Real estate agents often think of real estate marketing as a one-fits-all solution. But if you’re not making an effort to connect with prospective clients where they are, based on concerns that are specific to them, your real estate marketing strategy is seriously lacking. Each generation of home owners is looking for something distinctly different and should be addressed accordingly. Here’s how you connect baby boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z to score active leads and build your sphere of influence.

Baby Boomers

Who are Baby Boomers and What Do They Want?

Baby boomers are the crowd born between 1946 and 1964. Most Baby Boomers have now reached retirement age and are set in their interests and needs when it comes to real estate. Born post-war, this generation is known to seek consistent safety and stability, so there’s a high chance that they are in stable financial condition and may not be looking for additional homes. However, they could be on the verge of purchasing the last home they will live in. For this reason, older boomers are less likely to compromise on the home they want.

How to Market to Baby Boomers

This generation is the most tactile of them all; they are the most likely to connect with traditional marketing although they are comfortable with digital marketing as well. However, even when they do engage with digital marketing, it is more likely to be through a desktop than a mobile device. Keep marketing content with this group clear, organized, and targeted. It’s best to steer away from technical or overly modern lingo.

Here are a few relevant keywords you can integrate into your marketing content:

• Retirement communities
• Senior living communities
• Retirement living
• 55 plus communities

Traditional Marketing

Unlike other generations, boomers are sticklers for thoroughly checking the mail. Direct mail advertising and print media is more likely to grab their attention and generate trust. With boomers, physical marketing often carries more weight than digital marketing (which can appear untrustworthy).

Consider sharing branded calendars, holiday cards, brochures, and community event invites in your hyperlocal areas that have a large baby boomer population. AgentFire will help you to build a consistent brand that you can adapt to each marketing medium to gain measurable brand recognition in your area. Learn more about our branding and logo design.

Email Marketing

It’s best to keep email marketing with this generation focused on plain text and telling your clients exactly what it is that you would like them to do/what you can provide. Like print marketing material, you’ll lose this reader if you focus too much on catchy wording and flashy images. Are you asking past clients to refer you to any potential buyers for a new listing? Introduce yourself, the property, and exactly what you need from the reader in a tight and clear, text-based email.

Facebook

Of all social media networks, baby boomers are exponentially more active on Facebook. Make sure that your Facebook business page is complete and speak directly to the concerns and interests of this age group.

Facebook post content should be heavily informative and slower-paced. Using words on screen and clear imagery is a sure-fire way to get this generation’s attention. Facebook Ads are another great avenue to reach this age group. Intentionally target your ads towards this demographic and use search terms that are relative to what you’re offering, but in language they would use. For example, a baby boomer is more likely to respond to CTAs that say “Click here to learn more”, as opposed to “Check it out now”.

For Facebook Ads that convert, our AgentFire clients love working with our partners at Dippidi. As people search for homes in your market, Dippidi ensures that your PPC ads are right in front of them. Learn more about how Dippidi can create massive results for you with PPC ads. 

Generation X

Who is Generation X  and What Do They Want?

Generation X describes people born between the years of 1965 and 1980. This generation is likely in their “peak earning years” and have the highest income among all buyer generations. Gen X was raised to value growth and building a life independently, so they have a strong desire to own a home and prefer to live closer to their job. This generation is fiercely loyal to the brands and people that have served them well and appreciate them. A great relationship with a generation X client could bring in a lifetime of leads.

How to Market to Generation X

Generation X is largely marketable through every main marketing channel – traditional and digital – however, they are significantly more responsive to email than earlier generatios and they know enough about social media to engage with it heavily on specific platforms. Connect with this generation by marketing yourself as up-to-date, yet established, with a focus on thought leadership and positive past success.

Here are a content topic ideas and keywords that will appeal to this generation:

• Anything related to work-life balance
• Family oriented-activities such as local parks, and places where kids can play or eat for free
• DIY home improvement ideas.
• Providing care for aging parents
• Advice on how to grow and protect their money or prepare for retirement
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Social Media

You can find generation X on Facebook first and Instagram second. They love long-form video that provides tons of applicable and informative information. This video may take the form of Facebook videos or Instragram reels and posts. With this generation, you can dive into more creative strategies to share information (such as storytelling and fast-paced visuals) without losing them along the way.

Imagine you are showing a new listing. On Facebook live you could give a tour of that new listing to show all of the ways the home has been prepared for the winter and shate tips on how your prospective clients can do the same for their home. The mix of information and promotional content in a long-form video will connect instantly with gen x.

This generation is also very likely to share content they feel will be useful to others closest to them, so don’t hesitate to use images, charts, and other well – organized and colorful graphics that get your message across quickly.

For example, if you’d like to build your sphere of influence, consider developing social media content similar to this awesome infographic. It’s to the point, clear, attractive, and shareable.

(credit: iresocial.com)

Email

Generation X are very comfortable with email and are likely to check and click on your emails if you offer something of explicit value and if they are familiar with your name. Address clients by name for a personal touch, and offer some type of lead magnet that will keep them opening your emails for months to come.

A great example of this would be to send an email about some of open houses you will be holding in your client’s area of interest. Then attach a short guide that says a bit about the neighborhood and lifestyle of each listing.

Millennials

Who Are Millennials and What Do They Want?

Millennials are by far the most targeted age group in real estate in 2022. Born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s, this generation is packed-full of first time home buyers who are earning just enough to lay down some real financial roots. Unfortunately for real estate agents, this generation has a significantly shorter attention span than any previous generation. They grew up on personal technology and take quickly to new tech changes – so you better stay up to speed.

