Let’s cut right to the chase. Marketing can be difficult as a small business. Your budget may be small, you may not have a very large target audience yet, and you are looking for every way possible to build your brand. Then you read somewhere, that marketing to gen z and millennials can seriously open up your target audience.
But exactly how do you market to generation z and millennials in a way that they understand?
This article is going to help you with that very question.
Today we are going to discuss three major factors that will improve your ability to market to younger consumers and improve your reputation and brand relationship with younger consumers, specifically generation z and millennials.
So let’s not waste any time, let’s get started.
What is a Gen Z Or Millennial Exactly?
Before we jump into the 3 core marketing strategies let’s just discuss our younger audience for a second. Let’s get to know them a little.
Millennials are people born between 1980 and 1994, the youngest millennial today would be 26 and the oldest is 40 years old. For generation z they are born between 1995 and 2012. The youngest is 8 and the oldest is 25 years of age.
They are technology-driven and eat, sleep and breathe it. They are always on their smartphones and studies show that over 54% of them shop online. This clearly points out that conventional marketing strategies must be left behind to specifically target this group of younger consumers.
In any case, let’s see some of the best approaches to use when marketing to gen z and millennials.
But There Website Made My Jaw Drop
We mentioned earlier that this group of consumers are techies, they do mostly all there shopping online. And let’s face it, the first impression is made in a millisecond in today’s eCommerce arena.
If your website is not well kept, or easy to use you’re missing out on potential customers. And that’s triple time if you don’t have a website!
A millennial will leave your website in less than 3 seconds if it’s not appealing to the eye, easy to navigate and not professional. So the first thing you need is a professional looking website.
Why is this important?
In short… A recent study revealed that after a younger consumer reads a review about a company they’re interested in they’ll head over to the website. So having a great google listing is great but it’s just as important to have a professional website that builds trust. And is optimized for speed with great user experience. This is how you market to a gen z and millennial.
It’s also worth mentioning that in 2019 – 51% of young people found local businesses on a regular basis by some sort of online platform.
Here is a shortlist of what gen z and millennial consumers found unpleasant about websites and what caused them not to do business with the local business:
- The content was of poor quality
- There was no available contact form, no phone number or contact information.
- No pricing details about the services provided.
- Website was slow
If your site is slow you are losing customers left and right, you can have the best SEO strategy but with a slow site, your Google ranking will drop like a rock in the ocean.
Easy To Find Information
Make your name, phone number and address simple and easy to find. Place it in the footer if you need to, that is a common convention on modern sites today.
You Need to Know your Audience
Ask yourself :
- How long do they stay on certain pages?
- What pages do they exit my website?
- What pages do they most often gravitate to? (then how long did they stay).
Build an online presence
If you don’t have social media accounts, consider setting some up, but be warned. Studies show that if they are not up to date with current content, it can scare off younger consumers. With that said, having a social media presence creates interaction and that means shares, likes and eventually more business.
It’s Time To Get More Reviews
Online reviews can increase your marketing with gen z and millennials almost overnight, a recent study shows more than half of 18 – 34-year-olds read online reviews before making the decision to buy.
And what’s even more astonishing is 81% trust online reviews and feel they are equivalent to a personal recommendation!
Portside Marketing creates stunning websites as well as helps small businesses build their brand awareness online. Helping you strategize and set your business up with online review platforms is a piece of cake.
Did you know the average consumer reads up to 10 reviews before trusting a local business?
This means your consumers need a place to publish their reviews.
Make your website compatible for leaving reviews. If you have WordPress they have plugins for that (Portside can help with that as well).
Ask Customers to Leave Reviews
One of the best ways to get reviews is to ask, add the request on your website, put it into your content. Get them to leave it right while they are there so it’s fresh in their mind. Reviews are essential to getting gen z and millennials to trust your brand.
Build Organic Traffic
Search engine optimization is crucial for being located on google and any other search engine. Research shows that 64% of young consumers use their smartphones to search for local businesses on the internet, meaning that if your on-page SEO is not tip-top your probably not getting found.
If you want to market to gen z and millennials you need to market in a way they prefer, and they prefer to search for things with a search engine, it’s easy and quick. And it’s the first place they look when shopping for anything.
Here is a quick list of how to improve your SERPs:
- Increase your organic backlinks
- Increase your website load time
- Improve your On-page SEO
If you’re a local business marketing, also try improving your GMB (Google My Business) listing by making sure it’s completely optimized. Also, try adding:
- Photos
- Videos, and
- A Q & A section
Google increases your rankings the more useful, exciting and relevant your listing is. But remember gen z, millennials and google prefer useful over everything else.
Summary and Next Steps
So what have we learned?
In order to market to gen z and millennials, you must have a
- Professional Website, that’s user friendly, fast and is designed well.
- Place for reviews, because online reviews of your business are essential to market to gen z and millenials
- SEO strategy so traffic finds you, that’s how young consumers find your business