It is well known that movers, with their proclivity for high spending and brand switching, are a desirable consumer category for companies in a variety of industries. Unfortunately, many marketers are stuck in traditional marketing methods that treat movers as a homogeneous group, prioritize cost reductions over ROI, and use mover data as a marketing expense rather than a strategic investment.
Marketers must build more sophisticated mover marketing strategies, ones that are aligned with the mover life cycle and take a more nuanced perspective of movers, one that takes into account their changing demands and complex behaviors. Marketers will be able to fully exploit the potential of the mover life cycle and its lucrative constituents by adopting more data-driven and ROI-focused tactics that use high-quality mover data.
- Learn more about the life cycle of a mover and the stages it goes through.
- Value-based, ROI-driven tactics should be used instead of traditional low-cost, high-volume “Spray & Pray” strategies.
- Instead of seeing mover data as a marketing cost, think of it as a strategic investment.
- Using data overlays, innovative data segmentation techniques, and data modeling, take your marketing to the next level.
- With an effective multi-channel engagement strategy, you can engage the appropriate consumer with the right message at the right moment.
SUCCESSFUL MOVER MARKETING INVOLVES MORE THAN YOU MAY BELIEVE.
Moving-related marketing may appear simple on the surface, but movers are a complex and dynamic audience whose needs and behaviors change frequently over short periods of time. Movers can also be a difficult target to find and reach with timely and relevant offers before important purchasing decisions are made and new brand affiliations are formed.
Engaging movers successfully throughout their mover life cycle necessitates more strategic and data-driven approaches than are commonly employed. Today’s marketeers:
- Are frequently stuck in traditional mover marketing approaches that ignore the various stages that movers go through, as well as the corresponding changes in product and service needs and purchase behavior.
- Too often, high-volume, low-cost “Spray & Pray” campaigns are prioritized over high-return, ROI-driven approaches.
- Do not think about how the quality and delivery of their underlying mover data affects topline campaign metrics or bottom line results.
- Do not use other data sources or data methodologies to improve customer segmentation and related customer retention or acquisition strategies based on their mover data.
- Failing to engage targeted movers through the most appropriate communication channels.
THE LIFE CYCLE OF A MOVER
There is no such thing as a monolithic group of movers. Rather, they are made up of three distinct phases that are collectively known as the mover life cycle. Understanding the various stages of the mover life cycle, as well as how movers’ product and service needs, brand affiliations, and purchase behaviors change as they progress through them, is the first step in developing a successful mover marketing strategy.
There is no such thing as a monolithic set of movers.
People go through three stages of the moving process, with certain differences depending on their individual circumstances (e.g., first-time buyers, retirees, elderly sellers, etc.).
- Pre-movers – home is for sale
- New Movers – movers who have lately relocated
- Premovers – home on contract or sold
Pre-movers – home is for sale
When first putting their homes on the market, homeowners are often searching for contractor services, lawn care and landscaping, home furnishing, and other residential enhancements to improve their homes’ curb appeal. They might also be interested in home improvement loans or mortgage pre-approvals for their future residence.
For shops, banks, and mortgage lenders, these early-stage premovers present enormous customer acquisition and retention prospects. businesses, as well as other product and service providers Consider the value of knowing which clients and other homeowners are intending to transfer to a bank that is interested in growing its home improvement loan or home mortgage portfolios.
Because roughly half of all home transfers occur within a city, cable and satellite TV companies, as well as other service providers, can prevent customer defection by staying in touch with premover clients during this sensitive transitional phase.
New Movers – movers who have lately relocated
Premovers often move within 45 days of signing sales contracts on their existing houses. These next movers are now focusing on goods and services needed only before, during, or after their move, such as mover concierge, moving and storage, self-storage, and truck and equipment rental, rather than improving curb appeal or sale price.
Marketers may build vital relationships with new consumers and proactively retain the loyalty of existing customers by targeting these later stage premovers, before they are bombarded with new-to-the-neighborhood solicitations from competitors.
Premovers – home on contract or sold
After relocating, a new homeowner’s product and service needs, brand affiliations, and subsequent buying patterns vary substantially, and cover a wide range of goods and services:
Movers are a changing target, with behavioral change and brand interactions throughout the cycle. In order to determine chances for more timely and relevant consumer engagement, effective campaigns must carefully examine each stage.
STRATEGIC FOCUS REFINEMENT
The mover life cycle serves as a high-level segmentation model from which marketers can develop more advanced marketing campaigns, as well as a basic foundation for understanding mover behavior.
If marketers accept the life cycle’s fundamental assumptions, movers should be viewed as a dynamic portfolio of customer segments with a wide range of demographic, psychographic, and geographic features, as well as rapidly changing demands and buying patterns.
As marketers gain a more detailed understanding of movers, the idea of treating them as monolithic entities, i.e. saturating vast non-segmented new mover lists with ads, is becoming obsolete.
Marketing that isn’t differentiated swiftly loses credibility. More value-based, data-driven, and ROI-focused initiatives should replace parochial, high-volume, low-cost “Spray & Pray” strategies.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS IN MOVER MARKETING IS HIGH-QUALITY MOVER DATA.
The underlying mover data, which is often obtained from common sources, is the core of every mover marketing program. Premover lists are compiled using publicly available “home-for-sale” listings. Directory Assistance data, NCOA/Postal change of address, utility hookups, and deed records are some of the new mover data sources.
Given the same data origins, it’s reasonable to presume that all mover data is similar. However, not all mover data is equivalent. The speed and precision of mover data determine the quality of the data. The time it takes for mover data to become accessible for use after a home has been advertised, sold, or is newly occupied. The list’s names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses are correct.
