Marketing to Generation Y

This is the 21st Century. Gone are the labourage days and the days where it takes a week to get any type of response to a request. This was what the Baby Boomers and some of the Generation X people went through. This is the communication age. This is the era where we have social networking sites, instant messaging, text messaging, video calling, email, online shops, online forums where you can get any question you ever have answered. This is the time when you want to know something you go to the internet and find it out.

Have you ever asked someone something and the answer you received was “Just GOOGLE it”. Well that’s the sign of the times. www.google.com and the other many search engines and all the things I mentioned above have revolutionised how we interact with other people and get the information we want to know.

Who is the powerhouse for this revolution. We are known as Generation Y or the “Connexity Kids”

Generation Y encompasses those a very large number of people born between 1980 and to 2000 and some experts saying even till today and represents the first generation to grow up online.

To be able to market effectively to generation Y you need to understand their needs and wants. This generation has been bought up online. And as I said before has had the luxuries of being able to get almost anything they want instantly online.And every other generation using the internet has this luxury as well, but the difference being generation Y don’t know any different and expect and demand it.

But not all our life is lived on the internet. But below I have 4 key points that you will need to know when you think about Generation Y.

The defining value of this generation is “connexity”: the importance of staying connected in order to grow. Digital media ha ve given youth unprecedented means to connect with each other and the world. As a result, for brands to succeed tomorrow, they must forge connections with consumers that go beyond simple product func tion. There needs to be something for them in it.
Knowledge is power. It is also cool. Digital media have made knowledge cool through a fusion of fun and learning. This means for us in real estate that as an agent or a home owner you need to know the information the buyer may ask or know exactly where to direct them to be able to get it.

Generation Y is a confident, self-reliant, optimistic and positive generation. The Internet, personal computers and C D-ROMs represent tools that have empowered this generation. As a result, these consumers are marketing savvy and much less brand loyal. They will go for what gives them the best in their situation.

Digital media has produced a new language. This new generation of online users is verbally and visually more sophisticated. In fact, verbal and visual literacy have converged, creating a whole new language which tomorrow’s marketers must learn. You need to describe your home on the advertising in a way that makes your home seem modern fresh and something that will appeal to a Gen Y.

Generation Y generally want an answer now and want it with the least amount of effort possible. They also want results quickly. Say if a gen Y sets up a business they expect results to happen fast and are very critical if it doesn’t happen. The catch is gen Y don’t want to do as much work as previous generations but prefer to work smarter. Gen Y is under a lot of pressure to achieve and excel which sort of explains why they expect results fast.

Now to put this into perspective:

As an agent:

We need to know the lingo. Marketing isn’t just a case of putting an ad out there, leaving it on the websites and then hoping to get hits and hoping even more the people that are hitting it want to ask a question. A generation Y person is used to social media platforms where they interact with the people and the things they are looking at. This is where smarted advertising is needed. Emphasis on the points that benefit the buyer are very important and also photos. But even better are interactive home tours. In the United states there are software companies developing software where a buyer is like an avatar and can walk anywhere they want to in the house as if they were there by themselves and then there is an option where they can ask the agent a question while they are there which is sent to the agent as a text message and the agent can then reply to the question instantly. This real time conversation like approach to marketing is what is needed to engage the new audience and get the best results from them. Some experts say that a reduction in traditional print media advertising and a shift toward media more commonly frequented by Gen X’ers and Gen Y’ers is going to be needed with inclusion in weekly publications, more electronic billboards, regular radio spots and more online advertising on websites that offer a large range of products all over (like a one stop shop concept).

As a home buyer:

Your home needs to have modern aspects to it and be in a decent state of repair. Not just for generation Y but this trend has evolved as generation Y’s influence has started to spread to everyday life. They don’t really want to do any work to the house. The simple things like having a dishwasher, internal access garages, automatic garage doors, automatic heating etc are big things that can woo the generation to buying yours rather the one next door. The theme that runs through this entire blog is convenience. Don’t get me wrong that anyone will buy anything at the right price. But convenience is a big part of today’s lifestyle. And if you can as a seller prepare your home before the market to be more convenient and easy to live in this will have a better reward later down the track.