will generate your plan.
Building this prompt requires a bit more than flipping a switch or pressing a button. You need the following information on hand so you can include it in your prompt:
Business overview – Describe your industry and your company’s position within it, including the products or services you offer.
Goals and objectives – Next, describe your marketing goals, which could include anything from building brand awareness, to generating leads, to boosting sales.
Target audience – Include your target audience or customer personas. Don’t limit this to only demographic information like age, gender and location. Add psychological details like interests, behaviors, habits, values and pain points.
Unique selling proposition (USP) – Ask yourself what sets your business apart from competitors. This is your unique selling proposition. Your USP is an important anchor for your plan and should not be overlooked.
Marketing channels – Ensure that your prompt includes the marketing channels you currently have available to you. Separate these by owned, earned and paid media. Some examples of each include social media platforms, email marketing, content marketing and SEO (owned); public relations coverage or press release placement (earned); and advertising (paid).
Budget – All of your marketing initiatives should be tied to a budget.Include an estimate of the resources you have available to allocate to your marketing plan.
Timeline – Remember, a marketing plan should not be on an indefinite timeline. Include all relevant time-sensitive dates.
Content development
The most obvious way an AI chatbot can improve or streamline your marketing is through content development. Whether you need social media posts, a blog or even a full white paper or multi-page guide, today’s leading programs can help. Here are a few things to keep in mind when prompting your chatbot to create a new content asset:
Length – Be as specific as possible about length requirements for your collateral. When it comes to the ideal length of content assets, opinions vary. There’s no guarantee that the AI program you use will automatically create content to an appropriate length for your needs.
Tone and voice – Unless you specify what you’re looking for, chances are an AI program may not deliver your content in the right tone. Be sure to use plenty of adjectives. Provide examples of writing you’d like to emulate. You can also offer additional context. Describe what the content will be used for, and the language model will tailor accordingly.
Trust but verify – One thing to remember is thatAI models, while helpful, are still not an exact science.These programs can and will deliver faulty information. Always verify your outputs against outside sources, and double check any data or calculations.
SEO and Digital Advertising
AI programs can also help with the high-level strategy for search engine optimization (SEO) and digital advertising. Here are best practices for creating effective prompts in this area:
Clear, concise goals – Specify for the program exactly what you want to accomplish: improving organic search rankings, driving conversions or increasing awareness are all perfect examples.
Relevant business information – As with your marketing plan, a bot like ChatGPT needs to understand some basic information about your business to create a relevant and impactful SEO plan. Be sure to include information related to your industry, target audience, products and services and competitors.
Provide some keyword parameters – The success of both your SEO and digital advertising efforts depends on the strength of your keywords. Chatbots can assist you in developing a knockout keyword list when given the right parameters, including:
Industry
Target audience
Specific products and services
Geographic regions
Languages
Final thoughts
As you can see, there are numerous ways to leverage AI in your marketing efforts. Whether you are seeking a fully fleshed out marketing plan or specific deliverables, AI chatbots are certainly worth a try.
However, caution is warranted when using AI chat programs like ChatGPT. They should not be considered “secure,” and prompts should never include nonpublic, private, confidential, or sensitive consumer, business, or other information. As mentioned earlier, AI chatbots can also produce inaccurate, misleading, or even offensive responses. It’s always advisable to carefully review and consider the output generated by these programs.
AI chat tools certainly aren’t perfect, but one advantage of these platforms is the ability for human users to provide feedback on the responses generated. Working with an AI chatbot then becomes something of a collaboration, and that’s when great ideas start to emerge. By using AI tools responsibly and in conjunction with human expertise, you can help ensure the best possible outcomes for your marketing efforts.
Gain new business by improving your local footprint online.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO stands for local search engine optimization. It is the process of refining and optimizing your online presence to gain local website traffic and ultimately more business. Taking advantage of local SEO best practices is particularly important for smaller businesses that rely on nearby customers for the bulk of their revenue. Here are a few ways you can use local SEO strategies for your benefit.
