Digital Marketing for Millennials to Make Purchases
Digital marketing is especially effective among Millennials. In fact, a recent study in the Journal of Strategic Marketing calls this generation the “driving force behind online shopping.” That’s great news for retailers, but it doesn’t necessarily identify the balance between marketing to Millennials digitally and actually influencing them to make purchases through your digital marketing.
The Journal of Strategic Marketing study mentioned above focused its research efforts on determining which specific digital marketing strategies are preferred by Millennials and which ones influence their purchasing decisions. The survey determined that they are not impressed by pop-up ads but that they do seem to have a preference for side-panel ads and online coupons. Graphics are also highly effective attention-getters for Millennials as incentives, such as discounts or rewards, will often convince them to write online product reviews.
Reaching Out to Millennials Online
Unlike previous generations, Millennials have literally grown up on the web. Many of them were Facebook pioneers. Today, Millennials carry computers more powerful and sophisticated than the ones used to launch the Apollo flights in their pockets.
And they use these computers for everything from checking email, finding directions, and reading the news to shopping for their first apartments, buying clothes, and ordering dinner. Advertisers who fail to take digital marketing to Millennials seriously are doing their businesses a huge disservice.
MarketingCharts reveals that Millennials are very loyal to brands as long as they continue to meet their expectations. Brands that are currently dominating the millennial market include big names like Apple, Amazon, Target, and Nike. More importantly, though, it reveals that brand decisions among these younger shoppers tend to swing more to the emotional side of the spectrum than the rational. An example of a big brand marketing to this demographic is Domino’s ad campaign allowing people to order pizza by texting or tweeting a pizza emoji. Big brands are adapting to the needs of millennials. Are you?
Experiences vs. Transactions
Another thing that set Millennials apart as consumers, according to CMS Wire, is the fact that they not only have high expectations, which MarketingCharts has already alluded to but that they actually demand to be marketed to on their own terms – AND they’re willing to sacrifice their privacy in order to get it.
They’ve lived most of their lives on Facebook and Twitter sharing everything from the mundane to things that are deeply personal with anyone who is willing to read. This is news you can use in your digital marketing.
Ask them to fill out surveys, provide feedback, and leave online reviews. Make shopping with you something more like an experience than a transaction and you’re on your way to building that brand loyalty that’s so effective and profitable.
Going Social
Millennials are perfectly willing to leave feedback and provide online reviews – especially if you offer attractive incentives for them to do so. The other side of that coin, though, is that they read the feedback and reviews that others leave as well. This should serve as an incentive for digital marketers to not only reach out to Millennials where they live (on the World Wide Web), but also to take this opportunity to improve the experience, interact, provide feedback, and make improvements to products and/or services according to the feedback received.
Influencing Millennials is a two-part process. They must also be able to influence your business in order for you to gain the kind of brand loyalty they are so famous for.
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