Marketing to Millennials
Posted on April 13, 2015
By Theresa Chiechi, Designer, Illustrator, Writer
The Millennials have long been branded as the lazy, narcissistic, selfie-taking generation but smart businesses are realizing that they are more than their label. Perception of Millennials are beginning to change and people are starting to understand that they’re not somehow worse than any other previous generation, but are just simply different. Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are a fast growing group of more then 80 million and are outnumbering the Baby Boomers by 7 percent. Business strategies that worked on previous generations aren’t working on the millennials, who come with a different set of experiences and values, and companies that don’t start altering their market to Gen Y are going to miss out on an estimated $2.45 trillion annual spending power. Businesses have to learn a way to connect with the Millennials because they are growing to be the largest consumer group and will continue to be so in the impending future.
The biggest challenge to advertisers is their reliance on “traditional” marketing tactics that worked on the Baby Boomers and figuring out how to cater to the new generation. Millennials have different spending habits and don’t put the same priority on things as past generations. Millennials are much more cost-conscious then the Baby Boomers; they have been the group hardest hit by the recent recession, which is why they are such tough, budget-conscious consumers and refrain from big purchases like buying a new house or getting married and having children. In order to connect with this group you have to understand who they really are. Generation Y is a large spanning group, encompassing people born from the 1980s to the late 1990s and are much more diverse then preceding generations. Millennials are smart, well educated, and super-informed. When marketing to them, it’s important to not employ cheap tricks that Millennials are too savvy to fall for but instead communicate and create a sense of community that they want to be a part of.
Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are a fast growing group of more then 80 million and are outnumbering the Baby Boomers by 7 percent.
The obvious business tactic is using the Internet and social media, two dominating aspects in a Millennial’s life. Having a presence on different social media is important in getting your company out there but will not necessarily grab the attention of the Millennial if not used properly. If your social media strategy only consists of self-promotions and product-focused messaging, you’re not going to reach your audience. The key is to establish a two-way communication and give them an opportunity to interact with you. Millennials want to converse and connect, not just be fed information. Be creative with the content you put on the Internet and avoid forcing something to become “viral”. Create something meaningful or fun, something people are going to want to share with their friends and family. The aim is to be socially conversational rather than “viral”. Keep in mind that quality and service also matter and with the well-researched Millennials who investigate every purchase they make online, comparing reviews to other competitors, you better be sure what your offering is of quality otherwise you’ll lose your Millennials to other companies.
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