On a recent episode of Marketing Trends, Brad Nelson, the Chief Marketing Officer at Sotheby’s International Realty, discussed the changing consumer demographics and the intergenerational transfer of wealth in the real estate market. He emphasized the importance of connecting with different generations of clients and creating an emotional connection with them. Plus, he talked about the need for brands to show up on different platforms in an authentic way for the younger generation while maintaining brand equity. Brad also highlighted the value of empathy, emotional intelligence, and curiosity in his leadership style.
New Consumer Demographics in Real Estate Marketing
The luxury real estate market is experiencing a shift in consumer demographics, with millennials entering prime income earning years and an intergenerational transfer of wealth taking place. According to Nelson, that means that marketers need to shift how they are reaching this new generation with property listings, branding, and other digital marketing. But he cautions that you have to be able to reach multiple generations in equal measure.
“Millennials are the largest generation…and they’re entering prime income earning years,” Nelson said. “At the same time, we have an intergenerational ramping up in a major way.
“And what that means is a lot of millennials overnight have more financial capacity to purchase a luxury home than they did before through inheritance. And that’s just a very fast change in the type of client who is active in our segment of the market.
“So we’re really trying to figure out the segmentation of how are we connecting with different generations of clients, perhaps even in the same transaction, because you may have a seller who’s downsizing and you may have a millennial who’s upgrading. And how does a brand really have an emotional connection with both of those segments at the same time?”
Sothby’s recently released a mid-year report about how luxury property listings are shaping up so far in 2024.
The Need for Authentic Digital Marketing
Brands need to show up on different platforms in an authentic way for the younger generation while maintaining brand equity. Branding is critical, and how you’re doing that in the digital space is what will make a difference for the more online generations to come.
“I saw some data that showed the problem that Google is facing is that a Gen Z client is now beginning a search query on Tik TOK as opposed to on a Google search engine,” Nelson said. “That really requires us to figure out how do we show up on different platforms in an authentic way for that generation of consumers without totally abandoning all of the brand equity that has been built.
“It’s that balance of having the freedom to experiment on new platforms and to show up on them in an authentic way for that audience. Ultimately, you have to go to where your customers are. You can’t try to lead them to you, so striking that balance of consistency for decades versus the freedom to experiment on new platforms.”
Why Feedback is Important
According to Nelson, constant course correction and listening to feedback from frontline advisors are essential for success in marketing. And in order to lead, you also need to give feedback. To do so successfully, Nelson said that empathy, emotional intelligence, and curiosity are valuable traits for leaders in the luxury real estate marketing industry.
Listen to the full episode now.
