MARKETING TO MILLENNIALS

At any forward-thinking company whether in the mortgage business or a completely different industry; there is one thing that will be undeniably in common, that is we are all constantly trying to understand the best ways to market to millennials.  Millennials are the future of our economy, and more importantly the largest group of future homebuyers. 

It is important to first understand what classifies whom a millennial is before best deciding how to capture their attention and their business.  They are the generation born from 1980’s to 2000’s or currently from the ages of 17-37.  According to NAR, they are the largest segment of buyers at 34%.  Also, according to Ellie Mae, the percentages continue to rise for the amount of purchase loans they account for year after year.  Last January making up for 42% of all purchase loans and this year up to 45% in the same month.  Although many believe they are the laziest of all the generations the truth is they are just as forward thinking and 75% will take over the workforce in the next 10 years, just are much more technology driven.  In addition, a recent study showed that 84% of millennials will rely on referrals when making purchasing decisions. 

Now that you have a general idea of what classifies a millennial I will touch on some important tips to keep in mind when strategizing marketing to them.  First and foremost, millennials are technology based and relationship driven.  For this reason, it is important to be strategic with the information you are putting forth through social media platforms.   A few examples would be, share interesting and engaging content, post videos that help them to get to know you both personally and professionally, and stay present on all social media platforms.  Use your previous relationships to help generate new relationships, make sure you are constantly asking for testimonials and referrals from previous clients, have THEM post about it and you share it, thus building that relationship.  Focus on engagement, the more engagement you can get the more feedback you will receive. Fortunately for us looking to see how our Millennials are performing and doing what, when and we’re. Elle Mae millennial tracker is an interactive online tool that up to date real time data about this new generation of homebuyers. Below you will see some data stats that I think you will find beneficial especially those that are in tune to markets and what this class of buyers are looking for

“Our data shows that Millennials are continuing to establish roots where housing is more affordable and there are increasingly more jobs,” said Joe Tyrrell, executive vice president of corporate strategy for Ellie Mae. “While overall, less than half (48 percent) of Millennials who closed loans in May were single, in markets like Hutchinson, Minn., the majority of borrowers were single men. This suggests millennials may be embracing homeownership in these areas for reasons other than what we have historically seen, which was family formation.”

Other key findings from the May 2017 Ellie Mae Millennial Tracker include:

• Conventional mortgages remained the most popular with Millennial borrowers, making up 62 percent of all loans made to them, up from 61 percent in April
• The percentage of Millennials taking out FHA loans fell another point to 34 percent, continuing a one-point-per-month slide that began in March
• FHA Refinance loans took 55 days to close in May, nearly a week longer than the 49 days it took in April
• VA Purchase Loans shaved a few days off the time-to-close, falling to 42 days from 45 days on average

Ellie Mae® (NYSE:ELLI) is a leading provider of innovative on-demand software solutions and services for the residential mortgage industry.

If you play around with the data in this link. http://elliemae.com/millennial-tracker it will drill down to very specific items that again will help you learn more about these buyers. The May data really tells us that a good majority of these buyers are buying in rural areas of the country with counties like Austin, MN having 59% of all purchases closings for May go to Millennials. We have heard the rumblings for years that this segment of the population was going to be the target audience but the data is now showing us what we were told is coming to life. Make sure you are using data and tool like mentioned in this article to constantly be ahead of your peers or competition.