If you haven’t heard the term “millennials” tossed around your office space by now (at a borderline nauseating frequency), then you’re probably not in the business of selling a product. If you have, though, then you are undoubtedly aware of both the ubiquity of the term and its frustrating vagueness. How do you market to millennials? Heck, what are millennials?
We’re here to clear up that confusion.
By definition, millennials are those potential consumers reaching “young adulthood” right around the turn of the century.
In practice, ignore that definition, since a group’s age does absolutely nothing for your company (you probably have a target age demographic, right?). That leaves you with a problem: “OK, I know I need to reach that audience, but how do I do it?”
The first step is to stop saying millennials as if it’s one huge group. It’s not. That’s sort of like saying, “We want to target women.” What type of women? In what careers? How old? Women with what type of interests? What relationship status? As you can imagine, the subsequent questions are endless. That’s why you need to stop speaking about millennials as a giant blob, and start segmenting them into more easily digestible pieces.
A recent article in Business News Daily does just that. It suggests that there are three subsets of groups within millennials, each of which requires a distinct marketing plan.
Millennials interested in the economy: Economic status is the precursor for everything a millennial might do. Stereotypes about how millennial women and men act in the workplace are commonplace, but they’re often misleading. In reality, many millennials don’t have the disposable income that marketers think they do, which makes pushing your product not impossible, but certainly difficult enough to where you need a specific strategy. For marketing to millennials in this group, you have to realize that money is always on their mind, and unless you’re in the business of technology—the one area that even money-conscious millennials refuse to live without—you need to craft your strategy around the presumption that this group thinks your product is too expensive. So, what can you do about it (and, no, that doesn’t mean lower your price-point…it just means you need to get creative)?
Millennials interested in the world: The people in this group like to feel worldly. That can mean a lot of different things. For instance, some in this group like to travel the globe. Others like to travel the city in search of global food fare. Still others like to explore their neighborhoods and find the mom and pop stores to which no one else goes. For people in this segment, nostalgia is a big deal (i.e. the recent Honda takeover), and so is DIY and crafting, which often entail both saving money and worldly design. How do you tie all these things together? Think about this group as that which cares about the long-term viability of communities—from eco-friendly efforts to sustainability measures and even recycling programs. When you create messages for this demographic, rethink your business strategy to see if there’s a way to do something good for the planet in the process. You’ll see bigger sales, and, perhaps more importantly, you will actually be doing positive work for the community.
Millennials who won’t put down their phones: Ah, the social segment—the one you’ve all been waiting for. Contrary to what most people believe, your company can’t just jump on social media and expect to be a rockstar. That’s not how users interact, and it’s certainly not how they share. Think about the old-school mass communication two-step flow theory (yes, we just introduced a decades-old research theory into a blog about new media…we’re kind of nerdy like that). In the seminal study upon which the theory was built, researchers studied voting patterns as compared to political advertising. See, the old theory was one of a hypodermic needle, in which audiences were powerless to mediated messages and believed everything they were told. In studying voting behavior, though, the reseachers discovered that voters provided rationales for their decision-making that didn’t align with what ads told them to think about. Something was wrong with the old theory. Two-step flow says that a brand needs to target opinion leaders, and then those opinion leaders will convince their social circles. Fast forward to the 2014, and we see that all the time on social. Don’t target the 80% of users who utilize Facebook as a passive medium. Target the 20% who will actively engage and advertise on your behalf. It’s cost- and business-effective.
Oh, and don’t forget, when you’re thinking about your strategy, remember to include millennial moms, since they’re kind of a big deal (they represent about half of all millennial women). So, as your craft your messages and campaigns, think about all there is to offer within each subset of millennials, and if you find yourself lost (it happens), we’re always here to help. We specialize in market research and strategy to this generation of consumers. Shoot an email to mreiber@axiomcom.com.