Millennials, they cause a sense of fear inside an older person. They are a new breed, and they do things….differently! So how do we work with them, market to them and service them as our customers?
- If millennials aren’t already your customers they soon will be.
Well, firstly you have to realise, they aren’t as young as you think. Many millennials are now in their mid 30’s and are professional people and consumers with money. You have to take this group of ‘not so young anymore’ people seriously and to be honest, you should because once you start to see some of the stats on them they are actually pretty cool!
2. Millennials care
The baby boomers might think they have the flower power, but Millennials are the most health conscious generations ever witnessed and the most environmentally aware consumers, eager to understand what is in their products. They want transparency and want to buy from environmentally conscious manufacturers. In a 2017 Neilsen Consumer and Media View the research showed that 54% of Millennials said they had consumed alcohol in the past month, compared with 65% for Generation X and 72% for Baby Boomers.
It is important to Millennials that they connect with a brand and that the brand is giving back to society rather than just making profits. This is what has seen such a strong success in brands such as Who Gives a Crap and Thank You.
3. Millennials don’t believe ads
According to a Forbes report only 1% believed that a compelling ad would make them trust a brand more. In fact, for the most part Millennials believe that advertising is all spin and not authentic. Instead they are more likely to develop a connection with a brand via social media and a digital presence.
So what does this mean? If you are currently trying to attract customers who were born between the 1980s and the early 2000’s then you need to consider these preferences. For many professional services firms there has been a hesitation to use social media and instead have a more traditional approach to marketing. However, we know that this isn’t going to be as successful with Millennials. If you are wanting to market to Millennials you need to focus on building trust, demonstrating a strong social conscience and having an accessible digital presence.
I love telling the story that my 70 year old mother in law was recently looking for a lawyer. She was given two referrals and my husband asked her how she chose between the two referrals. She then proceeded to tell us with a look of shock and disgust that one of them ‘didn’t even have a website’. Now if my 70 year old mother in law is going to judge you on your digital presence, just imagine what my Millennial sister would say?