Inside the Millennial Mind – The marketer’s read!
Our typical days starts by snoozing off the alarm followed by seeing the Instagram feed and stories, browsing through it for a couple of minutes till you finally realise that you’ve done that enough and now it’s time to get out of bed. Isn’t that true? And just when brands and advertisers were starting to get a hang on the best practices to sell their products and services, the millennial generation arrived to throw off the entire system.
India is on track to become the youngest country in the world by 2020, with a median age of 29, highlighting the outsized role of it millennial generation in spurring growth. The country’s Millennials account for a third of India’s population and 46% of its workforce. They may be young, but they’re already the chief wage earners in most households, with millennial income contributing to 70% of total household income, according to a new report from Morgan Stanley Research.
The millennial consumer is not really in search for deals or discounts like the older generation as much as he looks for values associated with a particular brand. What are they looking for? Why do they engage with a certain piece of content the way they do that gets it great engagement? What are the unspoken expectations they have from brands?
- Solve their problems
The millennial consumer says ‘I want when I want the way i want’. Here, we are talking to a group that is extremely impatient and impulsive. They are always looking out for products or brands that offer a solution to their problems. Hate getting a cab and then fumbling through your wallet to find cash? Uber took care of that. Millennial consumers want you to find a way to fix their problems, even if they didn’t know it was a problem in the first place.‘I want when I want the way i want’
The millennial consumer - Focus on mobile
That’s where they are – on the mobile. Over 85% millennials own a smartphone. With websites coming back in the trend, creating a mobile first website is absolutely critical to see success. They do not like longer load time or struggle through poor navigation. They are a group that values time and demands convenience. The Movekars, by Aditya Birla Health Insurance was a campaign that was executed on a progressive web app that gave users a mobile first experience that they could never forget. The overall results – 50% participation came from mobile users. A Bahubali film based campaign targeting girls for Bajaj Almond hair oil got 90% traffic from mobile.They are a group that values time and demands convenience.
- Practise Transparency
This generation came with smartphones and social media, being highly accustomed to an abundance of information. While previous generations may have happily employed an ‘”ignorance is bliss” mindset, this group wants the brands they engage with to be open and honest. Toms Shoes is a great example. The company’s “buy one, give one” business model—where with each TOMS purchase, the company provides shoes and other services to people in need—struck a chord with millennials and they helped turn it into a Fortune 500 company. Millennials want to know that they are spending their money with a company that cares about more than money.Wants the brands they engage with to be open and honest.
- Customers are the new brand ambassadors
Marketers spends crores on advertising campaigns every year. But, the best advertising is when your existing customer talks about you. This is especially true for millennial consumers. As a rule, they don’t buy something just because it was advertised to them. Instead, they conduct their own market research. They ask their friends, look up on social media, do search on Google etc. To millennials, the opinions of fellow consumers are far more valuable than the words of the brand trying to sell to them. Plum Goodness and Bira are examples of existing customers creating content for the brand.The opinions of fellow consumers are far more valuable than the words of the (brand) company
How can you start speaking to this group ?
What all can you do right now to appeal to the millennials? Leaving some thought starters below that will resonate with this growing group of young, digital savvy consumers.
- Optimise your website for a better mobile experience. Ensure that the consumer can quickly access basic information even on the go like business’s email id, phone number and other important details if possible.
- Give your consumers a look behind the curtain – some information through vlogs or a Facebook live about how ethically you are manufacturing your products and that you treat your employees well.
- Focus on the overall customer experience. How fast are you responding to consumer queries/ complaints? Their pain points in buying a product etc. Creating a good experience will make your customer the brand ambassador who will do the selling for you.
With this group slowly becoming the primary decision makers for marketers, maybe it is also time that you pay a little more attention to the digital usage of the younger team members at your workplace, in your homes and digest the fact that their consumption of media, their expectations, decisions and choices are opening up a totally new world. Get ready for the next-gen, get started today.
