How Businesses Can Get The Most Tasty Audiences - Millennials

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

In a guest article for Lifehacker, the journalist talks about who millennials are, what distinguishes them from other generations, why it is important for a business to learn how to work with them, and, most importantly, how to attract this active and demanding audience to your brand.

One of the fundamental principles of marketing is: know your target audience. Until recently, it was only possible to roughly understand who your client is. Now all the data is in front of us at a glance thanks to a variety of counters, analytical sites, social networks and other technologies.

But all these invaluable services give us only information about what age category our clients are in and what their approximate interests are. However, in order to sell a product, we must almost thoroughly know our audience. And here everything has already been done for us. Young people today are the so-called millennial generation. A lot has already been written about them, a lot of research has been carried out on this generation. Simply put, we do not need to reinvent the wheel, we just need to attach the already invented wheels to our cart, that is, to work taking into account the knowledge of the audience.

In this article, I tried to answer the questions:

• What changed?
• Who are millennials?
• Why are they important to us?
• What do they want?
• How to work with them?

The article will be useful for both advertisers and businessmen.

What changed?

Now the millennial generation, or generation Y ("the gamer"), is entering legal rights. These are young people from 15 to 30 years old, born between 1980 and early 2000s, accustomed to technology and the fast pace of life.

To attract them to your brand, you need to have a good understanding of their needs.

What is the difficulty? Firstly, there was a decline in the birth rate in the 1990s, which in the near future will cause some difficulties for business, because the share of the young audience segment will decrease by almost half. Secondly, their media behavior differs significantly from the audience with which they are used to working in the market.

Therefore, you need to contrive and slightly revise the mechanisms of work. Everything in order.

Who are millennials and what makes them different?

Millennials are the first generation to have no heroes, but idols.

This is the next generation, the network generation, the echo boomers. Millennials are characterized primarily by deep involvement in digital technologies.

Representatives of this generation are characterized by the following features.

1. The habit of making any information available to all, an abundance of data.
2. Multitasking in the use of communication tools.
3. High media literacy - the ability to use search engines and find the necessary and useful information, the ability to distinguish bona fide and trustworthy sources of information from unscrupulous ones, knowledge of parental control systems and the ability to use them.

The Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation reports that the level of media literacy in Russia was 74%, which is almost three times higher than the target for 2015 - 25%. 30% of the population of the Russian Federation has a high level of media literacy, 44% - an average, 26% have a low level of media literacy.

Unwillingness to pay for content, but at the same time willingness to give money for the right to be involved in something

It is worth explaining here. The main problem with the new generation is the unwillingness to pay for anything. Millennials for the most part are adherents of the so-called sharing economy, joint consumption of goods, when you are not the sole owner of a thing, but pay for the right to rent it for a while (as is the case with the Airbnb apartment rental service or Zipcar car rental service). Hence the problems with monetizing this audience.

1. High expectations.
2. Search for something unusual, creative. Millennials are alien to traditional approaches, they need uniqueness.
3. Increased quality requirements.
4. The particular importance of self-expression.
5. Very fast paced life.
6. Increased brand loyalty. This is an interesting feature of millennials. I will dwell on it a little later.

In any case, 20-25 is too late to start talking to the millennial generation. We must do this earlier.

Why are they important to us?

Now this is the most active audience that lives on the Internet.

The future belongs to them - in 3-4 years millennials will make up 50% of the entire paying population. Business must "feed" them now.

According to research by the analytical agency Markswebb Rank & Report, men from 18 to 34 years old account for a quarter of all purchases on the Internet, and women of the same age - 28%. Thus, the purchases of "igrok" account for 53% of the entire market. This is a colossal figure. It is simply impossible to miss such an audience. So how do you proceed?

Millennials create trends. In this regard, they can become our guides.

How to work with them?

Earn trust and build loyalty

Brand loyalty is a hallmark of millennials. If the older generation was looking for something more practical, then the representatives of the Y generation may stay with the brand simply because of their love for it.

80% follow the activities of companies to support their favorite brands, and 47% cited the desire to keep abreast of the latest brand news as the main reason for subscribing.

If you manage to form friendships with these consumers, they will do anything to support you.

Loyalty is great news for brands, but don't think it's easy to earn it. A study by global communications group Havas notes that 40% of respondents aged 16 to 24 complain about being frivolous from brands. Tip: Listen to your audience and they will love you back.

Create content for the dedicated

I said that millennials are distinguished by the habit of accessibility of information; they will not pay for something in principle. The trick, however, is that millennials are willing to pay for the right to be involved. This desire can be, for example, the desire to be referred to a certain club of initiates. Here you can give advice to those who have just started their own business or are thinking about reformatting it: maybe it is worth moving away from the idea of making a product for "everyone and everyone", and creating something exclusive, in which people want to be involved?

The same trend is visible in the media market. Middle-aged and older audiences tend to look for trusted, authoritative sources of information, while young ones are looking for unique, exclusive information, which is partly reflected in the growth of blogs with a relatively small audience. That is, millennials are not interested in what is available to everyone around, they need closeness, uniqueness, exclusivity. Let them know that it is not so easy to get to you, but it is vital.

