Marketing to Millennials: Ensuring the Future of Your Business

Like it or not, Millennials will eventually become your bread and butter. As this generation grows up and enters the marketplace, your success will depend on them.

Whatever you may think of the group, there are two things you should know: They are connected and they are well educated.

So if you want your business to survive over the long-term, you have to learn how to communicate with them in order to get them to buy.

Consider these stats about Millennials:

• They were born between the early 1980s and late 1990s.
• They fall into the 18-34 demographic.
• There are approximately 75,000,000 Millennials.
• In about a decade, it’s estimated that this group will comprise 75 percent of the market globally.

Even more, what Millennials have to say about their lifestyle is significant for insurance agents. They rely heavily on their phones, are on social media (a lot), are influenced by word of mouth (even digital), and they use their smartphones routinely to make purchases.

So what does this mean for you, and the way you’ve been marketing?

What you’ve been doing probably isn’t working for Millennials.

They don’t turn to newspapers, TV commercials, or telemarketing to make buying decisions.

These are all forms of interruption marketing. And they don’t work.

And they really don’t want to hear your sales pitch, either.

So what should you do? Here are four tips to incorporate into your marketing strategy.

1.Build trust and be authentic

Be disingenuous with this generation and you won’t gain any sales from them  –  at all.

They want to do business with someone who is authentic and trustworthy.

They want to get to know you, so present an authentic message about your brand and be honest about what you can and can’t do.

2. Make technology your best friend

Millennials are always connected, so you need to build a digital presence.

Think about your digital brand as your “storefront.” What will this group be greeted with when they land on your website? Social media profiles? Blog?

If they can’t find what they need from these, they will simply move on. So make it great!

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3. Offer value

All of your accomplishments are wonderful, but in truth, Millennials don’t want to hear about it. They are aptly named the “me generation” because of this.

So don’t think about how to market your independent agency based on what you’ve done; market it based on how you can help solve a Millennial’s problem.

Let them in on a few secrets and share information.

If you don’t, someone else will  –  and that’s where they’ll go.

4. Have a purpose

If you come away from this article with one thing, it should this: Millennials want to work with a company that stands for something.

If you’re green.

If you give back to the community.

If you educate.

These are qualities that will attract them.

For example, if you’re an insurance agency that gives back to a community organization that serves the homeless, Millennials will likely choose to work with you over the agency that doesn’t have a purpose.

Marketing to Millennials requires a shift in thinking and how you do business. But it’s not impossible. Remember to build trust and be authentic, make technology your friend, offer value and have a purpose. Now, go and text a Millennial. They'll like that!