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A 2019 survey by the Morning Consult, a global technology data research company, showed that millennial and Generation Z buyers are more likely to purchase a product or service when the recommender is someone who is knowledgeable about the product, brand or industry. This is relevant because these are the two generations that will dominate new home sales for the next two decades.
A separate study conducted by Oracle showed that these two groups still trust the advice of friends, family and colleagues the most when it comes to purchasing recommendations, vastly more than they do influencers or fellow online consumers. So how should these numbers influence how we market ourselves to our audience? These are three strategies I believe will have the greatest impact.
Educate, Do Not Alienate
More than ever in this new world, during and after the pandemic, it is important for those who are voices in their business to support the market by providing real and factual information. If we are busy spreading fear with negative market predictions, then we need to be 100% sure those are accurate — which is almost impossible.
These are the moments when we can use our platforms to support those in need and educate them on how they can live, work and invest better with factual information about past trends and what that could mean for where we are going next. The viewers of our brands, if they are informed and not scared, will come back to us as sources of information when we are back to business again because we helped them during tough times. By scaring them, we will always be a negative memory, even if we were correct.
Become a friend by socially marketing your real estate business, and not being simply an influencer of negative thoughts. You will do this by building trust in your words so that those who follow can feel connected to you as if they know you personally.
Quality Content Attracts Quality Customers
The higher the quality of your content, the higher the chance of you converting the leads that will come from it. If we are using tactics that are very clickable, like “Click here to get a free credit report and consultation,” sure, people will come. But what type of customer will they be? By contrast, if we are giving real market updates on our local market based on facts and data, like “The east side of our neighborhood has seen an 8% increase in property value. Here are three tips to conducting a home search there,” we will get much fewer clicks but the leads will be of higher value.
Social media has made all of us concerned about likes and views, but the truth is that those who are experiencing the most success have drawn a smaller audience of people who really engage with their content. Social media likes and views can be bought through services, but income-producing leads cannot. So, for every TikTok dance you do, you should also have a post that speaks to your real customers and not the clickable masses.
Reveal Your Message Fast
Reports are showing that people are viewing social media even more than before during the pandemic. Great news for our brands, right? Maybe not so much. With consumers taking in even more content than before, what has sped up as well is their attention span. A very strong introduction to a post or a video is imperative.
With videos, we have about five seconds to catch that viewer’s attention for the chance of keeping it. An analysis by HubSpot showed that Instagram videos of about 26 seconds received the most engagement. Be direct with your message upfront and then continue with clear, short, precise points to ensure your call to action is clear. Encourage feedback and questions in closing.
Support during times like this comes in many forms. I believe that we as professionals, in real estate or otherwise, have a responsibility to provide information that will help those in need. Whether we realize it or not, our social practices for branding will do more to push people forward if we are resilient and consistent by concentrating on methods such as these. Be a trusted voice by becoming a source of accurate, informative facts and you will find a trusted consumer for your present and future.