It is believed that they will save the housing market, be it buying or renting. Builders are looking to attract them, so here are a few ways to reel them in.

Sleek and Sophisticated Design

Clean, modern lines and open, resort-like spaces are a way to catch the eye of Gen Y. Large community rooms and shared amenities are appealing. This generation is looking to be calm yet inspired.

Reach Them Where They Hang Out

Social Media is a must, not just to attract new residents but to also retain current ones. It helps them feel like part of a community that they can connect with us just like they would with their friends and relatives. Just like the general Social Media philosophy, they are not posting ads and specials, rather updates on community events like restaurant openings and shows, with a sprinkling of new promotions.

Live-Work-Play Still Applies

The way a building is designed establishes its position in a community. The most important aspects are proximity to transit or walking to work, street-level retail and special deals for residents at local businesses.

Eco-Friendly

Although young renters may not be willing to pay extra rent for green features, they expect them as standard. It’s a new value system. Things like providing recycle bins and efficient appliances will go a long way in building for the Millennial Generation.

Poor navigation. Nothing confuses or frustrates visitors more than a website that is not clear and hard to navigate. Scattering your information, being too wordy, having vague content, and making your main message appear below the fold are all reasons people will jump off your site before clicking any further. Make sure your navigation is logical and easy to understand. The biggest mistake businesses make is having no call to action present. Users need to be told what to do and where to go next.

Obnoxious use of video. People want to choose the content they view. Having a video (or audio) that loads automatically will most likely drive visitors away faster than you can say Vimeo. More demerits if it’s the type of video that doesn’t allow you to see the length or pause. Users want options. Make sure you provide them.

Excessive pop-ups. Many marketing gurus will tell you that pop-up registration forms are the way to get hundreds of subscribers. I find them to be disruptive and flat out annoying. Placing your registration form prominently above the fold on your site and offering a special report or free gift is a much better strategy. There is nothing worse than reading the second paragraph of an engaging article only to be interrupted by a full-page pop-up window telling you what to do. Abort!

Illegible fonts. Loud colors and fancy typeface can really discourage users from staying on your site. Avoid elaborate fonts, your goal is simplistic legibility. Furthermore, using words in a graphic instead of properly within the site diminishes SEO capabilities.

Stale content. You may have the perfect design, stellar content, and even great interactive comments, but what if you haven’t updated your content frequently? Whatever you do, never say “site under construction” – like familiar strips of your local interstate, this signifies to visitors that completion is probably not going to occur any time soon.

Keep your content fresh, which not only keeps visitors coming back, but enhances SEO as well. Blogging is a great way to achieve this goal.

If you’re struggling with your website design, Idea Associates can put all these elements together to create the best site for your business.

If you’ve been sending plain text emails to your subscribers, you might want to rethink your strategy. HTML emails might sound complicated, but they have advantages that plain text just can’t offer. A recent study shows that HTML transactional emails got a 50% higher click through rate than plain text.

Brand Your Campaign

HTML gives you style control over your email messages so you can design them to reflect your brand’s online identity. You can add images – like your company logo – and use background colors and fonts to match your site design.

Using the same fonts and a layout that’s similar to your website will carry your brand’s online personality through to your email campaign.

Keep ‘Em Reading

You can use HTML design opportunities to your advantage by creating an eye path teasing your customers to read through your entire message. One way to do this is to implement a big leading image and text that’s half on the “fold” – the area of the message that displays before the reader has to scroll down to read more.

Laying out your message around the fold like this engages your readers’ curiosity, enticing them to scroll down through the rest of your message. You can even put an incomplete, suspenseful sentence around that area, making the user click through a link to get the rest of the story or offer.

How do you use custom designs in your campaigns? Have you noticed a difference in engagement and response when switching to HTML?

I saw some great viewpoints, strategies, and suggestions that I agree with 100%! But there were also vital points missed in the discussion, as a lot of people focused on the technical aspects only. So here’s my two cents on tips for a great marketing website:

1. Be clear about who you serve. Is your business trying to be everything to everyone? Who do you help the most with their problems? A lot of businesses fear that having a niche will limit their exposure or lessen the opportunity for more clients, but it is the opposite. When you know your audience you know what their exact needs are. You are the expert, the go-to person for that specific client base in your industry.
2. Be clear about what you do. When people go to your website, do they know what it is that you do? Is it spelled out that you have the exact, unique solution your clients are looking for? Upon the first viewing of your home page there should be no doubt in your prospective clients’ minds how you can help them.
3. Have a call to action. People need to be told what to do next. Does your marketing message start out strong and fizzle at the end? Have you given your customers a wonderful appetizer but failed to tell them how to get the whole feast? Or maybe you’ve given the whole smorgasbord on your website and they have no reason to contact you for more. There is a balance of providing helpful information without giving away all your services – does your website reflect that balance?
4. Be interactive. Give your audience a chance to express their needs, viewpoints and opinions. Your customers and clients want to be the star of your business – it’s imperative that you provide a place for them to do so. Make it easy to find your Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and any other social networking links so they can easily join the conversation.
5. Simplify. The times have changed. Complicated, fluffy marketing websites that are laid out like a brochure are no longer relevant. Your website should be clean and simple, with clear-cut navigation and a prominent call to action. Less is more is the mantra of today’s market.

