How to Capture Millennial Shoppers

Your brand needs to connect with millennials now – it’s crucial for the future of your business. At over 75 million strong, millennials dominate the U.S. population. This generation, born between 1980 and 1996, holds around $3.4 trillion in spending power in 2018.

The age gap in the millennial generation is the root of many marketing communication challenges. The 22-year olds could be just out of college with irregular daily schedules, limited budgets, and a single relationship status. While on the other end of the spectrum, 38-year old millennials are likely to be married homeowners with children. Do individuals from age 22 to age 38 have enough common characteristics to be lumped together as a single target audience?

Researchers commonly note the generation’s common characteristics as having short attention spans, an expectation for brands to cater to their personal needs, and very busy lifestyles. Basically, it all boils down to this: millennials demand that reward programs are Relevant, Simple, and Convenient.

1. Relevant. Millennials expect every interaction to be tailored to their preferences. In order to be relevant, brands need to collect and understand consumer data, from demographic information to behaviors to engagement preferences. Besides tailoring the content of a message to a customer’s individual needs, a savvy way to make messages relevant is to incorporate the notion of context. Relevant messages require the marketer to take several factors into consideration when planning out campaigns. Context includes time of day, location, weather, devices, past behavior, purchase history, and channel preference. In a time where millennials are bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages a day, the key is making communications and the user experience relevant.
2. Simple. There are two questions millennials will ask when learning about a reward program, “What’s in it for me?” and “How much of my time will this take?” It should take little to no time for a customer to calculate the benefit that the program offers to them and they should see a clear path to their first reward. If the program contains a complicated points system or an unclear benefit, enrollment numbers will be affected. The enrollment process also needs to be simple and easy so that it can be done quickly via mobile app or in store. If the program takes too long to enroll in millennials will either walk away or be turned off by the program and not engage with it after enrolling.
3. Convenient. With the age difference in the millennial generation, it’s important to make your program available to them whenever and however they want it. The 20-year olds are constantly on the go and always on their smartphones. On the other hand, millennials with kids always have their hands full running around and may not have their phones with them at all times. Engaging with millennials means adopting a multi-channel marketing strategy including email, push and pull messaging, and social media.

Building relationships now with millennials has immediate benefits, but it pays off even more in the long-term. Capture their attention early, and they could remain loyal to your brand for the rest of their lives, even passing on their love of your brand to their children. But, getting their attention now is tricky. Learn more about effective strategies by watching our webinar “How to Target Millennial Shoppers.”