[:en]Millennials are coming of age. They’re the largest group of Americans ever – numbering more than 75.4 million (surprisingly they’re just slightly larger than Baby Boomers, which number 74.9 million).
Anyway, Millennials now are just beginning to exercise their buying power. If you define them as being born between 1981 – 1997 like Pew research does, that puts many in their late twenties, and early-and-mid-30s.
They have established careers and young families. Some have homes. And this will only accelerate as more come of age.
So with that spending power, you have to position yourself as a company Millennials want to buy from. And they want to buy from socially responsible companies.
In addition to price and product quality, Millennials consider:
So, what do you do about Millennials’ new mindset?
This:
1. Realize You Have to Change with Your Market
You can’t stop or control shifts in the market. Millennials think and act the way they do because it’s deeply ingrained.
Businesses that adapt to market shifts, regardless of the size or type, always position themselves for success. Those who don’t had names like Blockbuster and Woolworths.
With business, change is truly a constant.
2. Sell Millennials the Way They Want to Be Sold
Millennials are often accused of not having brand loyalty. However, recent research by Elite Daily quoted at Forbes found 50.5% say they are “extremely” or “quite” loyal to their favorite brands.
How do you become one of those companies Millennials remain loyal to?
Simple. You must value what Millennials want. That same study found Millennials prefer:
When Millennials feel you genuinely care about them, and not just the dollars they spend, you quickly earn their loyalty.
That means your marketing communications and employee levels of service play a huge role in your sales numbers too.
3. Be Quick in Your Communication
You may feel tempted to think Millennials all have ADD. With smartphones, laptops, tablet PCs, and more notifications than any human being could practically monitor, it seems plausible Millennials can’t pay attention to any one thing for very long.
While they get bombarded by an almost absurd amount of advertising, you can easily keep attention when you deliver a relevant message. Remember, Millennials famously binge-watch multiple seasons of their favorite shows on Netflix in just a couple days.
Can you keep their attention?
You bet.
If you can’t, you simply need to keep working on how you connect.
Are Millennials a challenge to sell to? Of course. But then, every generation has its own nuances.
So, keep fine-tuning your sales, marketing, and advertising strategies until you hit paydirt.[:]
