Have businesses learned how to target those elusive millennials?

Marketing your products and services to millennials is no easy task. They have a reputation for being sceptical, underemployed, and budget conscious. This situation is gradually changing, however. Many in this generation are now starting to earn an income and moving into positions with significantly more spending power.

This change means that this is the time to face the challenge of marketing to millennials. Here are some tips to help you achieve just that.

Socialise with your customers

Millennials are looking for brands to socialise with them and to involve them in their conversation. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the most effective way of brands to communicate with millennials is through social media. As millennials spend 558 minutes longer each month than those aged 35 and above, social media is the perfect place to start.

While some businesses seem to feel that it’s enough to put up a Facebook page, and perhaps a Twitter profile, there is more to being ‘social’ than simply having a social media presence.

Start the conversation

Social media monitoring tools are available to help you find people that could be interested in what you have to offer. If you own a vegan restaurant, for example, search for mentions of veganism in social media and personally invite the authors to your conversation.

Have a chat with them

Businesses need to be available to chat in a number of different ways to suit those with different communication preferences. Instant messaging, email, or social media are all valid means of communication. Many of your prospects will be multi-tasking between these options, checking each frequently. Having become accustomed to instant communication, millennials often expect their query to be handled almost immediately. Even AI are getting in on instant messaging, with 58% of millennials having interacted with a social media chatbot in the past year, as of March 2017.

They expect you to have an app

Last year saw a 28% increase in mobile app usage. Millennials in particular are turning to their smartphone to act as a personal assistant to aid them with their daily activities and numerous practical functions, such as making online purchases, locating business information, or using loyalty programmes.

More and more industries are using apps to communicate with their market. The hospitality industry, for example, has become hugely popular among millennials, with portal websites such as Just Eat offering an app for those who wish to choose from their nearest eatery without having to visit each website individually. Online casinos, such as Casino Euro, are also tapping into the market, providing an app that allows its customers to play a wide range of casino games, including such titles as Wolf Club and Cleopatra. Having won customer service awards, indicating that they understand how to talk to their customers, they’re an excellent example of how to target millennials.

Reply to brand mentions

This is basic internet etiquette. If your potential customers are reaching out to you, engage with them. You’re asking potential customers to join your own conversations, so you should be doing the same for them. This could mean providing first-rate customer support, responding to criticism or praise, or simply answering any questions that they may have.

Post relevant and interesting questions on your page

If your readers see that you are genuinely interested in their opinions about your product, they will feel that you care about them, helping to create an affinity between your brand and your prospects.

Make it easy to be found

As millennials are driving the UK’s mobile payment industry, businesses need to be targeting them and putting their company where they can be easily found and contacted. In order for businesses to tap into that vast market, they need to be merging traditional payment and mobile payments. By making mobile payments available via an app, brands are putting themselves in a position to attract those all-important millennials to their products.