Millennials were young enough during the Great Recession to be seriously affected by it later on in life. As a consequence, millennials are fiscally responsible, often live at home for longer or find themselves in more career delays – plus they are less motivated by financial success.

Without the promise of stability that was offered to Generation X, Millennials have turned to purchasing smaller, multi-functional, and transitional apartments and modern homes. They are also less concerned about being close to work and more concerned about being where the action is and where there are things to do.

How to Market to Millennials

This generation was raised during the rise of the information age, so they expect things to be quick, efficient and long-lasting. They’ve seen the rise and lasting success of the digital world, so they know that things can always be made to be more convenient and efficient – keep this in mind when developing marketing content for this generation. To best reach millennials, tap-in to and master at least a few social media platforms. Then, hop on to an email nurturing campaign to seal the deal. And remember to keep it pretty! “Millennial Pink” isn’t named that for nothing; this group flocks to beautiful and shareable imagery when it comes to real estate.

Social Media

Millenials are experts on every social media platform, but there’s no need for you to be present on every single one of them. Choose a few platforms that connect with your specific millennial audience and go from there. For example, if you are focused on first-time buyers in a trendy area with young professionals, you may want to zone in on Instagram and Linkedin. However, if you mainly work with young families purchasing their first home outside of the city, Facebook and Instagram would be the most beneficial networks to focus on.

Most, if not all, of the tools on a given social media platform can be used to target millennials, but we suggest staying away from bland, squarely informational content. Millennials like to add a little color and comfort to everything they do.

Home decor tips posted weekly on your Instagram in the form of reels can bring in and maintain the attention of a potential millennial client. Encourage viewers to follow you or engage with your post so that the next time you post about a new listing they will see it first and already be familiar and comfortable with your brand.

Social Proof

Millennials built online forum and review culture, so they are likely to check on what others have said about you before they take a deeper look for themselves. This is why your Google Business Page and any other online review platform must show you in the best light. Encourage past or current clients to leave positive reviews and feedback on your social media accounts as well as other sites such as Yelp, Zillow and your own real estate website.

AgentFire websites integrate with most review platforms including Zillow, so that you can show what a stellar agent you are right on your website.

Email

Millenials are used to being swarmed with emails, so you’ll have to work harder to stand out in their inbox. Put extra focus on attention-grabbing headlines and language that keeps the viewer engaged throughout. Finally, end with a CTA to keep the momentum going.

For example, use a story-telling format to speak about how you made a client’s home-owning dream come true despite challenging circumstances. Then, add social icons and encourage them to follow you for more awesome client stories, tips, and listings.

Gen Z

Who is Generation Z and What Do They Want?

Gen Z may be young now, but they will be a force in the real estate market within the next five years. This generation was born between 1997 and 2012 and are just starting to reach home-buying age. Because they’ve come to age during massive moments of societal change, Gen Z has a laser focus on sustainability and social responsibility. They are fiercely independent and will more readily trust the voice of the ‘people’ over traditional authority.

How to Market to Gen Z

Gen Z has come a long way from the stability-starved baby boomers. They are the most diverse and highest-educated generation yet, so they are well aware of the many housing options and styles that are available. For them, homogeneous neighborhoods and restrictive communities are a no-go. 61% of Gen Z says that their number one reason for buying property is to find a customizable space that works for them.

Like Millennials, Gen Z are expert researchers and will likely show up to the home buying process more educated than other generations typically would be. Make sure that your online image is in tip-top shape and address any negative reviews or unfavorable images ASAP.

Social Media

For Gen Z, social media is king. If Millenials created social media, Gen Z has perfected its use. Here we’ll focus on and dive deeper into how you can use social media to connect with this audience.

Contests and Polls

Gen Z are not passive viewers of social media, they are engaged, vocal, and expressive. Make your social media profiles a place where conversations can start and communities can be built, then further interact with those leads by creating content they are talking about, and finish off with promotional content.

Here’s an example:

Post an instagram poll about Gen Z’s most desired type of property. Is it a highrise in the city center? A cottage-core condo in a beach town? A communal living space in the country? Once you’ve gathered a good amount of responses from your poll, write a post about the steps to take towards purchasing the chosen property based on lifestyle and price. From there, you’ll know that when you score a listing of that type, you should push it out to your Gen Z audience to find active leads.

Video Content

Thanks to apps like TikTok, this generation has the shortest attention span of all, with an average of 8 seconds to capture their attention. You’ll want to focus on providing the most amount of valuable information quickly, stylishly, and in a way that speaks to them.

For example, hop on a popular TikTok song that’s trending right now and make a quick video with 5 tips to save and prepare to buy your first home. This topic is extremely relevant to this age group and will likely get saved and shared. When it’s time to buy their first home, your viewers will know who to contact.

Make it Easy to Contact you

Gen Z is not interested in waiting 5-7 business days to get your response. With services like Amazon setting the standard for how quickly they expect results and answers, you need to move fast. We suggest adding a chatbot to your website to answer client questions quickly. You will also want to make sure that your contact info is clearly laid out in the bio of each of your social media platforms.

In Conclusion…

Every generation will reach a time in their lives when they’re ready to buy a home – but that doesn’t mean they’ll be looking for the same things. Understanding what defines each generation and what they are looking for will help you build a real estate marketing plan that brings in significant results.

Don’t waste your time making TikToks for Generation X or direct mail brochures for Gen Z. Each generation engages with real estate media and marketing in a  different way, so meet them where they are.

And remember, although there are general sweeping real estate marketing trends within each age group, each client is an individual. You should always take the time to work directly with your clients and encourage communication about what they are looking for and what you can deliver.