Reaching the Millennial Customer

The Millennial Market Is

  • Anyone born from 1982 through early 2000s
  • 83.1 million people, ¼ of the US population (1)
  • Spending nearly $600 billion/year (2)
  • Expected to grow in their purchase power in the next decade. Currently much of this group is delaying big purchases like homes, paying off college debts and in early stages of their career.

How and When Millennials Connect

  • Increasingly using mobile devices & tablets
  • Increasingly have multiple email addresses
  • 73% prefer brands to contact them via email, versus other communication methods (4)
  • Over 50% rely on email for online purchases
  • 88% check email on their phones (3)
  • 44% of Millennials read email right after turning off the alarm clock (4)
  • 95 percent or more of Millennials want their brands to court them actively… coupons sent via email or mailed to their homes will have the most influence (2)
  • Millennials check email more than any other age group (5)

What this Tells Businesses and Marketers about Reaching Millennial Customers

  • Look to email, to continue as your strongest engagement and ROI channel. Texting, push notifications, social ads or other trending channels are still less preferred and should be used to supplement and support, not replace your email campaigns.
  • Optimize, optimize, optimize for mobile and tablets.
  • Learn as much about your contacts as you can. If they opt in with multiple addresses, don’t merge them. Instead learn about what messages they read at each account and personalize.
  • Use Email preference centers.
  • Split test for best send times. Don’t assume old standards for best send days and times hold true.
  • Test extending your offer periods to engage those who flag messages and read them later.

Sources:

(1)       US Census
(2)       Accenture
(3)       Adobe
(4)       Adestra Study
(5)       Harvard Business Review