The Millennial generation covers people born between 1981 and 1996. They are educated, informed, open to technology, at an age that allows for stable income and having a clear direction in life. This is the generation that has its own style, the generation that has already accepted consumer behavior as a way of life. The generation that lives in two worlds – the real and the virtual.
Today, the majority of millennials are over and around 30 years old. They have passed the age of internships and training and have already established themselves as specialists in their profession. Some of them even run their own businesses. Millennials are developing, earning a regular income, getting a promotion, starting their own family or taking care of their own household – all prerequisites for multiple purchases. Millennials spend not only on food, home goods and utility bills, but also on clothes and shoes, allow themselves to allocate more funds to sports, entertainment, culture and gifts, and last but not least – to maintain their style and life – vacations, cosmetic and other procedures, accessories – often expensive such as jewelry and watches, and, of course, technology.
MILLENNIALS - GENERATION "C"
It is believed that about 80% of the Millennial generation are also representatives of the so-called generation C, known as the YouTube generation. It is not characterized by a certain age, but by the way of thinking and perceiving the world. This is a generation that is constantly connected to the Internet, is entertained by YouTube videos and is used to shopping. The name of the C generation comes from the 4 “c’s” that define the mindset: creation, curation, connection, community. Almost 70% of the representatives of this generation upload their photos and/or videos online. They express themselves by sharing, liking, commenting or expressing sympathy with an idea or cause on the Internet.
Millennials fall into the Generation C category because they are a major driving force in consumer culture.
After everything described up to this point, there is no doubt that millennials are the generation that is currently being targeted by many businesses. And so…
How to reach the Millennial generation?
Create quality content – first. Consumers between the ages of 20 and 40 are literally inundated with information not just daily, but hourly, even minute by minute. To get their attention, you need to offer content that is truly valuable and original. Forget about superficial posts, general talk and quantity as a gauge. Quality is what will win over millennials. For this purpose, a convenient solution is to form a blog section on your site or to organize the web page so that you can place content directly on it.
Bet on synthesized messages – harness all your creativity and dress everything you want to say to your audience in as few words as possible. Millennials are impatient. It is always in a hurry. Use bullets, highlight, highlight the most important. Make your content easy to scan with a glance. Synthesize or risk having your page shut down.
Don’t just try to sell, give. Seriously. Millennials are tired of advertising messages. Give them value, give them knowledge, entertain them while enriching them. Show them that you have more to say than the usual “Buy!”. In order for them to buy from you, you must first win them over.
Unleash your imagination, offer something creative, give life to a non-standard idea, offer a different point of view, an unusual approach. And here the truth remains that this generation swims daily in a sea of information, photos, videos… you need to offer something distinctive to gain attention
Bet on aesthetics – the product must look good enough, be worthy of Instagram. If you post photos, they should be beautiful, made with thought and idea. In an age of Photoshop, filters and corrections, you can’t afford a sloppy look on anything aimed at the end customer.
Turn millennials into brand ambassadors – they like to talk about themselves, to assert themselves, to be in the spotlight. So – give them a stage to perform by engaging them with your brand. Host a short video sharing game or hashtag campaign for them to join in with photos. So not only will you reach users more easily, but they themselves will generate unique content for you – a win-win situation.
Turn millennials into brand ambassadors – they like to talk about themselves, to assert themselves, to be in the spotlight. So – give them a stage to perform by engaging them with your brand. Host a short video sharing game or hashtag campaign for them to join in with photos. So not only will you reach users more easily, but they will also generate unique content for you – a situation where everyone are profitable.
Listen up – Millennials have self-confidence, they have an opinion on the issues that concern them, and they’re not afraid to express it and stand up for it. So listen to them – what they like and don’t like, what excites them and what doesn’t. The easiest way is to run a poll or game with comments. Ask a question and get answers. If you are serious about your business, however, collect the answers, analyze them and draw conclusions. In this way, you will easily be able to create a product tailored to their preferences. Millennials themselves will show you the way to yourself, you just have to follow it.
Take the reviews into consideration. While we’re on the subject of listening to users – pay attention to feedback. As we’ve already pointed out, Millennials love to voice their opinions and give feedback on products and services they’ve used. Read reviews and respond to them. In this way, you achieve two effects – on the one hand, you show that the business is engaged and values the opinion of each of its users, and on the other hand – you get a clear direction of what the audience appreciates as positive and what they resent. It is to your advantage to summarize the reviews and learn a lesson for your business.
