How to Build and Retain Business Relationships With Millennial Customers

Millennials (18-29 years old), or the “always connected generation,” are 80 million strong. Their estimated spending is $600 billion and they are responsible for roughly 21 percent of consumer discretionary power—certainly substantial enough to warrant marketing attention from anyone dedicated to being successful.

For those who want to tap into this Millennial potential, there are four keys to building and retaining those customers: authenticity, digital messages, multi-channel marketing, and incentives and rewards.

1.    Authenticity

Authenticity will sell more than ads.

In a study held by the communications and public relations firm of Cohn & Wolfe, consumers consider a brand to be authentic when the company delivers on what it promises, protects consumer data, respects privacy, and interacts with their customers with transparency and integrity.

A brand’s sales pitch is of little to no importance to Millennials. They are concerned with the brand’s actions, realized quality, and community awareness. These traits can be referred to in a broader category deemed “Customer Service/Relations.”

2.    Digital messages

Millennials respond well to social media messages and marketing. The 62 percent of Millennials that won’t be inspired by a simple TV commercial are more likely to become loyal customers if a brand engages them on social media. A brand’s social media presence has become so important that we even have awards for the most buzz-worthy. In fact, the Shorty Awards is in its eighth year, and it’s only growing.

The Shorty Awards celebrates brands and people who have gone above and beyond to convey excellent content using social media. Platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram, Periscope, Facebook Video, and YouTube are being used to promote more than products or services; they are new formats that allow brands and people to connect, communicate, interact, and share.

3.    Multi-channel marketing

It isn’t good enough to have a presence on one or two social media platforms. There may be popular channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, but great marketing occurs on as many social media channels as is necessary to reach the maximum potential target audience. Multi-channel loyalty works in the same way. Offering more than one way to build loyalty will draw a larger, more loyal audience.

Just as a broker suggests diversifying a financial portfolio, so should a brand diversify its marketing presence. Millennials are the most brand loyal generation; Elite Daily and Crowdtwist released a report revealing 50.5 percent Millennials claim extreme loyalty to their brands. When brands emerge on multiple social media platforms, they increase their visibility to the public. If the brand is authentic, people will take notice. Once a following begins, more people will flock to it and stand by that brand as “their” brand.

Many of the decisions we make are influenced by the people around us. Audiences will trust a brand that has been vouched for by family and friends, thus creating an online word-of-mouth marketing campaign that promotes itself. Multi-channel loyalty breeds a stronger connection with consumers, who in turn have a greater incentive to involve everyone in their social circle.

4.    Incentives and rewards

Millennials want more from their brand’s incentives and rewards as well. They want something that is shareable! When a brand offers an included and desired experience, it naturally generates organic exposure necessary to the social media platforms.

Brand loyalty relies on total brand equity—the brand represents a promise to customers and employees. Offering a strong positive experience to all parties involved directly results in the advancement of growth goals. Rewards should be transparent and simple to use to maintain loyalty.

Building and retaining loyalty with Millennials does not need to be difficult. It calls on brands to be personally available to their customers as well as define themselves through interaction in lieu of general claims.

It may be difficult to keep up with every new emerging platform, so focus on the platforms mostly used by your target audience. Millennials want to interact and create a story, not just make a purchase. So, give them an emotional connection, a chance to share, and in return, they will be loyal, share with their social circles, and remember the positive experience they were given.