Nasty, sticky things. Glad I never was one. (I am one.)
According to Google’s Consumer Barometer (which, by the way, you should totally be using to check your demographic’s online habits), 91% of the UK’s under-25s go online every single day.
They may be nasty and sticky but they’re also THERE and eager to spend.
How millennials have changed the game
Remember that todays millennials are tomorrow’s sole customer base. The outrageous demands they make now will soon be all there is – it’s unavoidable.
Delivery
Millennials are driving change in online retail: we expect things fast. We don’t plan ahead because we’re used to everything being at our fingertips immediately, which you can thank Google and Amazon for.
Three-day delivery? Are you kidding me? I have a party of 15 people coming round tonight to watch Game of Thrones on my new TV – why isn’t it up and running yet?
If you’re still charging for delivery and returns, try try try to find a way to cut that out. Bear in mind that free delivery will encourage more sales so it’s spend money to make money right now.
Price
We grew up with voucher codes, we never knew the world of holidays, insurance and energy providers before comparison sites. We expect a bargain and we’ll get it, whether that’s with our mate’s student discount or scouring blogs for a code.
Flash discounts work really well on platforms like Instagram and can convert social output into actual cash – this is where speedy graphic design comes in handy. All it takes is five minutes on Canva to make a square discount code announcement for Facebook and Instagram.
Community
We’re likely to abandon any interest in dealing with you if you don’t have a widespread online presence. Sure, we can check out your shop on Google Maps but that doesn’t tell us anywhere near as much as your Facebook, Twitter and reviews. It’s not even about trust: it’s that we have so many other options available.
It’s likely our only contact with you will be online, so you only have your social activity to show us the kind of brand you are and what good service you give. We tend to expect our customer service over Facebook or Twitter so it might be time to stop leaving social to the sole endeavour of the marketing intern (your daughter) and get the customer support team on it as well.
Want to know more about how to get this species where they roost? Check out my post about Pinterest and Instagram’s new money-making marketing tools.
[bctt tweet=”Stop carefully ignoring those millennials and start marketing to them. “]
