27/08/2018
Small Business & Millennial Consumers
Small business owners, regardless of their age, need to pay special attention to what Nielson Research calls “the largest generation in Canada.” Marketers and researchers have various theories on how to attract millennial consumers, and the smart ones do not treat all millennials the same (because they are not). That being said, there are some similarities among millennials. Let me share with you my observations of my millennial children, students, coworkers, friends and clients — as consumers.
Born between the early 80s and mid 90s, millennials spend their money on products and services that previous generations found frivolous. For example, rarely have I seen one of the millennials in my life brownbag it. They buy a lot of fast food and, because of all the choices available to them, they compare prices, quality and convenience before spending their money on food.
Not surprisingly, millennials are more tech-savvy and prone to online shopping than the rest of us. But, according to the Huffington Post, they are also more educated. Translation: They research the companies they buy from even if it’s only reading reviews about them.
Regardless of what you sell, if you want to attract millennial consumers, you have to get their attention. And that’s actually simpler than you may think. The following are a handful of affordable tips for small and medium companies that want to get more business from millennials.
Run a principled business
According to Forbes magazine, if you want to engage millennials, you should try corporate social responsibility. They go out of their way to give their business to companies that want to help and improve their communities. One of my former students said, “I prefer not to buy from multinationals; but I choose to buy from a small business that supports a worthy cause!”
To millennials, supporting a worthy cause isn’t just presenting a cheque to a charity and have your picture taken with them. One of my clients lives up to their corporate social responsibility by paying their employees one day’s wages during which the employees actually volunteer for a community organization of their own choosing.
Forget traditional advertising
I don’t need to remind you that millennials circumvent traditional advertising. They read, watch and listen online; as such they choose to search for information only when and where they are ready. In fact, if you believe Jeremy Becker, this demographic hates all advertising — especially on social media.
The alternative is buzz marketing. Find a way to get millennials to talk about your product or service and sit back and enjoy the recurring metaphorical cha-chings! Get a local or well-suited celebrity to talk about your brand and the attention you’ll receive will be multiplied!
Become a broadcaster
Millennials watch videos to learn new things, conduct research, and even choose one company over another. As Ad Age points out, they even share videos — and that’s the word-of-mouth your business has been yearning. Make your videos helpful, genuine and of good quality (not necessarily slick) and you’ll have respectable conversion rates. Suffice it to say, it’s better to broadcast fewer videos of substance than a plethora of noise.
Enhance your customers’ experience
Nielsen research discovered that millennial consumers are displaying a smaller buying power than other generations. But they spend more per transaction. Translation: you’ve got to make the customer experience superb.
In conclusion, if you’re interested in attracting millennial consumers — let’s face it, who wants to ignore the largest generation in Canada? — it’s in your best interest to include the above tips in your marketing strategy. They’re affordable and effective.
