Our Town America Logo
Skip to content

Strategizing with 1:1 Relationships in Mind

The U.S. Census Bureau currently reports a total U.S. population of 322 million people with 83 million of those people being part of the millennial generation, making up the largest living generation today.

Millennials' birth years range from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.  Epsilon’s #marketingtomillennials report, released September 2015, shows the average length of residence for millennials ages 18-24 years old at just 3.3 years and roughly 5.2 years for 25-33 year-olds.  Therefore, there’s no questioning whether this generation attributes to the over 40 million people who move each year.

The great thing about marketing to new movers is that it allows you to reach a very niche market at an opportune time.  These impressionable folks are actively seeking reliable, go-to businesses in their new neighborhoods to help satisfy their everyday wants and needs and, for millennials, convenience and immediacy is key.

New movers searching for a new hair stylist, pizza restaurant, home furnishing store, auto repair shop, etc. are highly likely to visit the businesses they hear of first.

In fact, 93% of the more than 300 men and women who participated in the recent Our Town America National Survey of New Movers reported they would visit the local businesses that take the time to welcome them to the community.

It may come as a surprise that although making purchases online is common and inarguably trendy among millennials, physically visiting a business and having an authentic customer experience reigns as the millennial generation’s most popular method of purchase – with 53% of their wallet spend taking place in-store.

Here are some of our new mover marketing takeaways, as well as tips for marketing to millennials from Epsilon.  We hope you will use this as a guide successfully market to millennials.

  • Target them based on life stage.  Their age doesn’t determine their behaviors, their stage does. –Epsilon

While some millennials may still live with their parents, others are getting married, becoming parents, moving into an apartment, or purchasing their first house.  Each of these events are life altering and should be considered when marketing to millennials and deciding what your new mover offer should be.

  • Employ one-to-one strategies: send targeted, hyper-personalized, relevant offers and messaging.  With this tech-savvy generation, you have to be a tech-savvy marketer. –Epsilon

New mover marketing with Our Town America allows you to send personalized welcome letters and one-time housewarming gifts to a niche market in your chosen demographic areas while providing you with a cutting-edge method of tracking your ROI and triggering a second mailer to your respondents.  The initial welcome package is sent via traditional direct mail, which is great news considering 88% of the movers surveyed said that receiving a housewarming gift would make them feel more comfortable in their new home and 81% stated that they would like advice about their new community upon move-in.  With a well-accepted targeted and personalized offer sent to the new movers in your area, now it’s up to you as the business to complete the positive customer experience.

  • Millennials will grow up and their stage will change, just because they might not be a homeowner right now, doesn't mean you shouldn't start cultivating relationships now. –Epsilon

As previously stated, millennials move roughly every 3 to 5 years and about 40 million Americans move each year.  It’s critical to understand that a simple introduction to your business and a housewarming offer might be just the thing to set you apart from your competition.

The Our Town America program offers category package exclusivity, so if you’re not welcoming the new movers in your community, it’s likely your local competitor will be soon.  It’s never too early to start cultivating new relationships.

  • Millennials have buying power that is influential because of their social media use.  They are very responsive to direct mail and it's a channel you shouldn't overlook when trying to engage with millennials.  Converting a customer now could create a valuable long-term relationship. –Epsilon

Our Town America new mover direct mail is positively received by millions of new movers each year – many who fill out our new mover survey thanking the businesses that welcomed them into their new neighborhood.  Our Positive Postings program allows businesses to post these comments to their Facebook wall – further promoting the business.

Moreover, millennials are constantly ‘tweeting’, posting to Facebook, Instagram and publicly reviewing businesses online, so it’s important to reach out, welcome and leave a good impression in hopes of gaining not just one new loyal customer, but their network of friends and family as well.

  • Be flexible and evolve your strategy into 1:1 relationships.  Start thinking about the customer experience and step into their shoes and understand how technology combined with data and messaging can play a role in driving conversions. –Epsilon

The Our Town America program addresses the full customer experience from start to finish.  From reaching out to the consumer with a targeted offer during a critical/ stressful time to providing you with data allowing you to personally welcome the new customer by name, to reaching out a second time inviting the customer back in with a follow-up mailer after their first visit (prompted by our smartphone application, Our Town TruTrak®), to providing you with the opportunity to engage in conversation surrounding their recent move – the program is centered on developing new loyal, long-term relationships by creating an unmatched customer experience for each and every new customer.

If interested in New Mover Marketing with Our Town America, call 800-497-8360 or complete our Contact Form.

Sources:  Epsilon #marketingtomillennials 2015 Research Report, U.S. Census Bureau, and Our Town America 2014 National Survey of New Movers

image_pdfDownload as PDFimage_printPrint