Promote U Guru Blog

Three Ways to Engage and Attract Millennial Customers

Hi All!

For Sellers to more successfully engage, attract, and develop new customer relationships, it’s important to be aware of this interesting fact shared by J. Walker Smith, Ph.D. and Ann Clurman, Co-Authors of the book, Rocking the Ages: “Generationally determined lifestyles & social values exercise as much influence on buying and purchasing as more commonly understood demographic factors like income, education, and gender do – maybe even more.”

How Millennials (aka: Gen Y), Generation X, and Baby Boomers each prefer to be engaged with is different. And it’s critical that Sellers educate themselves on these preferences as it can greatly improve the results of their sales and marketing efforts.

However, for this article, the focus is on Millennials. Not only are they the newest generation of young, adult consumers, they are the most unique. Thus, they’re worth learning about. Why? For starters, they are the largest generation the U.S. history. Plus, by 2025, 75% of the U.S. workforce is going to be comprised of Millennials.

As a result, not only will Sellers and Employers be working with them more as colleagues, but they’re going to be heavily competing for them as customers.

There are many ways to attract, engage and build brand-loyalty with this unique generation. Here’s an example of three to be aware of:

1. They Respect Giving Back: The Millennials are the first generation required to volunteer in their communities as a High School graduation requirement. Therefore, they are wired to “support causes”, and countless studies show they are attracted and loyal to brands who share that same philosophy.
2. Peer Recommendations Mean Everything: They are an extremely close-knit generation and value peer recommendations more than flashy marketing campaigns. As a matter of fact, research reveals they rank “peers” as their most valued source of information. The key take away? Make sure to have Millennial testimonials and imagery in marketing materials, as well as include Millennial-created content in social media efforts, to attract them.
3. They Require (and Demand) Guidance: Although they are confident and perceive themselves as “individuals”, Millennials tend to struggle with decision-making. Remember, this is the generation raised by Helicopter Parents, and those parents tend to continue “hovering” over their Millennial kids well into adulthood. So if Sellers focus on being “Trusted Advisors” versus “salespeople” (solely focused on closing the deal), they will fare much better with Millennial customers.

Smart companies are investing a lot of time, effort, and money into learning everything they can about the Millennial mindset; both as employees AND consumers. Furthermore, Sales Teams all over the globe are learning how to better engage with them as our next generation of key decision-makers in the workforce.

With $1.5 billion in annual spending power, and being a generation 85 million strong, it’s easy to see why companies ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations care about them. The eldest Millennials are now around 30 years-old…so they’re not just “clueless kids” anymore.

Cheers & Happy Marketing!

Lisa