Millennials

Millennials, Generation Y, Generation Me, Boomerangs: they have many names and they are among us. Call them what you want but never ever ignore them, if you want to ensure a long life for your business. It is important to understand how to adapt your strategy to their lifestyle and rules: if your customers are not millennials today, they soon will be. Very soon. Play their game and improve your customer experience, starting with mobile.

There are lots of myths and misconceptions about millennials and how they see themselves and the world around them. Analysts say they are lazy and entitled; they only care about money and success. True or false, you need to design and adapt customer experience to how the so-called boomerangs think and act. In fact, you must love them.

Why? Because researches show that those born between 1980 and 2000 are projected to have at least three times the buying power of baby boomers (also known as the children of the World War II). That means more than 200 billion dollars in annual spending just in the U.S. Money that millennials will gladly deliver to brands and products they consider truly innovative.

Truth is, price is not that important anymore. Surely it is not the main feature they look for while in the purchase process. Born and grown-up in a digital environment shaped by smartphones and disruptive devices (Apple Watch anyone?), accustomed to E-Commerce and mobile payments, they feel competent with technology, they are always up-to-date on the latest trends and ultimately give a higher value to innovation, creativity and uniqueness.

Plus, they consider the Internet - and social media above all - as a primary source of knowledge and opinion. You should never underestimate the social factor and the importance of community dynamics: millennials are quick to praise brands/products on social networks, but also very quick to criticize. And to abandon you after a bad experience, when they can’t have what they need, when they need it, easy and fast.

whoarethemillennials

(Image Source: Pew Research - Wikipedia)

Here are 5 steps you should take into account to improve customer experience for the demanding clients of the Generation Y (waiting for the next in line: Generation Z):

FOCUS ON THEIR GOALS

In the Age of the Customer, it's not so very important what's your business goal. Even more with millennials, the key to succeed and reach the best results is to put customers at the core of your strategy, and work to realize their goals, not yours.

CRAFT A COMPLETE EXPERIENCE

With younger customers, the experience is way more important than the product itself. The fulfillment of their needs and desires passes through a complete journey, engaging and compelling across all touch points (and mobile-first).

BUILD A COMMUNITY

If there's something millennials would never live without, that is social networks. To engage with them on a deeper level, encourage customers to share their thoughts and connect with you using all channels. Be their primary reference and listen before talking.

SUPPORT PERSONALIZATION

There is a reason if millennials are also know as 'Generation Me'. It might be a myth that they are selfish, but they surely are self-confident and self-reliant. Support individuality through Me-Commerce, in the name of context-aware content and personalization.

SHARE AND PLAY

The power of games as business tools is now a fact. Customer retention and loyalty are direct consequence of your ability to engage them in a two-way conversation. Gamification is perfect to share your brand values and goals with unintrusive and compelling dynamics of objectives and reward.

Companies in the consumer products, retail and fashion, luxury & beauty industries will face - more than any other brand - the effects of this customer revolution. In this context, it's important that you embrace this demanding generation and reconsider how you build your digital experience and customer journey map to fulfill the millennial needs and wants.

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To help you ensure a strategic advantage to your organization, learn about the DCX 7-Steps Checklist crafted by Neosperience, with requirements and insights for a successful digital transformation.