Google Reigns Supreme
While Google has lost some luster over the years, it still reigns supreme with local SEO. Begin your efforts by claiming and then optimizing your Google “My Business” profile. As you know, Google makes a point to identify and catalog as many businesses as it can across its services. Business leaders can claim ownership over these listings and then modify the available information fields. Don’t miss out on this valuable opportunity to improve how your business is displayed across one of the most popular websites in the world. Ensure that the following is complete and correct:
Business name
Address
Phone number
Website
Hours
Email
Photos
Your Google “My Business” profile will also include the option for customers to leave reviews, and it is not a bad idea to ask satisfied customers to leave a positive notice regarding your services. Responding to reviews that people leave is similarly important, as it indicates that you are a responsive organization that cares deeply about the customer experience you provide.
Deploy Location-Based Keywords
Businesses like title agencies should also incorporate location-based keywords into their web properties, as their customer base is often defined by a fixed geographical location. On your website, for example, don’t merely refer to yourself as a “title agency.” It is not specific enough and won’t do much from an SEO perspective. Instead, add in mentions of your city and state, and be sure to use a keyword explorer tool to assess metrics and get help selecting your phrases.
There are countless local directories that can be found online, and they represent another opportunity for small businesses like yours to enhance their digital presence. From Yelp and Yellow Pages to Foursquare and TripAdvisor, utilizing digital directories can boost your agency’s visibility and enhance your credibility, especially once you make sure all information is consistent and updated.
When you think about businesses that are deeply intertwined with their local communities, few spring to mind faster than title agencies. After all, these are the firms that secure the very properties that make up a community in the first place. It only makes sense, then, that title agencies should prioritize local SEO to boost awareness, position their brands and grow their profitability. And by following the best practices listed here, you’ll do exactly that.
Connect with your audience through visual storytelling
Humans are visually oriented creatures. Time and time again, data shows that people engage more powerfully with visual media than other forms. Take social media as just one example. Using video on social media generates an incredible 1,200 percent more shares than text and image content combined.[i] With those numbers, brands can’t miss the opportunity to engage in more visual storytelling. Here’s how to do it.
Empower your team on social
When looking to expand your visual storytelling, think outside the box. There is only so much you can put out on your corporate social media channels. That’s why you may want to consider asking your team to share your brand’s visual content on their personal channels.
You can take a variety of approaches. Some companies create an entire formalized employee social media program. Others simply notify the team whenever an important and visually dynamic post could benefit from some amplification.
If you feel strange about asking your employees to share your content – don’t. Many people enjoy sharing information about workplace wins, and many others desire to build their own industry thought leader credentials. Engaging with your team to share on social media can be mutually beneficial.
Consider new channels
For some time, the social media landscape has been changing. The big players in the space, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, have slowly been fading in influence and relevance, eclipsed by new kids on the block such as TikTok.
One of the benefits of this new breed of apps is that they make it easier than ever to engage in highly visual storytelling through built-in video production and editing tools. Their massive audiences (almost 45 percent of Americans have a TikTok, for example) also don’t hurt!
Find overlooked hosting opportunities
Once you have visually engaging brand content, share it far and wide. One obvious place is on your website. You don’t want to go overboard with this, of course. Too many videos and images can potentially compromise your website’s performance. Yet a few strategically embedded visual assets can create a more compelling experience for your visitors. Visuals are also a much more effective way to disseminate critical information about your brand. Studies show, for example, that viewers retain 95 percent of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10 percent when reading it in text.[ii]
Look for easy, low-cost solutions
Anytime you prepare a piece of content, ask yourself if you can make it more visual. Then, find the low-cost online tools you need to produce it. One of the best things about our digital economy is that it has never been easier for businesses to create high quality visuals.
From icon libraries to infographic makers to explainer videos, converting static text content into something more visual is a breeze. In doing so, your content will not only make a better first impression but also pay lasting dividends. Hosting visually-rich, educational and evergreen content on your website, for example, can work wonders for your long-term SEO and domain authority.
