Gone are the days of couponing and ownership. The new wave of spenders is coming to the surface with a fury and all business would be keen to know how to stay afloat as the transition takes place. Millennials may seem to be a generation of meager means but contrary to popular
belief, they’re a goldmine just out of reach.
Who is the Millennial Buyer?
In order to tap into this market, it’s important to first realize exactly who it is you’ll be marketing to. Millennials are consumers born between the years of 1982-1996, which equals about 80 million potential consumers.
That leads us to discuss why you’ll want to target Millennials. As a generation they spend about $600 billion dollars per year which comes out to about 28% of all daily spending per person. It doesn’t stop there, $600 billion dollars per year will be pocket change compared to the $1.3 trillion dollars they’re estimated to spend annually by 2020 and by 2030 they’ll make up 35% of all daily spending per person. Speaking for the future, millennials are poised to inherit $30 trillion dollars from their parents as well. See how it’s a goldmine, yet?
Understandably, there’s quite a broad spectrum of age in the Millennials generation. That being said, there’s different spending patterns throughout the generation as well. For instance, a 21 year old millennial may have significantly more “free money”, that isn’t going to things such as mortgages or families, as opposed to a 32 year old millennial. But that isn’t to say you can’t cater to both, for example the 20-23 year olds are more like to buy in store rather than older millennials. Therefore, it would work in your business’ favor to make your online presence seamless with your in store experience. This works in your favor because not only do millennials hope for a effortless shopping experience, they expect it. Which would explain why over three quarters of millennials take online reviews of a company so seriously.
Marketing to Millennials
Understanding the spending power that the millennial generation currently has, and will continue to have, is astounding. So, this brings us to how could you go about capturing such a market. Start by stepping outside the boundaries of all previous marketing techniques because millennials are a generation which values experiences over items. For instance, as retail markets steadily fall, airlines, restaurants and theaters continue to be on the rise. Therefore, you’ll need to advertise the experience of your product rather than its worth.
In summary, millennials are an incredibly fluid market yet not impossible to reach. There’s multiple avenues in order to reach your target, but hopefully learning millennial spending habits will send them straight to your business.