Millennials, the generation Y, the new and most powerful consumer segment – something you can’t ignore if you want your business to thrive!
This year is the year of many great innovations, new trends across numerous industries, but most of all, this is the year when baby boomers fall behind millennials! Yes, millennials have surpassed baby boomers and now present the biggest part of the global population.
But, what does this mean for your business? How can this affect your operations and your overall success? It’s rather simple, actually. If you want to succeed, you need to learn how to make your offers attractive to this specific age group (adults 21 to 35 years of age).
These youngsters have less patience than the boomers, rely on technology more, do things differently, they question everything, and you will have to go above and beyond to sell products to them.
So, if you want to make them your customers, you first need to learn how to market your products or services to millennials.
Take a look.
Mobile-friendliness should be a priority!
It is common knowledge that a lot of people nowadays rely on their smartphones for almost everything. Back in the day, phones were used only to make calls and send text messages. However, nowadays a person can watch movies, play games, read books, and even do shopping on their phone.
To make the matter even more important, millennials are mobile consumers and they are known to spend countless hours every day on their phones. It might sound ridiculous, but the generation Y most likely spends more time interacting with their phones than with other people.
In order to take advantage of this phenomenon, you have to consider mobile devices each time you start devising your marketing tactics. It is recommended that you execute a mobile-first millennial marketing strategy to best take advantage of the digital technologies these younger generations love so much.
Firstly, you need to make your whole website mobile-friendly. When people access your websites from their phones, the website needs to be responsive, the navigation has to work smoothly, and all tappable elements need to work perfectly.
Of course, you could go one step further and create a mobile app. When you have your own app, you make it really easy for shoppers to find whatever they need. And, you can also use the app to gather important data about your customers that can later be used to strengthen your marketing strategies.
Take advantage of testimonials
You may know that customer reviews and testimonials help brands build reputation and trust with customers. However, did you know that these reviews and testimonials can also provide valuable feedback regarding customer expectations and experiences? And, their expectations should be one of your biggest concerns.
Of course, this is true for all shoppers, young or old. However, generation Y really cares about testimonials. Millennials oftentimes trust reviews and testimonials just like they would trust a friend or a family member.
All of this just goes to show that young adults place their trust in people, not in big companies that can afford all kinds of super-expensive marketing strategies.
That is why you should consider testimonials as powerful as word-of-mouth marketing. Do your best to acquire testimonies that you can later feature in your marketing campaigns. This is a good way to attract a lot of attention from millennials.
Hence, showcase testimonials on your website and also put them wherever your prospects will be able to see them. Truthfully, getting them is oftentimes tricky, but do not shy away from seeking some help.
For instance, there are great software solutions that can help you collect testimonials, present them on your website, and so much more. Of course, the main idea is to help yourself reap the best possible results from these written confessions.
If this sounds good, you should try using tools such as Trustpilot or a Trustpilot alternative, which can do all the hard and dull tasks for you. When you use them, you will have great testimonials that will help you build trust with your young customers.
Appealing web design
A nice design just isn’t enough anymore. If you want to sell more, and sell to millennials, you need to come up with a design appealing to them that will also align well with your marketing efforts.
There are two important things you need to take care of if you want to win millennials over with a great design – authenticity, and innovation.
Seeing that millennials know a lot about technology, introducing an authentic design that is innovative enough oftentimes isn’t an easy task.
However, for a start, you could look for a simple layout that provides smooth UX. Millennials have low to no tolerance for apps or websites that are not easy to use.
They can most likely figure out a clunky website, but they will much rather spend their money in some other place that is easy to navigate and which offers an intuitive interface.
Again, it is worth repeating that your website needs to be as responsive as possible. The mobile experience has to be flawless and each marketing effort needs to be optimized for that experience. This includes the newsletter messages, which need to be well-displayed both on computers and mobile devices.
And if you’re running a WordPress website, you’re in luck. WordPress is oftentimes so user-friendly and intuitive that you won’t even need a professional. You just need to master the ropes of using a drag-and-drop page builder and that’s it.
Customer service is a big thing for millennials
Every shopper out there cares about customer service. That’s really easy to understand. You too would like to receive help from a cheerful and respectful agent if you find that something is wrong with a product you have bought, right?
However, millennials really expect perfect customer service. They want a fast and accessible customer service that is also effective in problem-solving.
Additionally, seeing that these individuals are self-reliant and technology-dependent, you should try to do everything to make it available for them to solve their own issues online on their own. This can come in the form of chatbots, virtual agents, and so on.
You shouldn’t get rid of your customer service department, but young adults really like it when businesses offer digital self-service. For example, you can introduce a comprehensive FAQ section on your website.
If you are running a WordPress website, you could do this easily by installing a WordPress FAQ plugin for your website.
Voila, you have your multi-channel customer service that will cater to young adults and everyone else.
Social media marketing is a must
Social media marketing has to be your strong suit if you want to win over millennials. It doesn’t matter whether you think this is unnecessary, you just have to use this channel. Do it yourself or hire a social media manager, just do it.
Social media channels are primary sources millennials use for shopping research. Young adults mainly learn about various products and services on these platforms. Aligning your marketing efforts and including social media networks in them is a must.
Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and LinkedIn have never been more popular. Therefore, your company has to be present there.
Post updates about your products and general news about your company. Share your blog posts there and interact with your audience. These platforms can help you solidify your relationship with your customers and build trust. And, you will be rewarded for that.
Also, when you start producing social media posts, you need to be authentic by developing your own tone and sense of humor. Do not copy anybody else. When writing your blog posts and social media posts, you need to be yourself.