Get visual and reap rewards
In a cluttered market, the more visual a brand the better its prospects. Of course, like anything else, creating meaningful visuals requires some time and effort. But the rewards are worth it. By enlisting your team, utilizing low-cost digital tools and staying open to new platforms, you can position your brand to be more engaging and successful than ever before.
Forming strong connections with real estate agents is a must in any market
For title insurance agents, few audiences are more important than the real estate agent audience. Without building strong, reliable and mutually beneficial relationships with these companies and individuals, cultivating demand and growing profits becomes much more challenging. But like any target audience, successfully marketing to Realtors requires developing tailored strategies and tactics. Here are a few tips, tricks and best practices to get you started.
Build your Realtor buyer personas
Begin by identifying and building your buyer personas. If you’ve never built a buyer persona before, we have written a blog post on the topic that you can refer to here.
A good buyer persona includes much more than general demographic information. Do not merely focus on things like location or age, but also on psychological factors like hopes, behaviors and pain points. Taking time to consider these factors will make it easier to reach your target audience and connect with them in a profound way.
Remember, the more specific the better. Real estate agents are not monolithic as a group. Segment your audience and build as many buyer personas as you need to run a successful campaign. It may seem like a lot of work, but it will pay off later!
Leverage owned, paid and earned media channels
Once you have a clear idea of who you are trying to reach, then it is time to think about the owned, paid and earned media channels you will leverage to reach your audience. Let’s go through what each of these means:
Owned media: Owned media refers to any media that you own, like your social media channels, email marketing platforms, blog and, of course, your website.
Paid media: Paid media encompasses any media exposure you pay for, including search and social media advertising, as well as sponsored content placements.
Earned media: Earned media includes media mentions that are neither paid nor owned. Some examples are op-eds, press releases and guest blogging.
Meet your customers where they are with research
Understanding your available media channels is just half the battle. You must also supplement this by effectively using research to decide which channels you will use and in what way. Without doing this up-front legwork, your marketing efforts will amount to the old saying: “throw it at the wall and see what sticks.” Here are a few ways that you can start using your paid, earned and owned media strategies in an intentional and impactful way.
The online media ecosystem for Realtors is vast. Take advantage of paid (such as ad placements) or earned media tactics (like writing and pitching an op-ed) by looking into publications that are highly popular within the real estate industry.
Like pretty much every person on the planet, real estate agents rely on Google to find answers to important professional problems. By deploying paid strategies like search engine marketing (SEM), you can put yourself in front of active prospects. This is another area where your potential success with a particular media channel will hinge on research. Be sure to deploy free tools like a keyword planner and check Google Trends for valuable data on keyword search volume.
In terms of owned media, your biggest asset for attracting Realtors is likely to be your website. While nearly every company already has a website, far too many have not incorporated standard search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, which can lead to a loss in potential web traffic. Consisting of both on- and off-page tactics, SEO is a must for anyone looking to attract a specific audience such as Realtors. Refer to our previous blog post on the topic for more information.
Social media marketing is yet another opportunity to reach real estate agents in a strategic, targeted fashion. First, the data shows that 77% of Realtors leverage social media to connect with important audiences such as millennials.[i] Additionally, according to the National Association of Realtors, almost half of real estate businesses agree that the social media channels resulted in the highest quality leads.[ii] Unfortunately, social media is becoming increasingly a “pay-to-play” arena, which we have also written about previously. Yet a minor ad spend can often prove advantageous for those attempting to reach niche audiences, as the major platforms allow you to micro-target through useful criteria like job title, location, profession, industry, etc.
Find the right strategies and reap the rewards
I won’t sugarcoat it: creating successful digital marketing campaigns is not easy, particularly if you are looking to reach a specialized audience. Yet in most markets, the real estate agent audience is too important to ignore. When done successfully, you’ll be able to meet these audiences where they are and create powerful, mutually beneficial relationships on which to build a successful, long-lasting business.
