12 Key Insights from the Trend Hunter Report
In the fast-paced world of property development and marketing, staying ahead of industry trends is crucial to maintaining a competitive edge.
We recently delved into the latest Trend Hunter report, extracting key insights and making them relevant for property professionals. Here’s what you need to know:
Trend 1: Decentralised Affiliate
Tech companies are revolutionising affiliate marketing by launching new shopping apps that break down traditional barriers; ditching the follower-count and aesthetic requirements that often exclude potential affiliates. This inclusive approach opens the affiliate ecosystem to a wider range of consumers, empowering everyone to become a brand advocate and earn from their genuine endorsements.
Empowering everyday brand advocates fosters trust, engagement, and loyalty. As social commerce continues to evolve, the brands that embrace this tactic can potentially see more engaged consumers and higher long-term value from a more authentic, community-driven approach to marketing.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
This trend could translate into empowering customers and community members to become affiliates or ambassadors for new developments and properties. By leveraging local influencers and everyday people, property businesses can generate more authentic word-of-mouth marketing.
Tips:
Launch a Referral Program: Encourage residents or clients to share their positive experiences and refer others, rewarding them with commissions or discounts.
User-Generated Content: Promote user-generated content from clients showcasing their new homes or community experiences on social media.
Community Advocates: Identify and support community members who are passionate about their neighbourhood to become brand advocates.
Workshop Question: How can your brand empower customers to share genuine product recommendations?
Trend 2: Social Community
Companies are opening new social media services with the intention of fostering more intimate connections between users. These platforms connect users with similar interests and have convenient public and private group chat systems.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Property businesses can create or support social platforms or groups that foster strong community bonds. These platforms can facilitate connections among residents, promote local events, and provide a space for sharing information.
Tips:
Community Platforms: Develop or partner with platforms that allow residents to connect based on shared interests.
Local Events: Organise or support events that encourage face-to-face interactions among residents.
Exclusive Groups: Create private online groups for residents to foster a sense of belonging and direct communication.
Workshop Question: How could your brand enhance community connections through social platforms, events or groups?
Trend 3: Wallet Loyalty
Modern consumers prioritise efficiency and seamless integration in their transactions, expecting quick and effortless interactions that mesh with their daily routines. This shift has compelled brands to rethink traditional loyalty strategies, which often felt cumbersome or disconnected from a digital-first experience.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Property businesses can enhance customer loyalty by making it easy for clients to access rewards and benefits.
Tips:
Digital Loyalty Programs: Implement loyalty programs that offer seamless access to rewards.
Customer Convenience: Provide discounts, maintenance services, or exclusive events as part of the loyalty program.
Seamless Integration: Ensure that loyalty programs are easy to access and use, enhancing the overall customer experience.
Workshop Question: How can your brand provide a seamless and convenient experience that encourages loyalty from customers?
Trend 4: Data Storytelling
Data storytelling, which combines data visualisation with narrative techniques, is emerging as a powerful method for businesses to comprehend and act upon complex data. Despite collecting large volumes of data, a considerable amount remains unused, underscoring the prominent inefficiencies in data management and the underperformance of traditional analytics.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Using data storytelling can help property businesses better understand market trends, client preferences, and operational efficiencies, leading to more informed decisions and effective marketing strategies.
Tips:
Visualisation Tools: Utilise tools to create compelling visualisations of market data and client insights.
Personalisation: Property businesses should use the data they’ve collected on their prospects to create personalised nurture sequences and overall customer journeys.
Narrative Reports: Develop narrative-driven reports that make data insights easily understandable for stakeholders.
Client Presentations: Use data storytelling in presentations to clients to highlight market trends and property values, making complex information more accessible.
Workshop Question: How can your property business use storytelling to unlock insights and drive action?
Trend 5: Eco Accountability
Consumers are holding brands accountable for their environmental impact, driving a shift towards eco-action. Consumers are demanding eco-action, not apology. This eco-accountability trend necessitates brands to demonstrate genuine commitment and systemic changes to address their environmental footprint and build a more sustainable future.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Property businesses must demonstrate genuine environmental commitment; implementing and showcasing sustainable practices in their developments and operations.
Tips:
Transparency: Provide clear, transparent information about the environmental impact and sustainability efforts of your projects.
Sustainable Practices: Incorporate eco-friendly materials and technologies in property development and highlight these in marketing materials.
Community Education: Educate clients and the community on sustainability initiatives and how they can contribute.
Workshop Question: How can your brand enhance transparency, authenticity, and genuine environmental efforts to meet the growing demand for eco-accountability from consumers?
Trend 6: AI Stylist
Shopping brands are utilising artificial intelligence to provide personalised recommendations, answer queries, offer product information, and enhance the shopping experience for customers. Brands that recognise the demand for automated shopping solutions can achieve higher conversion rates as users make more informed and confident purchase decisions.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Property businesses can use AI to personalise the customer experience, offering tailored recommendations for home features, décor, and other aspects based on client preferences and lifestyle.
