How To Market To Millennials And Why They’re Important

Millennials have been the subject of the press recently and it seems like the term is being used more and more on a daily basis. Following on from Generation X and Generation Y (for more information on what each generation is classed, there’s a handy guide here), Millennials are classed as anyone who was born around 1982 – 2002.

The first thing to understand about Millennials is that they aren’t typically children. Pew Research has classed them as anyone between 18 and 35 years old who have a lifestyle that incorporates technology on a daily basis. This, as you’d imagine – opens the door to a whole new marketing strategy to try to turn Millennials into customers.

There are more Millennials now than any other generation; backed with buying power to match, Millennial marketing simply can’t be ignored.

Have A Mobile-Friendly Site

Millennials live on their mobiles. One in five Millennials uses the internet exclusively through their mobile phone, meaning your site has to be mobile friendly or risk being ignored.

Millennials use smartphones to buy. 50% of Millennials use mobile devices to research products and reviews while only 21% of non-millennials do the same.

Being visible on apps and websites Millennials use (think Google Maps, Social Media etc…) will also gain awareness of your business.

Have A Great Social Media Presence

Millennials want to check you and your business out on social media before they start to think about buying from you.

Two of every three millennials prefer to use mobile devices to search for information on local products or services, a survey suggests around 50% use social media to find out information on businesses.

Millennials are expecting your business to be on social media and not having a presence there can lead to trust issues. If you have social media pages, it’s an easy way to gain trust in this ‘new’ generation to back up their buying decision.

Get Reviews

One of the best apps around for finding information out about places to visit, bars and restaurants, which you’ll probably be familiar with is TripAdvisor. The idea is simple, you review something you’ve done and people can read it and then decide if they want to visit. It can be anything from a landmark to a café, from an adventure park to a walking route.

The same works for your business, on sites such as Facebook you can review a business on the service they provide for people to see.

Millennials aren’t scared to voice their opinion. People can have a brilliant experience with your company and leave a review letting people know, but if they have had a bad experience, they are just as willing to voice their opinion. While bad reviews want to be avoided, Millennials will also delve into how you responded to these bad reviews to resolve a situation.

Use Discounts or Coupons

With Millennials being so tech savvy, they know how to save a few pounds on products. There are 100s of coupon and discount code sites online that make it incredibly easy to take advantage of money-saving schemes available.

Putting a 10-20% off your product/service out there can really increase your exposure and drive traffic to your site both locally and nationally.

Millennials make last minute decisions and love to ‘buy now, think later’. 52% of millennials were more likely to make impulse purchases than any other generation. Having a discount online can boost the chances of the impulse buy, especially with a time limited offer that ‘can’t be missed’.

Use Email

Email has had a good and a bad time of late, it has been deemed by some to be too ‘old-school’ for millennials but research has shown that they prefer it (and to some extent, expect it).

Millennials are more brand loyal than their parents. 78% of millennials are more likely to select a brand with a loyalty/reward program than a brand without one. Having a reward or discount that goes out via email can drive your customers to become brand loyal.

Millennials are key to your business, but communicating with them is a case of having the right channels to do this. Having your website as mobile friendly is the first step but you also have to keep in mind that millennials like to do everything ‘on-the-go’ and practically live with their mobile in hand. Keep this in mind when you are trying to attract new customers, different demographics have to be talked to through different mediums to receive your message.