Do you know the Millennial consumer?

Many businesses are finding it hard to attract and retain Millennial workers as they enter the workforce, sadly this will become a bigger problem as there are about 9 million Millennials still in education. But attracting and retaining these guys as employees won’t be the only problem we face. What about attracting and retaining the Millennial consumer?

Knowing how to get the most out of these guys as employees is giving most managers a headache, what about getting them to buy your products and liking your brand? In a decade or so we will have about 16-17 million Millennials in the workforce. We haven’t seen a generation of that size for about 100 years. Their disposable income will of course grow and their purchasing power will increase. Therefore, understanding how to communicate and connect with this generation will be paramount for brands that wish to have a place in their hearts and minds.

The Economist surveyed executives worldwide to see if they had a specific strategy in place for approaching Millennial consumers. 50 % did, 50 % didn’t. These statistics pose risks and opportunities for companies, depending on what they decide to do. Most consumers make their brand choices in their 20s and they don’t change much beyond their 30s. This presents a great opportunity for companies that want to target this generation and they have to make sure that they understand how to connect with Millennials or risk losing out.

As I am a Millennial myself, I thought it might be good to tell you a bit about what my generation value.

Walk the talk – Millennials love brands that are socially responsible. Find ways to involve this generation in your contributions, in that way you will truly connect with them. And remember if you’re not planning on walking the talk, it will do more damage than good. Check this blog post out to get more insight.

Connect to their phones – Mobile marketing has not been mastered yet and as phones get more powerful this provides a great opportunity. Think of new ways of engaging Millennials on their mobiles. TripAdvisor did a great job with this by asking consumers (via SMS and online) how it should allocate a $1 million in donations between five nonprofits. They got more than 1 million votes.

Listen to social media – Social media isn’t just another way for marketers to force their message on more people. Instead, listening becomes more important, by monitoring the “social media conversation” you can learn what the Millennial consumer actually wants and then join the conversation.

Contribution is key – Don’t just start a blog, set up a Facebook page or Tweet instead think about how it supports your objectives and adds value to users. Whatever you are doing online, make sure that you’re brand is contributing, otherwise you’re brand will be neglected by this generation and everyone else.

There a probably another 10 things to write about but the above 4 are crucial and I think they will be imperative to any brand that want to connect with this generation. However, I think the first question you need to answer is do you really understand today’s online environment? if you don’t, you need to get started.

Millennial Marketing

I remember my first lecture at university, having enrolled on a marketing course I was sitting in a massive room with around 70 other nervous wrecks and my tutor was attempting to explain how important it is to understand the traditional communication model. One of the few things I can remember from that day is how much he kept repeating that this model was fundamental to marketers. If I was sat in that room today, I would still have been too scared to even move, but my thoughts would have been very different. The internet has changed so much, it has changed the way we buy things, the way we communicate, collaborate, find information, the list goes on and I am sure it will get bigger.

Marketers are not embracing web 2.0 communications. Many might be using them but that doesn’t mean much.

Frankly many marketers read about blogs, Twitter and social networks and then they attempt to jump on a massive bandwagon before they understand what it is and how it works. This is so evident, I have around 5 companies a day attempting to join me on Twitter, they then broadcast stuff that I don’t care about, which then annoys me and gives me a negative view of that company. However, there are many that are leading the way and using Twitter in the right way and oh boy are they receiving kudos from the people above. Free marketing is always appreciated.

The problem is that many marketers have never used any web 2.0 tools in their private lives and then their boss tells them to suddenly start using it to communicate with customers. Writing a blog or creating a group on Facebook that aims to catch people’s attention is extremely hard without any experience. If you think of Facebook (or indeed social networks) as a country, it has a specific culture and a different language and Facebook happens to have a population (users) above the 200 million mark, which would make it the world’s 5^th biggest country. My point is that it would be pretty daunting to be chucked into a country of that size and be told to start engaging with the people that live there.

It’s interesting to see Millennials coming in to marketing roles and applying their communication techniques. Because to Millennials all the stuff happening on the net is pervasive, its sometihng they have grown up with, its not something they learn, its just there. This might be the case for many other generations but as digital natives Millennials have already embraced web 2.0 technology and applying it at work is no big deal. If you are thinking about a social media strategy then get the younger workers involved and let them lead the way, because within this area they really have got the experience.