Tips:
Personalised Recommendations: Implement AI tools to suggest home layouts, finishes, and amenities based on client preferences.
Virtual Assistance: Offer AI-driven chatbots or virtual assistants to provide instant support and information to potential buyers.
Enhanced Visualisation: Use AI to create realistic renderings and walkthroughs that help clients visualise their future homes.
Workshop Question: How can your property business enhance the pre and post-purchase process for its customers?
Trend 7: AI Mock-up
Businesses are using generative artificial intelligence in the early stages of prototyping – using AI imagery to finalise design plans and/or gauge consumer interest in them.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Utilising generative AI for prototyping can streamline the design and approval process for new developments, reducing costs and speeding up time-to-market.
Tips:
Design Prototyping: Use AI to create and refine design prototypes, gathering feedback from stakeholders quickly.
Market Testing: Deploy AI-generated images and concepts to gauge interest and collect feedback from potential buyers before full-scale development.
Cost Efficiency: Leverage AI to reduce costs associated with traditional design and prototyping processes.
Workshop Question: How could your property business use generative AI to test products and/or gauge customer interest?
Trend 8: Sustainable Pop-Up
Brands are hosting in-person activations to showcase new products, campaigns, and other branded materials through a sustainable lens. These events highlight the brand's environmental impact and promote social responsibility, educating consumers on their environmental footprint with the goal of raising awareness.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Hosting sustainable pop-up events can showcase new developments and engage with the community, emphasising the company's commitment to environmental responsibility.
Tips:
Sustainable Showcases: Organise events that highlight the sustainable features of new developments.
Community Engagement: Use these events to educate the community on sustainability and promote eco-friendly living.
Collaborations: Partner with local businesses and environmental organisations to enhance the impact of these events.
Workshop Question: How can your property business communicate its mission through marketing activations?
Trend 9: Branded Third Space
Brands are creating "third places," a concept championed by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, to offer social spaces distinct from home and work. These welcoming environments foster regular connections among people through shared interests or activities, responding to the consumer's quest for community and spontaneity.
Brands that successfully tap into this trend do so by crafting casual, community-focused havens. These spaces cultivate a sense of belonging and unity, drawing people together over shared experiences and interests, thereby winning the hearts and loyalty of consumers.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Creating third spaces within developments can foster community connections, providing residents with social hubs that encourage interaction and a sense of belonging.
Tips:
Community Spaces: Designate areas within developments for communal use, such as parks, cafés, or co-working spaces.
Inclusive Design: Ensure these spaces cater to a variety of interests and activities to attract diverse groups of residents.
Regular Events: Host regular events and activities in these spaces to encourage community engagement and connection.
Workshop Question: How can your property brand create a third space that fosters community connections and provides a sense of belonging for customers/residents?
Trend 10: Downsized Home
Architectural companies are creating compact homes with sustainability-first designs. With rising costs of living affecting more than just housing costs, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many such consumers to live comfortably on their own. As a result, architectural companies are creating compact, often portable, homes with eco-friendly designs that help mitigate energy costs, tax rates, and more.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Property businesses can tap into the growing demand for compact, sustainable homes by offering well-designed, eco-friendly living spaces that appeal to environmentally-conscious buyers.
Tips:
Compact Designs: Develop efficient home designs that maximise space and minimise environmental impact.
Sustainable Materials: Use eco-friendly materials and construction methods in these homes.
Affordable Options: Position these homes as affordable, sustainable living options for millennials and other cost-conscious buyers.
Workshop Question: How could your company make its products or services appealing to homeowners concerned with affordability and environmental factors?
Trend 11: Local Hospitality
As the boutique hotels market grows, new hotels are embracing local culture through design plans, local sourcing, and/or community collaborations.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Drawing inspiration from local history and architecture can enhance the appeal of residential developments, making them more attractive to buyers seeking authentic experiences.
Tips:
Local Design Elements: Incorporate local cultural and architectural elements into the design of new developments.
Community Partnerships: Collaborate with local artisans and businesses to source materials and create unique, locally-inspired features.
Authentic Marketing: Highlight the connection to local culture and history in marketing materials to attract buyers interested in authentic living experiences.
Workshop Question: How could your brand, project or product take inspiration from its local community?
Trend 12: Micro Residence
Brands are creating tiny, mobile, and stationary houses that are designed to be more affordable and sustainable than traditional homes. To combat the cost of living crisis, many consumers have chosen to purchase micro-houses and tiny homes as they are affordable living options for those struggling to afford a traditional home or apartment.
How can this be applied to the property industry?
Offering tiny homes can address the affordability crisis, providing cost-effective and sustainable living options for those struggling with high housing costs.
Tips:
Tiny Home Options: Develop and market tiny homes as a viable solution for affordable, sustainable living.
Versatile Designs: Ensure these homes are designed to be flexible and adaptable to various needs and preferences.
Community Integration: Integrate tiny homes into larger developments to create diverse and inclusive communities.
Workshop Question: How can your property brand make its products adaptable to the cost-of-living crisis?