It isn’t every day that you get the opportunity to sit down with two marketing interested millennial students on work experience but this week in Countrywide’s London HQ, UK House that’s exactly what happened.
On a one week work placement for Countrywide’s marketing team are Mia, from the Midlands who’s just finished her first year at the University of Exeter studying economics. (Twitter: @Missing1nActi0n) and Rose, about to enter her third year at the University of York studying Sociology, living in West Sussex. (Twitter: @cumber_rose). They are both are spending the week with our marketing team to understand how our campaigns come together and how we use social media to both promote our services and aid consumer experience.
Now, as we’re all too well aware we live in a society in which social media plays a huge part ranging from home to work and whether we like it or not it’s influence is continuing to grow in ways we never would have expected.
It’s easy to believe that we all share the same opinion on social media in 2018, but do we? I really wanted to find out from the so called ‘millennial’ point of view – you know the generational demographic cohort following Generation X. I was interested to learn what social media sites they use. What their opinion is of companies or other organisations use of social media and how is social media influencing millennial’s decisions when specifically looking at the ever growing Private Rented Sector (PRS) market and apartment blocks in general. After all, they are the generation who have grown up with it, so this was an opportunity too good to pass by!
Here’s what I asked them and most importantly, here’s their view points. Would it be what you’d expect? Well, read on…
Q: What a typical ‘social day’ for you? – what social media sites do you use and which are your favourites and why?
Mia: When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is check Twitter, then Instagram, then watch Snapchat stories, and then maybe check Facebook if I have time. I prefer Twitter because it shows tweets in real time and in chronological order. This means that I only have to scroll down to where I last read, and I can keep up to date seeing tweets live as they are posted. I also feel that posts on twitter are more personal, as people feel free to tweet exactly what they’re feeling. Whereas, Facebook shows posts in a random order, doesn’t refresh and show the latest posts and my news feed is now dominated by people my parents age (my parents included) sharing random things. I feel that my generation don’t feel comfortable posting on Facebook due to this reputation of it now being for older people.
Rose: I actually have post and story notifications turned on for Instagram, so for my close friends I get a notification when they add to their story or post a photo so I am the first to see it! But otherwise I agree with Mia, I don’t really check Facebook that much, I think it is the least used social media by millenials. I think in the last year, the use of Snapchat has declined due to the way they updated it and also because of Instagram stories. So I would say I use Instagram the most, and then Twitter as I can get news on there, factual and celebrity.
Q: How could companies ‘Be More Social’ help improve their communication through social media and generally engage more with their customers?
Mia: To engage younger people through social media I think eye-catching images are very important. Instagram is a great platform for many businesses in 2018 as people like to see atheistically pleasing images. If an account follows a theme – through the style of picture, or the filter used to edit it – I would be more likely to follow it because it feels like you are following a story and watching it develop. Hashtags on Instagram are another good way of gaining followers, especially if you use popular ones (for example #colourpop) that people search for often. This increases your social presence and will get more people clicking on your images- that’s when you need to grab people’s attention with a nice looking page. If the pictures are all of completely uncorrelated things, in all different colours with too many contrasting filters, people will immediately click off it. For inspiration check out @aldiuk and @airbnb.
Rose: I think companies should definitely be using Instagram more, in my opinion it is the app with the most benefit to businesses. This is because it has posts and stories, and also there is now the option to click on something being advertised and it tells you the price and gives you a link to buy it straight away. I don’t think that many companies are aware of this yet, and it seems at the moment only clothing brands are really using it. You’ve also got direct messaging, and on Instagram through using social analytical tools you can see your audience engagement and also can see how you can improve. So I think firms and companies are focusing too much on Facebook, which is actually not relevant to millennial’s anymore. Twitter is also underused by companies, as with Twitter it is more informal and direct, so companies could directly and quickly respond to customers, such as if they had a complaint.
Q: In your experience, how is social media influencing millennial’s decision when looking at flats specifically and / or PRS blocks?