What about you?  How do you make your marketing website stand out? Let us know by commenting below or sharing it on Facebook.

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I was interested to read an article entitled “New Models for Resort Development” which talks about natural amenities. It makes me wonder if these demands can be seen in various development types across the board.

ULI 2009 Fall Meeting in San Francisco

The article details the ULI 2009 Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The brightest and most innovative minds spoke at the conference on the emerging trends of resort development.

The article emphasizes a focus on social and environmental responsibility integrated with simple amenities. This trend also speaks to the health and wellness focus that every aspect of our society is now addressing. Amenities that can help build relationships and make you feel healthier at the same time seem to be what we all are craving.

Based on emerging trends and buyer demographics; I think Brian De Lowe of Viceroy Hotel Group put it best.

“The resort development model of the past is dead”

A very blunt and straightforward comment, but it was what we need to hear right now.

Rebecca Zimmerman, president of Design Workshop, had this to say:

“Social connection is truly important” and “Now, people need people, and people find social nourishment by engaging with others”

It is an interesting take on resort development. Does this sound familiar to anyone? How about the emergences of social media?

Zimmerman pointed out a great statistic. 82% of the US populations enjoy walking outdoors for fun or exercise. Numbers indicate a growing trend for the future. This completely reinforces my blog from last week. Consumers are looking for something simple and natural. The good news for developers is that the startups cost for these amenities are low and require low maintenance expenses. Because of the concern over the economic future of real estate, these amenities also protect your bottom line while giving the consumer something they crave.

This article along with everything else I am reading, points back to a central theme or idea. The key to successful future building is simplicity. From housing to amenities, we are seeing a demand for simple design in everything.

Successful commercial Real Estate Brokerage and Development requires one to have a keen grasp of many fields. Going light on depth in any single specialty can evidence itself by creating holes in your practice or your development that can cost you business or clients or tenants or a certain quality in a project that may affect its profitability or sustainability. Strive to become precise and practiced in all these areas;

LAW. One must have grasp of the complexities of the field of law in order to even get off the ground. Protecting your fee or your equity, protection against unfettered litigation, an unscrupulous lender, or partner is imperative. Be prepared to lock horns with any practitioner in this field. Learn contract law so as to quote in your sleep. Do not fear, but respect legal issues and make sure to use them in your favor. You should hope to be outlawyered early in your career, before you have much to lose.

ECONOMICS. Should be a lifelong study. It is here where you will pass your peers. Free enterprise is only one economic system. Know the others. It is the most efficient, and the most efficient price is always determined by the intersection of functions of supply and demand. But this is of course a theory which is based on the precepts of perfect knowledge. Which does not exist. Distinguishing between theory and the real market is where one makes money. Having the most perfect knowledge comes with research, hard work, and homework.

ART. Yes we are actors on a stage and the best actor gets the part, gets the listing, wins the assignment, gets the financing, wins over the equity investor, and closes the deal. Likewise for the sharpest graphics and most artistically inspired presentation. On the tangible side, your architect and/or planner makes or breaks your deal, as design creates value. The most functional space is designed that adds a quality of life but is both practical and enduring. Being financeable can be a big help as well.

PSYCHOLOGY. Students of the human mind, how it works, what motivates it, what it fears, what it craves, and the various psychoses that affect decision making will always have an edge. When confronting a client or a decision maker on a deal, are you able to classify that person into one of the four personality types that person exhibits and how best to achieve a win/win outcome? Learn this and close more deals, not to mention saving you and your clients time and money.

I could go on here stressing like needs and importance for practitioners in our field to have dexterity also with MATHMATICS, FINANCE, HISTORY, POLITICAL SCIENCE, and GOVERNMENT, etc. You don’t need to know everything. But know someone who does, like Market Solutions Group.

Article Written by Bruce A. Davis, Senior Partner of Bryant Commercial Real Estate Partners, LLC of Atlanta, GA,  and member of Market Solutions Group.