Sustaining and growing your business demands a loyal and expansive consumer base. One potent method to live up to such requirement is by tapping into the lucrative and influential millennial market through online PR tools and methodologies which are suited for the wants and needs of this consumer cohort.
Raised in a world of technology and free-flowing information, it’s easy to dismiss millenials as a bunch of hipsters thriving on “selfies,” social media, and a laundry list of options and choices. But this generation is fierce, elusive, and cunning. It has been shaped by drastic world events, e.g. Hurrican Katrina, the global economic recession, 9/11; their needs and wants have gone more complex, adding to the marketers’ confusion on how best to reach this highly ambitious and ubiquitous group.
Millenials have an enduring affinity with brands despite their tendency to be skeptical. This backs up the claim that they’ll surpass boomers’ spending power by 2018 with their projected $2.45 trillion annual spending power come 2015. To win their loyalty, some businesses are zooming in on technology and consumer engagement tools that involve work-life balance, career and society roles, changing gender dynamics, and other themes that mirror their pro-social and marketing-savvy character. Companies link cause message to their brand in an authentic and relevant way to gain their trust. Other businesses go out on a limb to attract skeptical consumers and at the same time avoid advertisements and marketing tools which are no more than fancy talk.
The bottomline here is that traditional marketing antics don’t cut it when engaging the millennial audiences. Your PR models should be tailored to your “moving targets” whose allegiances to your brand depend on their present circumstances. You’ll have to refurbish your online PR methods as you would your online reputation repair tactics. Aside from considering their outlooks and preferences and developing cause marketing strategies, you also need to maximize your social networks, offer fresh new ideas, and enhance word-of-mouth medium in order to address the diversity of the generation. Of equal importance is to demonstrate value to the millenials through quality and services which are the totem pole of consumer loyalty and satisfaction.
References:
http://www.greenbook.org/marketing-research/millennial-cause-study
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-donegan/marketing-to-millennials_b_4025881.html
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748703889404578440972842742076.html#articleTabs_article%3D1