Millennials: Importance in Marketing Real Estate on Social Media

Social media is one of the main communication methods of those aged 25-40: the millennials.

New platforms have come and gone, but the power of social media as a prime millennial form of expression has held strong.

Perhaps it’s the conversational nature of social media, where access to the inner thoughts of both people and companies is a more streamlined affair.

Perhaps it’s the almost-instant gratification of information exchange: the ability to send out a global idea or message and hear back from the world with their two cents (converted into their own local currency, of course).

Or perhaps it’s that millennials have literally matured alongside social media, inextricably intertwined. That forever friend who is always by their side however they’re needed.

Let’s explore how much millennials are really on social media, how they use social media to learn about real estate, and why it is so important to market new homes through social media channels.

Millennials find home on social media

So, we know millennials are on social media, but which platforms are their favorites? According to the 5WPR 2020 Consumer Culture Report, 77% of millennials are on Facebook, 70% are sharing snaps on Instagram, 66% are creating video content on YouTube, and 54% keep it brief on Twitter.

But millennials aren’t just on social media posting pictures of food or silly videos, they are connecting and, more importantly for our discussion, researching. That same report shows us that 57% of millennials discover trends on social media, including trends in the housing market. It’s no wonder 47% of realtors say that social media is their top tool for generating high-quality leads. 

In fact, 92% of millennials are using the internet to actively search for homes, with 80% of those finding their homes on mobile devices. And with millennials making up over a third of the homebuying market (37% – the largest single homebuying age demographic), it makes sense to focus marketing where they are looking.

How to market to millennials on social media

Now that we know how big the millennial audience is and where they spend a lot of their time, how do we tailor our marketing to best reach them? For this, we need to understand their challenges and desires.

An average of 65% of millennials are first-time homebuyers, routinely having waited later in life than other demographics to purchase their first home (according to Pew research). One reason for this is their propensity for higher education: with an average of 88% having some form of higher education, they also carry a tremendous amount of student debt.

Over half are moving from a rental residence (54%) to a home within 15 miles of that residence. According to a new report by the National Association of REALTORS® Research group, millennials want their new home to be green and energy efficient (25%), be customizable in relation to design features (25%), have access to lots of community amenities (30%), and be close to entertainment and leisure activities (34%—higher than any other age demographic).

That same 5WPR quoted before informs us that 72% of millennials are influenced by someone they follow on Instagram and 75% are swayed by online ads. It’s great news to know that how we’re presenting them with marketing is aligning with how they like to receive marketing.

So, we take their needs and desires, we take what we know about their buying habits, and we take where they will be located based on the properties we’re advertising, and we roll that up into a nice millennial homebuyer persona. There’s just one more focus for our marketing: the home builder/developer themselves.

Social media allows homebuyers to peer more closely at builders and developers, and millennials are very conscious of those companies’ values (82% say the alignment of those values is very important). They’re not just looking for a home, they’re looking to buy that home from a company they respect. But where does all this knowledge leave us?

It gives us a game plan to better target millennials. We work with our home building and developing clients to showcase how they create community centers; spotlight their green initiatives; highlight local businesses, specifically those providing entertainment and leisure activities; feature the personal and customizable features of their homes; and present usable content, such as first-time homebuyer-specific solutions and information on the benefits of actually owning a home. And we do this all on social media, where we know millennials are converging and where they turn for advice.

Marketing to millennials on social media isn’t about trying to replicate trends or jump on bandwagons. It’s about being honest, sincere, and presenting them with the information and offers they are looking for, as we guide them to make the choice we want them to make. They click on our marketing, and find a new place to call home.