Gen Z broke your marketing funnel

Vogue recently conducted a study on Gen Z, revealing that traditional marketing funnels no longer work as they once did. The old linear model of Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action has evolved. Now, it's more circular, with Gen Z in an infinite loop of Inspiration, Exploration, Community, and Loyalty.

Inspiration

While traditional marketing still works (Gen Z doesn't yet control maximum buying power), they start their inspiration on social media. Each individual consumes different channels. X.com (formerly Twitter) is just as live as Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube for them.

Pick one platform and share your life and experiences there. Show you have a pulse in those channels, and it'll inspire them. That's step one for them to consider working with you and to build trust.

Exploration

Gen Z has an incredible amount of information at their fingertips, with no gatekeeping. They want the price, location, details, and everything else to trust 100%.

For example, one of my cousins toured 17 states and 37 colleges in person to check out the vibe, made a chart of all the pros and cons, and finally narrowed down to the one that best fit their needs.

It's impossible to put your client in a cage for a sales conversation. They need to explore everything beforehand and will make their decision on their timeline. Put everything you have out there and more so they can get a vibe check.

SEO and social media are crucial for this reason.

Community

Gen Z wants to feel part of a community. They value experiences. If your real estate business does a lot of video tours and takes people on a journey, it fits right into this theme.

This approach also works well for Millennials, as everyone loves to feel part of something bigger, with a sense of support, care, and trust.

An easy way to build a community is to create a local Facebook group and share your knowledge, experiences, and life. Work on helping people in the community, even outside of your transaction process.

Gen Z is considered the loneliest generation according to one index. Making them feel part of the tribe will help them choose you over others.

Loyalty

The definition of loyalty is changing from repeat purchases to what you've done for clients between transactions. As one new mom said in a survey, "Did you just close the deal and walk away, or have you stayed in touch and asked how we are settling in?"

While drip campaigns and newsletters are fine, what they really crave is genuine connection. Some even say that they're always observing agents, consciously or subconsciously, online and offline, even when not in the market.

Loyalty also comes from clients referring you to someone they know, even if they didn't use your services directly.

Summary

In the past, people sought out real estate agents. Now, they're seeking solutions for specific needs like purchasing a house, getting an Airbnb property, or selling an inheritance. It's customer-centric.

Agents who have lead magnets and hooks for various personas, use-cases, and challenges across multiple platforms will catch the most fish. You need to be where customers are in the infinite loop of Inspiration, Exploration, Community, and Loyalty. 

There's no start or end point to consumer purchase patterns. Providing solutions and consistently inspiring them is what will earn you business.