Surprise! Millennials Are Just as Loyal as Their Parents
by admin
Posted on April 09, 2014 at 15:27 PM
It may come as a surprise to know that a generation known for detachment from institutions and companies, is in fact, just as loyal as older generations when it comes to brands. A group of Millennials, or people born from around 1980 to 2000, recently participated in an Adroit Digital study that gauged their loyalty to their own favorite brands. Forty percent say they feel they are just as loyal as their parents, with 24 percent saying they are even more loyal than mom and pop. Combined, that’s more than half of study participants!
While Millennials may be loyal, a large number of them admit to using different criteria to determine which brands they’ll stick with. Eighty-seven percent say that brands can’t use the same ol’ techniques to garner positive relationships; companies actually have to work harder to earn their spot on a Millennial’s favorites list. This is critical information to implement into your marketing, merchandising and incentives strategies. Kohl’s has done a great job in reaching the thrifty millennial; their frequent Kohl’s cash incentives are wildly successful in getting repeat customers. Another great example is Target’s use of their own RedCard, where customers save 5 percent off of every purchase just by signing up. The card can be used as a credit card or attached to a bank account as a debit card.
Feedback is a big part of how Millennials like to see brands interact with them, according to the study. In other words, if you ask for feedback and you get it, you should be willing to change your product or service based on those results. If you don’t, loyalty will drop among this generation because they’ll feel that their opinion isn’t important to you.
Another interesting tidbit: Millennials don’t want the brand’s message to be about you. They want it to be about them. How can your product make their lives easier? What features will matter to them? The introspective mindset of Millennials is an important factor in how brands should market to them. If you’re selling an electronic, spend less time talking about the specs and more time talking about the amount of time they will save using it.
Even though the results of this study are generalizations of an entire generation of people, they are a great benchmark for how to interact with Millennials as consumers. It may be comforting to know that you can keep loyal customers even though they may be young. You may just have to work a little harder for them.
