Mobile and multichannel among the areas key to appealing to millennial consumers
-NACS Online
Despite the seemingly constant focus on millennial consumers, many feel that it’s impossible to overstate the importance of this enormous demographic. With millennials in the U.S. spending about $600 billion a year, it’s essential for brands to capture and maintain the attention of this audience.
Yet, there is no easy answer for how to do so, and millennials are notoriously fickle when it comes to changing their interests and buying behaviors. Is it all about social? Mobile? The latest trends? The answer is, yes — to all of these approaches. According to Chain Store Age, “retailers must understand millennials’ buying habits, as well as find ways to stay flexible and adjust to their changing behaviors.” The publication offers some basic guidelines, below:
- Take a Multichannel Approach – Shoppers have increasingly longer, varied and nonlinear paths to purchase, and millennials are leading this charge. They’re shopping everywhere, all the time so you should be visible on as many channels as possible. A successful multichannel approach means implementing both digital marketing and marketplaces strategies.
- Improve the Mobile Experience – In one survey, 96% of millennials said they consider their phones the most important product in their daily lives. Another study found that millennials are on their phones an average of almost 15 hours a week. Be accessible on all devices: A responsive, mobile-friendly web design is necessary.
- Focus on Price – Millennials are money-conscious, with one study showing that a third of them purchase only items they deem necessary. One way to appeal to their purse strings is to offer free services and promotions. Chains Store Age suggests using Google’s Merchant Promotions, which add a “special offer” link to the bottom of your product ads that provide a promotion code when consumers view it.
- Get Social – Social media is becoming a popular channel for consumers to interact with each other about purchasing preferences. A ChannelAdvisor 2015 Online Retail Survey found that the top reason retailers are using social media is to increase brand awareness. To be successful, your brand needs to get involved in the social conversation through an active presence on popular platforms.
- Increase Brand Recognition – If incentivized, Millennials can be great brand ambassadors for you. And keep your reputation intact: Millennials do their research, so the importance of maintaining a strong reputation can’t be emphasized enough.
