Projected to outnumber Baby Boomers in 2015, Millennials make up nearly a quarter of the American population with around 75 million living members. The generation makes up an increasingly large share of the consumer market as its youngest members reach adulthood, and is often specifically targeted by advertisers. As a whole, they’re responsible for $1.3 trillion in annual spending, a number that’s likely to increase in the future.
For businesses, a new generation “coming of age” brings with it the challenge of learning to market to, and communicate with, new customers.
Adapting to unique needs and demands can be difficult, especially when the new customer base is significantly different from the old, as is the case with Millennials. As a business owner, you may have wondered how you can make your business as Millennial-friendly as possible in order to effectively capture your share of the potential revenue. Though it might seem complicated, there’s a simple answer:
Listen to them!
Millennials expect to be able to communicate with companies everywhere, whenever and however they want.
Growing up as digital natives has afforded them significant control over the content and communications they receive, an expectation that carries over into their consumer behaviors. So how do Millennials want to communicate with companies? If you guessed via mobile, you’re correct.
When asked to select a defining feature that sets their generation apart from others, Millennials’ own top choice was “technology use”.
They’re right, especially when it comes to mobile technology. Over 85% of adults age 18-34 own a smartphone, and they use it often – on average 6 days a week, which is more often than they reported watching TV, listening to the radio, or using a computer or tablet.
Millennials are very attached to their smartphones: 83% sleep with them nearby, and 32% even use them in the restroom. They reach for these devices on average 45 times a day, more than they do any other device.
For this generation, smartphones are quickly outpacing other technologies. To stay relevant, your business needs to make the move to mobile or risk appearing outdated: 52% of Millennials say a brand’s technology use is more important than the brand name itself.
Common approaches to adopting mobile for businesses usually involve developing a smartphone app or mobile/mobile-aware site, but there’s an easier, and at least equally rewarding, option that often gets overlooked: instant messaging and texting.
When surveyed, 68% of 18 to 29 year-olds say they texted “a lot” the previous day, while only half reported using their cellphones as often for calls (less than half used email “a lot”). Instant message is how this generation communicates: it allows for simple, real-time contact that’s more convenient than a phone call.
With OwnerListens, texting or instant messaging is the cheapest, easiest way to get in touch with not only your Millennial customers, but your entire customer base.
We’ll establish a virtual number for your business so customers can send you a message whenever they want, from whatever platform they want, even old-school SMS. All you have to do is respond – from your phone, e-mail or web dashboard. We manage the backend, setup escalation flows and multiple-recipient groups, send messages to employees’ personal devices, and maintain anonymity for customers and employees alike. Your OwnerListens dashboard shows all of your business’s locations and messages and allows you to extract and monitor desired metrics.
Connect with your Millennial audience: sign up for your OwnerListens virtual number today.