Starting Point

You want to be on that wave to gain and grow with the oncoming onslaught that is the Millennial coming of age – Keep coming back!

Hour Two At The Conference Table 12.30.08

With the foundational information, the answers to the questions that were posed below/before you are ready to ask the ever-important question; Are the Millennials our Target Market, or can they be?

I am not a proponent to go hairy-scary towards this larger, more money to spend, longer lasting target market. If it doesn’t make sense for your business – if you are in industrial products or services, or manufacture geriatric products this isn’t for you or your business. Don’t kill the cat if what you have is just for cats. However, you have to be wise to not only what is happening now with your clientele, but be able to spot the trends for your future viability.

The Major Trend is Here! Decide today, if you can retool the product; add another line of products; change the packaging, messaging or mediums in which you send out your communications. Don’t hesitate, procrastination will give your competition, those who do what you do, to get into those who will be THEIR customers for the next 50 years.

Ok, your set, you’ve loosened up, stretched and are ready to get started. You and your executive team have decided that you can at least a line that targets the Millennials. But how? As we said in Hour One, you have to understand who they are.

“Ok, so who are they?”

Excerpts from Marketing to Millennials – The Hacker Mentality Written By Yours Truly

“… In pursuit of the extensive targeting and focus I have had in my Marketing career; in getting into the identification of the Millennial the products and services I have represented, I’ve dissected nearly all the recent studies that have been performed on this subject, mostly of those businesses who have needed to use the age group of 26 years of age or younger in their workforce.

In these studies and reports, this group has been called apathetic, shiftless, lazy, non-loyal, easily distracted. They have been described as coddled, sheltered from reality, disconnected from the nature of the world. Their ways are high-churn, high turnover, shortened attention span of the ever changing in requirements and expectations. The ‘Metrosexual’ of an image driven group that will only care about their own opinion and how high they can score on “World of Warcraft” while living in their ‘apartment’ in their parents’ basement.

Point blank: Their environment and culture have predisposed them to a particular set of assumptions and a unique way of comprehending their surroundings. Is this of any surprise to any business owner out there? Not only for those who you have had hired and tried to train, but looking into the time from which the Millennials come?

Take into effect in which the world they were born into where change is constant and stability is unnatural. The continual advancements in Technology, and Social Opinions, the “Upward Mobility” culture they were immersed in, has resulted in peculiar thought processes and behavior patterns that no other generation before has been exposed.

It is generally accepted that those included in the Millennial Generation have been born after 1982, the oldest of which are inching up on to 27 years of age. They have lived in a world of continuous changing of speeds, upgrading of technology, addition of requirements for entry, building of the economy, construction of public buildings etc.

This is the first generation that did not know what it was like to not have multiple electronic devices in their home. Blender, toaster, T.V. vs. the Nintendo, the Desktop Computer and Cable box. It is as natural to them to have had access growing up to a computer of some sort than it was in times past to have comic books, football cards, and baby-dolls to play with. (This fact plays a huge part of the ‘what’ “why” and “how” businesses can connect with the Revolutionizing Demographic – discussed later and in the following chapters.)”

To get more you will need to await with abated breath with the rest of them as the editor goes through the copy.

At The Conference Table 12.17.08

You have been in business for some time, have a product that has sold well and continues to be a good seller. — You have been in business for 3 generations, the product lines and services are plenty, but there is a end in sight that your target market will start to dwindle because the marketplace is changing their buying habits. — You have been in business but have become stale in your approach to those you are attracting to your business. — You have just opened your doors and are looking to gain the right customers to come in your doors.

Whatever your circumstance or situation, it doesn’t matter which place you find your business in, if you have your doors open and are looking for more clientele; those that are loyal, match your profit thresholds, and can become a champion for your business. This is especially relevant for a retail type of business.

So there you are, at the conference table with those who run or help run your business. The questions you need to ask yourself the W’s and the H.

Who is our customer? A – what buying traits have we seen with them? B – what type of customer do we want? C – who is our ideal customer? D – what makes them that (requirements)? E – what are the secondary customers? F – what characteristics make up our customer (demographics)?

>>>> Why are these important? You need to know who are keeping your doors open, so you know how you can at least keep them coming through the door. But perhaps there are more just like them, more similar to them. Or on the flip side perhaps there aren’t, and you need to target others that might be a larger group.

You may have the most revolutionizing product or service to offer, but if it only appeals to a handful of people… then instead of a business out of it, make it a birthday present to those few. The Bigger the numbers in the pool to draw from the more opportunities for them to buy what you offer, just common sense.

Where are they? A -where do they most frequent? B – where do they go? C – what do they identify with? D – where do they spend their leisure time? E – who do they identify with? F – what inclinations have they shown in their buying habits?

>>>> Why are these important? Whether it’s in real time or online, it’s all about location, location, location. Be where your clientele are, or go where they frequent, make it as physically and psychologically easy to find you.

Which mediums do they most utilize? A – where do they want to see the business? B – where have they become acquainted with the business? C – what formats have they seen our information?

>>>> Why are these important? Have to know how to get your messaging to those you are doing business, or hope to do business with. The type of vehicle your communications take can make the difference in the bottom line of your business.

How do we get to them more frequently? How do we create that loyalty? That champion for our business? How do we get them to identify with our products and services? Do we have anything that is a frequent purchase type of thing? Do we have a referral system? Do we make it easy to do business with us?

>>>> Why are these questions important? This is where the rubber hits the road; this is where theory hits application, and where the numbers projected turn into actualized dollars. This is when you can get from in the red and into the black.

There are the questions any business, those who are targeting whoever for business and profits need to have the answers to. To be able to have this knowledge backed up thru the gathered data with actual numbers. You will be able to better steer your business to the profit centers that never stay in the same place over the life of a business.