Make life easier by offering life hacks, squeezes, explanations

Millennials hardly need to search for information. She literally pours on his head. Another thing is that you have to look for worthwhile information. If we add up the increased loyalty of the new audience and the constant lack of time, we will get new formats for advertising and communicating with the audience - pomp, reviews, so-called concise analytics, explanations. When talking to millennials, forget about "water", be specific. They don't have much time.

Rely on feedback, take into account the opinion of the audience

Let's return to the fact that the current generation, which is actively taking over all spheres of life, considers itself smarter than others. And indeed it is. Now it is not the market that dictates the conditions of the game to them, but they dictate the market. Therefore, the business should not only be two steps ahead and amaze people, but also listen to them, because they can suggest great ideas.

In general, the relationship with the audience should be approached from the demand side, not the supply side.

We mentioned above about media literacy. So, you need to be prepared for the fact that the audience can understand something better than you. And here it will be right not to bend your line, proudly turning away from the advisers from the masses (in social networks they now like to be called “couch experts”), but to rely on feedback.

Change

Classic style is alien to millennials. They are used to informal communication and personalization. Do not be afraid of change, change with your audience, anticipate what your customers will want in the future, and give it to them before they have time to think about it. Be flexible.

Differentiate communication with different generations

Now we need to rely on personalization - the main trend of recent times. Show people what they want to see, while keeping in mind age differences. That is, to change for users without changing yourself. A kind of transformer. Even advertisements, for example, on your site can be shown one one, and another - another.

Remember that Y's buying preferences are short-term

Millennials, or Generation Y, are less focused on solid high-value investments. They want to receive benefits here and now and are not inclined to work for the long term.

For the older generation, people between the ages of 30 and 50, buying a home and a car is on the list of top priorities, while for the younger generation, purchasing fashionable gadgets, education and travel is in the first place. According to our observations, young people strive to profitably combine education with the opportunity to see the world, while the desire to have their own housing and a car shifts in priorities lower and lower. Today, among people aged 15 to 25, there are half the number of people who want to buy a car than among their peers ten years ago.

Generation Y's values include vivid emotions, communication, interest, and creative self-realization.

Use different approaches to different age audiences

The new generation differs in values and behavior from their predecessors.

Sociologists explain such a significant change in the scale of values as a turbulent era of change that people experienced in childhood, watching the collapse of the USSR, the subsequent rampant crime, tragedies and terrorist attacks, but at the same time - the rapid economic growth of the country and the development of new technologies.

You need to evaluate the audience and offer different approaches to different categories of clients.

Expand your audience

That is, pay special attention to segments that traditionally did not fall into the target audience.

Let's return to the fact that the audience will be halved. Therefore, you need to look for additional sources of customers. And that is why to capture not only your target audience, age category and so on - in general, to expand horizons. That is, either get ready for the fact that your customers will sharply decrease, or offer the product to those who have not looked in your direction before.

For example, for a number of business categories that have historically addressed their messages to women, it may make sense to pay attention to men who gravitate towards family and home values. While brands traditionally focused on men (auto and related categories), in modern realities, are developing largely at the expense of women. You should not exclude maturing groups from your target audience.

Focus on discounts, promotions

The fast pace of life of millennials leads them to want to benefit from interactions with the outside world.

Millennials are very fond of stocks. In a way, they see this as the concern of the brand for them. It is enough for them to see a discount announcement on the Web, and half of them visit the store, whether it is offline or online. Various loyalty programs are also very attractive for Generation Y. About 80% of millennials will happily visit an online store site that uses a repeat shopping loyalty program.

However, not everyone uses it: only 12% of retailers use “Deals of the Day” on their websites or send customers information about promotions via SMS or email. At the same time, generation Y is much better at personal, personified proposals.

Selling not a product, but a lifestyle

Getting out of the crowd, being different, following the trends and being trendy are the goals of millennials. In his mega-hit TED video, Simon Sinek talks about the real reason for this amazing success. What do great companies that have achieved incredible heights have in common? They are not selling a product, but a way of life, an idea.

When buying an iPhone, a person is not buying a smartphone at all. He buys status, the latest technology, success, convenience, and so on. That is, while competitors are selling phones with many features, Apple is selling faith in innovation.

Make an advertising campaign unique

Millennials are much smarter than their parents were at the same age. They have an innate understanding of marketing mechanisms, they know their value as consumers, and they believe they can help a brand win or fail.

Try new formats of advertising and communication with your audience. For example, reviews. In mobile versions of online stores, millennials are most interested in product reviews, with 69% of users reading them. There are a lot of products and it is difficult to make the right choice. Therefore, before buying, there is a long procedure of comparison, viewing reviews, recommendations. Use video and photo reviews of products on the site (only in good quality!), Encourage reviews, introduce additional incentives to persuade the user to buy.

It is important to surprise while making life easier.

Summary

Millennials are extremely smart people who live in a frantic rhythm, in a huge flow of information. These are people with very high demands and requirements, but at the same time loyal and faithful to what they love. Pay attention to them, listen to them and be on the same wavelength with them, take into account their interests. Sell ideas, not beautifully packaged products. Get ready to change. Be mobile. Rely on quality and uniqueness, and then you will be able to get the most delicious audience.