How To Effectively Reach Millennials
Marketers continuously adapt their strategies to attract different segments of consumers, but there is one particular segment that gives marketers a harder time: millennials. It’s no secret that millennials are a difficult group to market to, as their behaviors and ways of thinking differ from other generations. Millennials are known for wanting products, services, and ideas in a more rapid and easier way than any previous generation. What are some key points that marketers should understand about millennials?
- Technology
Due to globalization and innovation, our society is able to live in an advanced technological era. With this era, comes a more efficient way of spreading information across the world. People (especially younger generations) have more access to information than ever before. As many know, newspaper and TV consumption is decreasing tremendously within the millennial generation. The “correct” channels to use to aim for millennials are online.
Social media is where businesses have shifted to become strong industry competitors. Those businesses that have not yet shifted into the online world, (and most importantly: social media) are destined for failure. As technology advances, marketers must be able to adapt in order to successfully make an impact on both their current and potential consumers. Millennials are more likely to buy a product, service or idea from a business that is presented on social media platforms, than those that are unknown online.
- “Simple is better”
Millennials tend to like simple over complex. We can see an example of this idea in the way millennials go grocery shopping. Today’s trend can be divided into three main points. The first point is the “frequency” of shopping. Millennials go shopping more frequently due to the fact that they want fresh products. This trend also means that this generation buys fewer products in bulks, but rather in smaller quantities. The second main point is that millennials have “smaller baskets,” meaning that if the frequency of visits increases, then the fewer products they will buy. The products themselves are not different from the products bought by older generations. The real change lies in the way of buying, instead of the products bought. The last main point refers to in-store vs. online shopping. With technology, millennials tend to have less in-store visits and shift to online shopping. The same is true for eating out, as business like “Uber Eats” allows us to buy the food we want without having to move from our home.
- Loyalty
Last but not least, is one of the most important key elements for marketers to understand regarding the millennial generation. Brand loyalty is obviously an important issue to marketers and overall business, so what is happening with the millennial generation? Millennials are interested in the whole story. Marketers should not only focus on the product’s characteristics and benefits, but also show the story behind the product. Is it a family-owned business? How did this product begin? Other generation may not care about the answer to these questions, but Millennials do.
There is greater chance that a millennial will be loyal to a brand if the company and the millennial consumer share the same values. Topics like Corporate Social Responsibility are really important within this generation. Marketers should show how the business has made a positive impact on the community. Also, millennials tend to prefer local and private-labeled over national brands. Brand loyalty will decline as millennials continue to realize how some companies negatively impact people, issues or communities. The increase of information access and awareness, are the ways that millennials begin to understand how businesses work, and how they impact their community.
Veronica Scarlett Lopez Martin is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. Scarlett is a blogger for AMA Tampa Bay, with experience in content creation. She has worked on various social media platforms with companies like Parmalat and Sodexo. She is also President of The University of Tampa Women Business Professionals Association and a member of The University of Tampa AMA Chapter.
Scarlett will be graduating in May 2018, from The University of Tampa with a Degree in International Business and Marketing. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronica-scarlett-lopez/