Today’s Young & Internet Empowered Consumer
By: Drew Meyers, Business Development Specialist | June 19, 2007
Born in 1982, I think I’m officially part of Generation Y. Generations X (1965-1980) & Generation Y (early 1980’s - 2000) have grown up with the Internet and, as a result, have a vastly different mindset than our parents in many ways. Let’s apply this to marketing. I’m not saying I’m the rule, but the moment someone tries to hard "sell" me their services, I tend to tune them out. Sure, I may be missing some valuable information, and this may in fact be a very good way to determine if a product or service is right for me, but frankly, it will never fly. I generally like to do my own research and educate myself prior to purchasing something or choosing a service provider. I like to be in control.
In order to reach the younger audience, all that is required is some time and a willingness to share your expertise with today’s Internet Empowered Consumer (IEC), who don’t want to be "sold".
A while back, Michael Russer mentioned a couple great tips for appealing to IECs:
- IECs want control, so give it to them. Because of their anonymity, the online consumer is in control and likes it that way. The more you try to take control (as you might do in a typical sales situation) the more you will push them away.
- IECs value their privacy. Take every opportunity to reassure your online prospects that their privacy will be absolutely protected by you and your staff.
- Few are ready to buy or sell. I estimate that 19 out of 20 online leads are from consumers in the information-gathering stage, and are not ready to explicitly declare their needs. These folks are easily converted to transactions, but only if you know how to nurture them to the point at which they are ready to move.
Generation Y are tomorrow’s home buyers. As a real estate professional, if you rely on the same marketing channels that you reached our parents with, you’re not likely to reach us. There are numerous ways to reach generation Y, you just have participate in the places where we spend our time. We hang out on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. We read local real estate blogs. We search for homes online. We research everything. We expect almost instant responses when we e-mail someone. We’re always connected. We don’t care to listen to "pitches."
Brand yourself by lending a helping hand and you’ll be in a prime position when tomorrow’s buyers decide to buy their first home!
- Stumble it!
- Categories: Real Estate Industry, Zillow
Comments
9 Comments so far
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Brian Rothenberg on June 19, 2007 5:58 pm
Drew,
Nice post, as a fellow 1982’er I couldn’t agree more.
-Brian
Dale Chumbley on June 19, 2007 9:23 pm
Drew,
Very well put. There is definitely a difference between my parents way, my way(1970) and the upcoming generation.
As a real estate team with my mother we are constantly looking at how we reach the different ages. What works for one generally won’t work for another.
Thank you for the reminder to stay relevant.
Dale Chumbley
http://www.ClarkCountyRealEstateBlog.com
Geoff Graham on June 20, 2007 6:41 am
Great article. There’s so much to learn from this social science. Fast Company had a great article on a related subject a couple days ago. They refer to Gen Y as “Millenials”:
http://tinyurl.com/274ah2
Poppy Dinsey on June 20, 2007 9:24 am
Great post!
I can’t believe how long it can take agents to respond by email, I don’t want to have to go and do paperwork in person in 2007! Last week I needed a reference from a previous letting agent and when she asked for the address I (naturally) started giving her the email address. She had to stop me midflow to say I’d have to wait until Friday if it was by email as the woman who ‘worked on computers’ wasn’t in that day. Lordy!
Michael Price on June 20, 2007 1:22 pm
Forbes has a great cover story on the Gen Y crowd from May 28th issue entitled, “Manage Us? Puh-leeze…”
Marketing and managing to the Gen Y crowd will be more challenging than any generation yet. Good post DM!
Anonymous on June 20, 2007 3:52 pm
Great post, Drew. From one control freak to another, I totally agree about the self sufficient buying characteristics of us Y-ers. I have tons of Y friends looking to buy their first home/condo in 1-3 years who view the internet as their best friend and resource.
Drew Meyers from Zillow on June 20, 2007 3:58 pm
Thanks for the comments everyone. This was a fun article to write and I think more real estate professionals (and service providers in general) need to realize the way us “generation Y’s” think.
Real Central VA on June 21, 2007 1:56 am
Thursday links - 06-21-2007
I have been building this list since Monday and have a fairly wide range of links -
Trulia alerts
Hard work required to stage a home
Theres no inflation except for necessities
Understanding home recycling
Myths parent wont tell yo…
More Listings | More Sales on June 24, 2007 10:14 am
Internet EmpoweredConsumer
The Zillow Blog had a great post about IECs (Internet Empowered Consumer) this week.
Generation Y are tomorrows home buyers. As a real estate professional, if you rely on the same marketing channels that you reached our parents with, yo…