How Can A Small Business Market To Millennials?

Share
Share
Share
Email

A solid marketing plan is essential to business success, but unfortunately for many entrepreneurs, understanding a target audience can be quite the challenge. Take, for example, millennials. While this generation is often categorized as broadly as consisting of anyone born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s, there’s much more to them than their age range. From their unique perspectives on the economy – they’re consistently optimistic despite the tough financial world surrounding them – to their less traditional takes on life, many business owners find themselves struggling to understand how to cater to the millennial lifestyle. All hope is not lost, however. Here are a few things to keep in mind about millennials:

They can’t be ignored

One thing that’s vital to remember about millennials is that there are, well, a lot of them. According to a study conducted by CEB, there are 75.7 million millennials aged 19 to 36, making them a larger generation than even the baby boomers. And while the stereotype of a millennial may be that of a willfully unemployed twenty something living in their parents’ basement, this group has an average household income of $60,000 and a total estimated purchasing power of $1.68 trillion. In sum, millennials are both making money and spending money, and if a business can tap into millennials’ wallets, they can make significant financial gains.

Values are changing…

Whether speaking of politics, economics or personal matters, millennials have significantly different values than their older counterparts. The same CEB study found older generations ranked justice, integrity, family, practicality and duty as their top values, while millennials ranked happiness, passion, diversity, sharing and discovery as their strongest values. Unfortunately for business owners, approaching millennials the way they approach other generations isn’t going to cut it. Instead, finding ways to market using the values listed above may be more successful.

…And so are product preferences

Millennials have taken a liking to products that help them solve everyday problems. Uber, for example, fits into this category well – the mobile app helps users find taxis right from their homes, apartments and offices, day or night. The app, promoted heavily by millennials, has been a huge success. Other business owners should take note of this example for a few reasons – Uber combines technology, problem solving and sharing, making it easy to market to millennials. This combination has proven successful for a variety of other companies, too, including Intel and Red Bull.

While it may be difficult for small business owners to launch into a new, high tech marketing strategy, there are a few things they can do. A top priority should be making a website easy to navigate as well as mobile compatible. Unfortunately, this can be an expensive endeavor and relies on the most up to date technology to execute well. Company owners who are looking to expand their marketing tools through the use of technology can explore their equipment leasing options through lenders like National Funding to find new and innovative ways to increase their brand reputation.

Tags: , , ,

hero