Cracking The Millennial Nut

bysubcpo14

2.1K followers

6 years ago

As I listen to Chicago's original rock station The Loop 97.9 FM which I grew up on nearly 40 years ago as a young adult and wonder if the previous generations were as uninformed about Baby Boomers as we are about Millennials.

Rumors abound about Millennials and being a late Baby Boomer I believed many of these rumors. I have two (2) kids that are Millennials but thought they were Millennial misfits since they owned cars, bought homes, and worked hard.

Recently, I had the good fortune to attend a three (3) day working event in Tarrytown New York, and one of the topics we discussed in detail was Millennials, and our group was able to perform an in-depth interview with a Millennial who works for our company.

Much to my surprise, it quickly became apparent that many of the rumors regarding Millennials is false or taken out of context and based on the purchasing power of this generation we better figure out what makes them tick.

Millennials in the United States exceed 80 million potential purchasers with an annual buying power of more than $200 billion per year. Yes, Millennials are nearly one-fourth of the United States population and are the most lucrative market for us to penetrate.

There are many conflicting articles, blogs, white papers, and research papers on Millennials and even though the jury may be out on this generation, it is better to act on partial information than sit on our hands.

Some of the documented observations regarding Millennials include:

- Millennials crave content driven media and spend 20 hours plus per week online searching for authentic material to help them make decisions. My kids ask me all the time about the ranking on Rotton Tomatoes, Amazon, etc.

- Magazine ads, direct mail campaigns, radio ads, etc., do not motivate Millennials, so you need to utilize outbound marketing for other generations, but it is probably a waste for this group. This thought goes back to the first point about authentic content VS paid to advertise.

- E-books, white papers, blog posts, videos, do it yourself and other how-to information, etc., motivates Millennials, so inbound marking works for this group which again supports point one about authenticity. Millennials trust experts and desire empowerment through guidance.

- Educational content that develops a robust brand-consumer relationship attracts Millennials since the link is about them and not about what is in the wallet. Honesty and transparency is key to a Millennial sale.

- Content marketing has worked for previous generations with the difference being competition between all the content sources available to Millennials. In the past, John Deere, Michelin Tires, Jell-O, Nike, and others have developed free content that was distributed to build the customer base without selling the product.

- Helping companies develop future products or services also motivates Millennials to build a brand-consumer relationship since they are collaborative. Enablement is a crucial component of attraction so be aware and make the most of interaction.

- One of the shockers for me was that Millennials like to use more than own and a large percentage of this generation will pay the same price to use as own. Renting, sharing, and battering offerings will attract Millennials.

- Millennials love to have fun and surveys indicate they enjoy the adventure of researching a purchase more than finalizing the purchase. This shopping safari is called “Fauxsumerism,” and I see this trait in both my daughter and son.

- One additional trait I found interesting was that Millennials are willing to pay more for an item with a social cause that they support. Another trigger point that can help you attract Millennials and also allow you to give something back for a good reason.

There are many more points to be discussed about Millennials, but at a high level, the key to motivating a Millennial to engage is inclusion, education, and adventure. Millennials are not that different than us but must be stimulated using more sophisticated methods than a 30-second commercial.

I will continue to research this subject since it is everchanging and enlightening. Please provide feedback on your thoughts and experiences with Millennials.

It's excellent being fifty plus going on fifteen and when you are still young enough to learn.

Have a wonderful Monday. J