Millennials, the group we find hard to understand. This group of youngsters is far from the generations we have known. They are supportive, narcissistic, lazy, and what not. Is that even true? Who knows, one can never be certain.
Who are they?
Howe and Straus identify millennials as people born between the years 1982 and 2004. Then there’s Time magazine that changes the timeline to 1980 through 2000. Finally, Newsweek defines millennials as people born between 1997 and 2004. You can adopt whichever suits you but the fact remains that millennial is the generation born towards the end of the 21st century.
Why focus on them?
This is a huge section of the world population. This large chunk is smart, educated and prudent. They like to be informed about everything. Education plays a vital role in what forms their opinion. About 50% of this generation has either gone to colleges and universities or is currently in the process of completing a degree. Educated, tech-savvy, and lived in the age of computing with internet connectivity. They are redefining everything including the global market trends.
Speaking of millennials in the US, they formed up about one-third of the population. They like to spend and the year 2013 saw $1.3 trillion coming out of their pockets. That is something that everyone wants to see. With that amount of population and spending, everyone wants a piece of this market. The marketing focus has shifted to them and the companies aim to indulge and acquire millennials as their consumer. They’re smart with the ability to draw comparisons which makes it harder to get their attention. We have compiled a few tactics that will get their attention and your marketing will be a success amongst millennials!
· Mobile first
If there ever was one uniting factor amongst millennials, that would be smartphones. This one thing unites them. Everyone has a smartphone and it serves all sorts of purposes. It is their cinema screen, their book and their mobile one. Fast internet speeds broadened the horizons and it is now their wallet, encyclopaedia, and whatnot.
This is why we are going to ask you, is your landing page mobile friendly? Are they optimized for mobile? If not, you are missing out on a market that could potentially be everything you have been looking for. Here’s a list of things you need to look into that will ensure your viewer stays longer which may give you a better chance of cashing in on a sale.
- Pages optimized for mobiles
- Mobile friendly Call-to-action (CTA) tabs
- Engaging content
This is not all to it. Search engines update their algorithms that impact your page rankings. Google made a few changes and Mobile first indexing became the game changer. If your page or website is not optimized for mobiles, you will miss out on better ranking. This results in less visibility and hence fewer sales. So mobile optimization is not only important for millennials but is also vital for the remainder of the market as well.
· Social media
Television, banners, hoarding and boards were effective in the past. They still are but the generation we speak of is fast changing this world. They grew up with technology and internet which has changed everything. Millennials too are different from the generation before them. This change demands that your marketing strategies change as well.
Technology and millennials have combined to change how they socialize. The emergence of social media platforms and then their expansion has affected more than just socializing trends. 71% of the US millennials use these social networks and spending about 5.4 hours a day. This speaks volumes about how much these platforms and networks mean to them.
· Back a cause
Supporting a good cause has multiple benefits. It gets you the attention you want and in the process, you are making this globe a better place to live in. Perfect!
It is wrong to generalize your marketing strategy. Millennials form a huge group and like any other group, it is made of individuals. Focussing on a single agenda will not get your desired results. Why? The answer lies in the word choice. Different individuals respond to a message in unique ways. Take Spectrum internet for example. It falls under the Spectrum family tree but it caters your internet needs. It cannot replace cable TV.
Millennials do have similar behavioural patterns but they are unique individuals after all. They will react and respond to your message in a variety of ways. Reaching them out with strategies like backing a good cause will get their attention but opting other messaging mediums are important to resonate with the target audience.
Pew research predicts that 2019 is the year when Millennials will form the largest chunk of the world population.
· Less robotic, more authentic
Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like to feel special? Everyone loves to know that they get the attention they deserve. No one wants to be at the end of a discussion or a group of words that are produced just the sake of it. Standardise content can have this problem. It’s stiff, sounds robotic, and doesn’t bid well with the millennials.
Millennials want to know they are important. A little personalization and they will feel the love. Interaction in an engaging manner leads to better understanding which can translate into getting the attention of the audience you have long been running after.
Conclusion
Every human may be unique but there are traits that can help generalize a group of people. Millennials are educated, smart, and wise. They are different from the people that we have seen in the past. Their educated minds are sensitive and the right steps can get you their attention. A combination of technology, personalized content and a will to make this world a better place is a recipe that will get you their attention. Once you have it let the quality do the talking. Attention gets you leads that get you sales and revenue you want!