Use different platforms – build your marketing strategy to be adaptable to different platforms. Keep in mind that each platform has its own specifics, its own code of communication, but nevertheless, the content in them should be in symbiosis. Although we are talking about the children of the 80s and 90s together, they still have their differences. If you open Facebook, for example, you are highly likely to find more users born in the late 80s and early 90s, while Instagram is dominated by those born after the mid-90s.
Respond quickly and specifically – Millennials don’t like to wait, respond as soon as possible. The longer you delay your response, the more likely you are to lose the user as a customer. Here is a real-life example from our personal experience with an online clothing retailer. In order not to disparage the merchant, we will withhold information that identifies the merchant.
We sent a message on March 6th at 11:33: Hi, I love this dress (product link) is there any chance you could ship it in size S and/or M soon as I see they are only available at the moment Large sizes?”
We received an instant automated response: “Hello, Ani! 🙂 Customer service is available Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We will endeavor to respond to your inquiry as soon as possible. 🙂 Thanks for your interest in (business name).”
The actual (non-automated) response from a company representative came in the late afternoon of March 9th, 5:00 p.m.: “The model is out of stock.”
Three words. Point.
For the past time, we have totally given up ordering from this merchant. In fact, if we had placed an order from a competing site, we could have even received it within that period. Moreover, it is absolutely useless to have not one, but two smiles in the auto-reply, when the answer from the real representative of the brand is absolutely dry, devoid of empathy, emotion and commitment. What’s more, we as users actually didn’t get an answer to our question. We asked if a size S or M could be delivered soon, we can see that these numbers are out of stock ourselves. However, we also saw that large numbers are available, which (in our eyes) doesn’t make the model completely out of stock.
In short, that’s not how you win customers. On the contrary, that’s how they get lost. We abstract from the objective factor that the dress is not available, the subjective factor is how you or your employees treat your potential customers – how you communicate with them and whether you give them the information they need. And it’s not just about millennials. It’s about people in general. Because before we are consumers, we are all people first.
Be human and authentic – show the human face of your business. Showcase the brand beyond the ties, beyond the sales statistics, beyond the new packaging ads and the products that guarantee remarkable results. Show your developers talking heatedly, show how happy you are when you launch the new product. How do you celebrate the manager’s birthday with a collective toast. Show is emotion, effort, companionship. Use a live stream, even an impromptu recorded video.
Here we open a bracket – let the improvisation be for the purpose of authenticity and let it be from time to time. While it’s good to have it, it’s important to stick to professionalism. And one more thing – don’t cross the line. After all, you want clients to perceive you as professionals, not as eternal partygoers.
Be transparent – show the essence of your business to your audience. Feel free to post photos or short videos of the manufacturing process, as long as they don’t give away sensitive company information, of course. Try to share the ideas the organization stands for and the goals it has set for itself. Of course, match the style of each message to your company’s style and the policy you have agreed to follow. The more open you are, the closer millennials will feel to your brand.
Partner with an influencer – unlike actors, models and famous athletes who are widely known but unable to devote time to individual attention to individual fans, influencers have an influence on a narrower circle of consumers but are closer to them. Influencers interact with their audience on a daily basis and are much more engaged in the process. There is a dialogue with them, so their voice has more power in front of the audience. They, unlike the “stars”, are as if more real. They are one of us, so users identify with them and follow them. Yes, there is no doubt that you will reach fewer people with them than with an actor or model, but it will be more effective.
Many businesses have successfully partnered with influencers, and this practice, applied wisely, has proven results. However, choose the influencers you choose to partner with carefully. A large part of them, in order to secure good income, partner with too many brands. If this is the case, the effect will be diluted. Be especially careful how you regulate your relationship – it is important that the influencer does not promote (at least in the near future) a competitor to your product.
Don’t just sell products, sell goals and ideas – yes, consumers care about the quality and functionality of the products they would buy. Increasingly, however, highly educated consumers, such as many millennials, are looking for a way to support a cause with their purchase. Regardless of whether by buying a plush toy for their child, they will make their modest contribution to saving the old forests, or by choosing martenitsi, they will provide a minimum income to people in a difficult situation…
More and more companies are engaging in volunteering by dedicating themselves to a cause or committing to raising public awareness of a socially significant issue. Due to the highly saturated market and the huge choice, consumers are increasingly looking for more than just a product or service. They are looking for an idea to empathize with.
