05 Nov
Millennials. What hasn’t been said about them? TIME magazine called them the ‘Me Me Me Generation.’ If you ask the older generation the cause of society’s impending downfall, the answer would be- Millennials. Type casted as lazy, capricious, immature, millennials now form over a quarter of the global population. What’s more, by 2020, their spending is projected to grow to $1.4 trillion annually in retail sales in the US alone. This makes one thing clear- ignoring millennial customers would be a business suicide.
But firstly, who are the millennials?
WHY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS MILLENNIAL CUSTOMERS
Oxford dictionary defines ‘millennials’ as-
Basically, millennials are born between 1981 to 1996. This means that all millennial customers are people in their early 20s to late 30s. They’ve witnessed
Before you can target millennials, you need to some general characteristics that define this contentious group.
So, here are some fun stats-
- In India, they are the chief wage earners. This isn’t surprising at all since they form around 47% of the total working age population. (SOURCE- Deloitte, Trend Setting Millennials- Redefining the Consumer Story)
- Millennial savings come up to 10% whereas previous generation’s savings was around 35%.
- They spend their incremental income on Entertainment and eating out (32.7%), Accessories and Apparel (21.4%), and electronics (11.2%).
All of this displays a shift from a Savings Economy to a Consumption Economy.
Unsurprisingly,
Millennial customers are all about the Experience Economy, choosing to spend on experiences (such as entertainment, travel, dining) over tangible products. This puts customer satisfaction in the dead centre of all transactions.
In short, we know that millennials are all set to have a huge economic impact. And without a doubt, the only businesses that will survive in this over-saturated market are the ones that are able to delight them.
MILLENNIAL CUSTOMERS AND BRAND LOYALTY
Here’s the deal.
Millennials are far more technologically engaged than the previous generations. For them, almost every product or service imaginable is only a few clicks or swipes away. The options are extensive and choices, limitless. And, this has led to marketers mistakenly believe that brand loyalty among millennials is defunct.
The good news is that this isn’t at all true.
On the contrary, a report concluded that
Over 50% of millennials are extremely loyal to their favourite brand.
So, if you can inspire loyalty within this segment, chances are they’ll stay with your brand for a long time. And, we’d say that one of the easiest and most effective way of delighting them is superior customer experience. In fact, 74% millennials reported that a bad customer service experience would make them switch brands.
TURN MILLENNIALS INTO BRAND ADVOCATES WITH CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT
First things first, merely satisfying millennials isn’t going to turn them into loyal brand advocates. Brands must delight them by exceeding expectations. As we’ve mentioned before, they prefer experiences over things. Therefore, and we can’t stress this enough, brands must offer great customer service and unique experiences.
If this seems complicated, don’t worry. We have you covered.
Here are 5 simple practices that we recommend for transforming your millennial customers into loyal brand advocates.
1. MILLENNIALS TRUST REVIEWS SO TAKE CUSTOMER FEEDBACK SERIOUSLY
Millennials are obsessed with feedback and reviews. But don’t just take our word for it. As per Adweek,
93% millennials research and read reviews before making a purchase. And a massive 77% trust the reviews they read.
Also, another 67% believe they have a responsibility to share feedback about their experience.
This means that companies must handle customer interaction across ALL touchpoints carefully and proficiently. If a millennial has had a negative experience with your brand, chances are that they are bad-mouthing you in some corner of the Internet. This will not only deter prospective customers but will also lay waste to the resources you’ve spent on promoting your brand.
Thus, delighting millennial customers across all touchpoints is key to maintaining your Brand Reputation.
2. MILLENNIALS CRAVE PERSONALISATION
Consider this for a moment.
76% customers see service quality as a direct reflection of how much a company values them. This should stress the importance of a good customer experience.
Customised feedback is easily one of the best ways to track customer experience. Millennials are digital natives who expect all their interactions with a brand to be personalised and tailored to their needs. So, general sample-based feedback surveys will not engage them. To delight them, brands must make their feedback surveys individualised and addressed to specific issues.
3. INSTANT RESPONSE
Did you know that millennials spend over 17 hours a week on the lurking on the Internet? So, it’s really not surprising that expect companies to respond quickly to their questions and feedback. In fact, around
25% millennials expect a response within 10 minutes of contacting customer services on social media.
Similarly, 30% expect a response within 10 minutes via SMS.
Therefore, immediate response is extremely vital to delight millennial customers.
4. SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
Millennials are convenience seekers (or lazy if you ask the older generation). So,
They expect all their brand interactions to happen on the channel THEY prefer.
Since, they spend a lot of their time on social media, this is where they want customer support interactions to occur.
So, if you’re targeting millennial customers, cultivate a social media presence and use it to engage them. If you’re unconvinced, as per a report, 71% customers reported that a positive social media experience would encourage them to recommend a brand to their friends and family.
In addition, remember that millennial view Social Media as “empowering them to respond when they have had a bad experience”
So, if you want to establish Brand Loyalty among millennials, start by responding to their messages and comments on social media.
5. KEEP SURVEYS SHORT AND SIMPLE
Asking millennials to take time out to respond to lengthy, non-specific surveys is a recipe for disaster. Most market research professionals know that surveys with 3 questions or less generate higher response rates.
Therefore, if you’re targeting millennials, it is wise to use NPS® surveys since they are usually short by design.
CONCLUSION
It is beyond question that Millennials shaken things up in the market. As a result, brands must rethink their Customer Experience strategies to suit them.
Could you have imagined a couple of years back that Twitter could be an appropriate channel for customer support? And yet, here we are.
Numerous studies have shown that millennials have a much higher expectations for customer experience as compared to the older generations. So, only satisfying them will NOT guarantee Loyalty. Delight them at every touchpoint and you’ll turn them into vocal, loyal advocates of your brand. All in all, what this means is that brands should now aim to must deliver a personalized and convenient customer service experience to millennials at every single touchpoint.
Do you wish to turn your customers into loyal brand advocates?
