Connecting with the growing Millennial buyer demographic requires deeper connections and new tools

Emerging as the largest single group in new real estate purchasing, Millennials are replacing Baby Boomers as the dominant demographic in Toronto and the GTA. Once considered counterculture, this audience is now the mainstream, but marketers need to be mindful in order to make deeper and more meaningful connections. Brands need to be more personal and accountable; digital experiences need to be user-led and purposeful to fully resonate with this audience.

Millennials, aged 24 to 40, are buying real estate in record numbers. While they were somewhat late to the party, they are making up for lost time and are doing so in ways significantly different than their predecessors. According to The National Association of Realtors (Homebuyer & Seller Generational Trends in 2019), “eighty-one per cent of older Millennials found their home through a mobile app. Given this, the real estate world is recognizing that leveraging technology will enable it to capture the generation focused on ‘swiping right’.”

Information and touchpoints

Connecting with Millennials requires a digital-first approach and anticipating what information and touchpoints they require in order to research the neighbourhood, learn about the developer and team and make a decision.

While websites paint a robust picture of the project’s surrounding neighbourhood, rich online visualizations and experiences continue to be the best way to showcase both product and amenities.

A purposeful website needs to be current and contemporary; it must provide a streamlined user experience that makes it as easy as possible to view floorplans, site plans and amenities. Millennials react far better to content than they do to traditional advertising. Meaning, they’d rather read something with relevance and click on a “call to action” than get a popup ad.

Millennials seek an easy customer experience; they want the information they need to be easy to access and uncomplicated. They prefer videos over reading, stories over ad-speak and online tools to help them select and personalize their potential suites or homes.

New realities

Developers should consider offering connections with banks to navigate mortgages, host webinars to educate and inform. The entire online experience should smooth the buying process and help purchasers through the various stages of buying a new home, including pre- and post- move-ins. And above all, the site should facilitate connection to a sales agent quickly and easily.

The pandemic has significantly changed how we market new real estate. Today’s sellers are old hands at marketing in a digital world; virtual sales centres, online videos, 3D walk-through experiences, even purchasing, can be handled completely online. This new reality is incredibly compatible with the style of marketing that appeals to Millennials. We predict that the future will see more digital capabilities galvanized to make it even more convenient for this lucrative market to thrive.