Mia: When searching for a flat in my first year of university there was a choice between the university accommodation, private accommodation through a partner of the university, or just a private let. I used social media initially to find reviews and pictures of all of the accommodations, which was really helpful in understanding people’s personal experiences living in the different places. In terms of social the university partner accommodation really stood out. @Campuslivingvilagesuk uses instagram to really engage and communicate with students, re-posting residents’ pictures and creating an online community within the accommodation where all the residents would get involved.
As someone looking to live somewhere that is welcoming and has a sense of community this drew me in right away, as it looked like something I wanted to get involved with. @unite_students also utilised instagram by attracting my attention through a vibrant theme. The also post videos of interviews with current residents, which allows you to get a insight into what living there is really like.
I feel, and I’m sure many people in my generation would agree that a strong social media is very important when looking where to live, as it demonstrates that the seller has a modern interpretation of marketing and understands that social media is imperative when younger people are your target market. It allows us to gain a deeper insight into the experience you will get from living there and understand the vibe of the place before even stepping foot in the building.
Rose: My University has a collegiate system, so during first year you lived in accommodation just with people in your college. I really liked this as it gives it much more of a community feel as you really get to know everyone. Flats ranged from groups of 9 to 12, and at the bottom of each block was a communal common room, so you can mix with people in different flats and not just your own. Again, I really enjoyed this aspect as it contributed to the social element of university life, and thus I think millennials or first time buyers looking for flats might be interested in something similar. Before joining, my university set up Facebook pages in which you could find out who else was living in your flat or block, which is a really good idea.
Directly referring to social media, my university accommodation produced short videos on Facebook and Instagram which included a memorable mascot exploring the accommodation and communal areas. This mascot and the theme of it has been used still and throughout the year, so I think this is a really clever marketing technique.
Well, there’s an insight for you! Very insightful and thought provoking!
From my point of view I think I was most surprised that twitter featured so highly on the list of popular social channels for millennials. I think I expected Instagram and snapchat more.
It was especially interesting that Mia referenced twitter as the channel people feel free to say exactly what they are feeling which to me is actually no surprise and why it’s most probably the most effective customer relations channel – ie the one you’d go to in order to raise an issue or a compliant and the one I feel companies should turn to in order to manage and respond.
I’d often wondered just how popular facebook was these days with the millennial age and Rose’s comment that, in her opinion, it is the least used social channel by millennials with most of the generation turning to Instagram does back up my experience with my friends and their children.
Equally interesting was the decline of snapchat with Instagram stories and not just because of what Kylie Jenner tweeted! (allegedly costing the channel £1.3 billion!)
Speaking of celebrity it does go to show you how impactful they are and how marketing needs to reflect the celebrity channel choice with instagram being the most popular followed by twitter providing up to date factual reporting and stories.
So in summary of this insightful session I’d sum up with the following:
Engage your audience: use eye catching images, keep your feed consistent to enable your customer / consumer to follow a story and watch it develop.
Hashtags: I’m well known for saying this in the office but, carefully selected, they really do raise your profile. Thanks Mia for your #colourpop suggestion which I actually used during a recent Instagram follow train event
Marketing property: So many comments on this and ideas and thoughts and examples and and and… I might actually write a separate article on this but it’s so interesting that social media is used to check reviews on the developments. By showcasing a warm and welcoming environment and sense of community this clearly helps to influence peoples choices.
Finally ‘understanding the vibe’ (love that comment Mia) but it’s so true, if you can get your customer to understand the vibrancy of your development they can really buy into the lifestyle and the overall experience.
Oh and, get a mascot, thanks Rose, there’s another top tip! In fact any recognisable prop is a great way to engage your audience. Make it brand relevant and you could just have the start of a whole new campaign!
If this has inspired any creative thoughts and you’d like to share them, or indeed ask any questions just tweet to @JamesBiley & @FlatLivingLoves using the hashtag #BeMoreSocial
James is now Marketing and PR Manager for Countrywide’s Estate and Asset Management and Property Auction divisions.
The #BeMoreSocial column was created for Flat Living and its goal is to drive more effective communication within the property management industry.
If you have a customer service experience using any form of marketing or social media that you’d like to share then tweet @JamesBiley and @FlatLivingLoves using the #BeMoreSocial.
We’d love to feature your examples in a future edition.
