“Millennials don’t follow the rules of marketing,” according to Kathryn Minshew, founder of TheMuse. They are an extremely diverse generation of consumers that all lead different lifestyles, have different tastes, and cannot be molded into a cookie cutter consumer. The most important aspect to remember when marketing to millennials is to keep your brand authentic and transparent in order to obtain brand loyalty. Here is how your brand can be more authentic to millennials:
Make Them Heart You
The first step to conveying your brand’s authenticity is to make them love your brand. The way to do this is through engagement. According to Forbes last year, 62% of millennials said that if a brand engages with them on social media, they are more likely to become a loyal customer. Millennials want to get to know what goes into your products and understand the humans working behind it. Flashy advertisements will not faze the average college student – authentic messages and transparent mission statements will.
Communicate.
With social media and technology, it has become overwhelmingly easy to communicate with others. Milllennials are very vocal about products online – and know that you can see their comments. It is important to respond to their comments and suggestions on social media. You do not have to respond to every single notification, but ignoring them all will create a wall between you and your consumers.
Show some behind the scenes.
Millennials want to see what goes into a product and learn more about the people behind the brand. Show some behind the scenes – you cannot expect to do everything behind closed doors and expect trust from your consumers.
Relate to their lives.
Stay relevant by focusing on trends and happenings that millennials keep up with. Address issues that they care about, and promote your product in a way that is relevant to their everyday lives and is something that they would want to share with their friends. This does not necessarily mean keeping up with the latest online lingo – it is actually better to avoid using this to avoid trying too hard. Produce content that aligns with their wants, needs and goals.
Care.
The best thing your business can do to attract millennials is to care. Beyond your consumers, millennials want to see how your business is positively affecting society. Show that your business is interested in more than just making a profit – but helping society and your customer overall by providing a need that makes your product and brand worth buying.
