Often the punchline to a joke, Millennial consumers should not be overlooked.
Born between 1981 and 1996, creative and tech-savvy Millennials are transforming our marketplace. Millennials care about saving, peer recommendations, reading and researching before they buy and environmentally rewarding experiences.
In fact, Millennials were the largest generational group in the U.S. in 2021, with an estimated population of about 72 million. And their spending power has been estimated at about $2.5 trillion as of 2020.
Is your business thoughtfully targeting and engaging with Millennial consumers?
The following are 6 tips to better market to Millenial consumers and grow your business accordingly.
Leverage social media
Millenials, like their Gen Z counterparts, are obsessed with social media, so starting with a strong strategy for your social media channels is a good place to start.
To engage with Millennials, consider:
- Using Facebook Live and other streams to host authentic interactions between your brand and your audience.
- Connecting and working with influencers, who can help increase your brand awareness.
- Running a contest that encourages users to share photos of themselves using your product or service (also known as user-generated content).
Share elements of social proof
Social proof refers to potential customers assuming that what others are doing is correct based on how often they see those actions. In other words, social proof is about looking to others to figure out the right way to interact in any given situation.
You can leverage positive social proof to influence consumer behavior and generate more sales.
Millennials are highly impacted by social proof. About 91 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds trust online social proof reviews as much as recommendations from someone close to them, while 63 percent of consumers indicated they are more likely to purchase from a website with product ratings and reviews. (The 18- to 34-year-old range overlaps with the Millennial age group.)
Online reviews and testimonials are key ways to showcase social proof to Millennial consumers.
Learn more about social proof and nine ways that you can use it in your digital marketing.
Create opportunities for personal connections
While Millennials embrace social media, text messaging and instant messaging apps, they also crave personal connections. And this extends to their relationships with brands.
You want to build trust with your Millennial consumers. This can include:
- Replying to comments on social media posts.
- Answering direct messages (quickly) to your social media accounts.
- Hosting live videos to interact in real-time with your audience.
About 44 percent of global consumers will spend at least $500 or more each year with the brands they trust most, with nearly 29 percent saying they will spend more than $1,000 per year.
The more consumer trust you grow with Millennials, the better off your business will be.
Check out six ways to build consumer trust.
Be real
Authenticity is everything online, especially for Millennial consumers. Ditch imagery that looks so polished it feels fake. The authenticity of your images in a Photoshop world is huge.
You also should look for ways to tell real-life stories related to your brand and your products or services. Share stories about how your brand began, why your company’s mission is what it is, who your employees are and so on.
Is there an opportunity to inspire? For example, perhaps there’s charity work that you can share or something else that generates positive feelings about your brand.
Keeping it real and being honest with your audience through your content and interactions will resonate with Millennials. It helps them relate to you.
Create and share mobile-friendly content
Everything must be mobile-friendly these days but especially when hoping to connect with Millenial consumers. This on-the-go generation wants and needs to find information quickly on their smartphones.
About 98 percent of Millennials own and use a smartphone daily. You’re missing out if your website isn’t optimized for mobile use.
Remember that:
- The faster your website-loading speed, the better.
- Video can help tell your brand story and more, with product how-to guides, expert interviews and behind-the-scenes viewpoints.
- Your formatting (bullet points, short sentences, headings and more) should make your content easily skimmable for mobile users.
Check out our 16 tips to make your website mobile-friendly.
Avoid overly selling to Millennial consumers
Aggressive selling can be your enemy in digital marketing, especially with Millennial consumers. Instead, focus on creating and sharing high-quality and relatable content that helps them solve their problems (which, in turn, encourages them to purchase from you).
Think through what problems Millennial consumers face, how your solution (through products or services) is unique, how your brand can improve their lives and what the buyer should do next.
In conclusion
While digital savvy, Millennials aren’t so different from other consumers. They want to feel valued and be treated like more than a number. Remember to prioritize personal, authentic connections with Millennial consumers. It’s all about building a trusting relationship and showing how your brand’s products or services can improve their lives.
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