6 Ways Businesses Lose Cred with Millennials
Do you have a side business set up to help you earn extra spending money? If you want to be successful, it’s important to appeal to the rising generation. Here are some of the biggest things that keep companies from attracting millennial consumers.
Your website is out of date.
How up to date is your website? Does it feature a modern color palette and design scheme? Is it optimized for speed? And, most importantly, is it mobile friendly?
If don’t know the answers to all of these questions, use Google tools like PageSpeed Insights and the Mobile-Friendly Test to get tips from Google on what you can improve about your website.
Otherwise, younger consumers are simply going to leave your website and head to a better one.
Don’t forget about update the content of your website as well, such as your homepage, blog, and testimonials page.
This article has a good list of pages you should make sure you’re updating regularly on your website.
You haven’t embraced mobile pay.
If you have a brick-and-mortar store or service location, then you should definitely consider accepting contactless mobile payments.
Mobile payment via like Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay is growing increasingly popular, and the millennial population will soon come to expect it at retail locations. In fact, it is estimated that 23 percent of millennials already use some form of mobile payment at least once a week.
You yourself aren’t using up-to-date tech.
Other than your website and mobile pay, how up-to-date is the tech that you are using? Do you, for example, use up-to-date software for keeping track of inventory? Do you harness real-time customer and point-of-sale insights in order to better serve your customers?
Millennials identify most with companies that are making use of the latest advances in technology and that stand as beacons representing new advances in the business world.
Your shopping environment is too cluttered.
Whether you have a brick-and-mortar store or sell things purely online, giving young customers a cluttered shopping experience is a surefire way to turn them away.
One recent survey reports that 70 percent of millennials prefer calming environments to loud and busy ones when it comes to their shopping. So, if you own a brick-and-mortar store, make sure that it is a clean and relaxing place to shop in.
If you have an online store, make sure products are well organized and that your site features a clean and user friendly design.
You’re not offering perks.
According to one recent survey, 68 percent of 20- to 34-year-olds said they would change where they shop if it meant getting perks.
One-third of this group even said that they’ve purchased something they didn’t want just to get the rewards. So consider offering some sort of loyalty program at your company to attract millennials.
Offer a free meal after every nine meals purchased, a small birthday gift, a special discount after accumulating a certain number of points, or free shipping to customers who participate in your loyalty program.
You’re not using social media correctly.
This one can get pretty complex, and you could write several blog posts alone on how to best attract millennial customers using social media.
Because social media is how most millennials discover new products, it’s highly important that you spend some time focusing on your social media strategy. Here are a few tips that experts suggest when it comes to your social media and attracting younger consumers:
- Be authentic. Millennials are inherently skeptical and question the authenticity of content regularly (which should come as no surprise when you consider how often bloggers write sponsored posts these days.) Always be transparent in your social media postings, and engage with your followers often—even if that means having to own up to your faults from time to time.
- Stand behind a cause. Millennials tend to have a strong desire to “give back,” and when they know they can do so by purchasing your product, they are more likely to do business with you. Moreover, millennials are drawn to companies that clearly share their values.
- Target social groups—not life stages. Millennials are the most non-traditional generation the world has seen yet, and you can’t simply market to them based on how old they are or what stage of life you think they’re in. Focus instead on social groups, such as those who live nomadic lifestyles, those who are drawn to social causes, and those value wellness.
- Be relevant. Another big social media marketing technique is “riding the wave” of current trends, using popular hashtags and phrases and referencing trending topics. So even if you don’t consider yourself a guru on current events or pop culture, now is the time to start familiarizing yourself.
You’re not making a positive brand experience a priority.
Millennials, more than any other demographic, base their purchasing decisions on brand perception. This means that they read customer reviews, ask their friends, and even take to social media to get the scoop on a company, product, or service before making a purchase.
Make sure that offering a positive brand experience is always a top priority for you by responding to questions quickly, going above and beyond at the point of purchase, and promptly settling issues as they arise.
That way, your company will receive better ratings and reviews from customers, who in turn can recommend your company to others.
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Category: Marketing
