What Millennials Look for in Brands
In 2021, the millennial generation had the most buying power of any generation in the United States. As a brand, being able to attract millennial consumers is an essential element for long-term success.
Millennials are specific when it comes to what they want from brands. Traditional marketing efforts or having the lowest prices is not enough to win over customers from the millennial generation. They expect more out of the businesses where they are going to spend their money.
Knowing how to market to millennials is an art, but there are a few key ways that you can get your brand on board. You need to start by understanding what millennials want, and then go from there.
Below, we’re sharing a few key tips on millennial marketing that you can incorporate into your marketing strategy. Read on to learn more, so you can start attracting these valuable consumers for your brand.
1. Be Authentic
Millennials grew up in the Internet age, where it was easy for anyone to curate a perfect vision of themselves based on what content they chose to share. Now, as in-demand consumers, millennials are starting to rebel against that. They don’t want their brands to be perfect. They want their brands to be real.
As a brand try to perfect millennial marketing, that means you make your company’s values very clear for your consumer. You need to say what you mean and mean what you say if you want your share of the millennial dollar.
Of course, authenticity means something different to every brand, depending on what your product or service is. If you are a food or cosmetic company, it could mean explaining your ingredients in plain English. If you are a clothing company, it could mean being upfront about where your product is manufactured.
It could also mean owning your mistakes, if and when you make them, in a genuine way. Millennials are willing to forgive brands that have made missteps, so long as they trust that the effort to improve is genuine.
2. Give Them Individualized Attention
There has been a lot written about the unique characteristics of the millennial generation. And while there may be some generalizations that hold true, millennials identify as individuals first and foremost.
If you want to know how to market to millennials effectively, you have to recognize that there is no “one size fits all” type of strategy. Millennials want to believe that the products they buy or the services they use were designed specifically with them in mind. It doesn’t have to be true, but you have to make them believe it is.
That could mean launching an ad campaign with several different elements, each of which could appeal to a different personality. It could mean offering several versions of the same product that could appeal to everyone from first time users to experts.
Even though you are trying to market to an entire generation of buyers, you never want your marketing campaign to make them feel as though they are just one of the masses.
3. Take Advantage of Social Media
In 2018, there were more than 76 million millennials using at least one social networking platform in the United States. That’s a lot of potential consumers. If you aren’t using your brand’s social media platforms to the best of your ability, you could missing out on a lot of their spending money.
Having a social media presence isn’t just about maintaining a company Facebook page or Twitter feed, although that is part of it. Many millennial consumers use social media sites to leave comments or ask questions for brands, so you do need to be monitoring your pages regularly and responding to consumers’ posts.
Marketing to millennials is also about creating moments that they will want to capture and share with their friends on their own social media platforms. You need to give them something flashy and visually appealing that they’ll feel compelled to share with others.
If you have a physical location, think about the design of your space. What aesthetic elements can you incorporate that will entice millennials to come in and take a photo and tag their location for their friends and followers to see?
Even if you don’t have a physical space, that kind of thinking can be applied to product packaging or even customer service. Anything can be an “Instagrammable” moment or worthy of a tweet, so long as it’s unique and exceptional.
4. Have an Opinion
Millennials are typically very politically and socially active. They want to feel good about the purchases they make, which often means aligning themselves with brands whose values reflect their own.
As a company trying to appeal to as many people as possible, this can sometimes feel like a risky step to take. Depending on the type of business you are in, it may not make sense to be overt about your political leanings or to be public with social commentary.
There are more subtle ways to show millennials that are you a socially conscious company. It can be as simple as posting about your company’s eco-friendly initiatives, or sharing photos from the corporate volunteer day.
If you do feel comfortable taking a company stance on important political and social issues, you should expect pushback from some. You may end up isolating one group of potential consumers. In the long run, though, it could be well worth it to attract millennial consumers who will remain loyal to your brand.
Want to Learn More about What Millennials Want?
Trying to market to millennials can be tricky, because millennials demand a lot from the brands they choose to frequent. Their decisions are based in emotion, but at the same time they are very smart consumers who will take the time to do thorough research on a brand.
Figuring out what millennials want is worth it though. Millennials are very loyal consumers, and once they find a brand they love, they have lots of ways to spread it via word of mouth. Without millennial consumers, you may not be able to achieve long-term success.
For more tips on crafting a marketing strategy for your company, please contact us at any time. Did we mention that we are recognized as a top Ad Agency on DesignRush. https://www.designrush.com/agency/ad-agencies