With over 72.1 million millennials in the United States alone, they’re the largest living generation. And they’re willing to invest in brands that care about building lasting relationships and spend money on the brands they love. In 2020 in the United States, the spending power of millennials was sitting at approximately $2.5 trillion per annum.
Who Are Millennials?
Millennials are individuals born between 1981 and 1996, and are a powerful marketing demographic. Currently, millennials are between 28 and 44 years old.
There’s no denying that the buying habits of Millennials are very different from those of the generations that preceded them. Millennials shop more online than previous generations, and they depend on feedback from other consumers during the buying process. Also, their preferred way of receiving product-related information is by email. After all, it was one of the first digital data hubs.
Millennial Consumer Behavior and The Role of Email
Millennials have seen the rise of the internet and many other social media platforms. A young, socially active, and tech-savvy generation, Millennials have almost transitioned from a manual era to a technological era.
Surrounding themselves with smartphones, high internet penetration, and social media platforms, these digital leaders are more likely to purchase from brands that have developed clear values over time, are inclusive, and host a strong online community. And with IOS 15 coming into the picture, the impact of iOS 15 on email marketing cannot be ignored.
Having said this, millennials still crave a personalized experience. They want to know that brands care and that their needs are taken seriously. Other forms of marketing in the digital space lack this, however, emails are capable of bridging the gap and meeting this desire.
Email marketing offers a distinct advantage. It’s often seen as the most effective way for brands to attract millennials. An email can influence the buying decisions of Millennials. It’s one of the best marketing tools for millennials and millennials prefer email.
And knowing how to connect with millennials or create content for millennials is possibly the most important learning for everyone. When you understand how to create content for millennials, nothing can stop you.
Email Marketing for Millennials
Here are some things you should understand about millennials when it comes to email marketing:
- Millennials prefer mail for work: A surprising third of millennials prefer email for business communication over phone calls, instant messaging, and video calls.
- This generation is obsessed: Millennials, surprisingly, are obsessed with email. More than half of millennials between the ages of 18 and 24 check their email while still in bed in the morning, and 43 percent of millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 do the same. Millennials are also the least likely not to check their email until they arrive at the office.
- Email can be annoying: Millennials are a tech-savvy generation, so we know things like analytics and data tracking happen to us when we browse online. Getting irrelevant and useless content from a brand is a trigger they aren’t paying attention to. It’s the most annoying thing about emails, almost twice as annoying when you get the name wrong.
- Email is not a magic bullet: Less than a third of all marketing emails are opened by millennials. While email is an incredibly powerful tool, it’s not just a checkbox in your marketing strategy. To use email effectively, brands need to make sure the content is useful and relevant.
- More millennials check their email on desktop than on mobile: Just over half of millennials say their computer is the primary device for checking email, with smartphones in less than half. This trend seems to come back to the conversation about work-life balance. Mobile is a great way to check email, but more and more people prefer to deal with and respond to an email from their computers.
7 Tips for Engaging Millennials Through Email Marketing
Email marketing works, it’s that simple. Here are seven millennial email marketing tips to reach the younger generation:
- Optimize your messaging for mobile devices – 59% of millennials check their email on their phone. If your messages aren’t mobile-friendly, you’ll alienate a large chunk of your audience, and you’ll likely never be successful with email marketing.
- Master the art of subject lines – The subject lines of your emails are extremely important, no matter who you are promoting. But when it comes to younger demographics, the subject is actually more important. This is because millennials are constantly bombarded with content. 66.2% of millennials receive up to 50 emails per day. Young people are inundated with advertisements, blog posts, YouTube videos, and digital communications, all vying for their attention. If the subject line of your email does not grab their attention and arouse their curiosity, your message will be deleted in the blink of an eye.
- Regularly share the values and convictions of the company – When it comes to millennial email habits as well as partnering with brands, the younger generation is not just looking for cheap deals on premium products. They also want to support brands that match their personal values and beliefs about the world. Once you have identified your brand values, share them!
- Create an attractive customer loyalty program – Customer loyalty programs are great – every brand should have one. Seriously, studies show that 52% of consumers will choose the brands they earn rewards/points with. If we dig deeper, we find that 76% of millennials say a high-quality loyalty program will increase the frequency of buying with a brand. In other words, your brand loyalty program can be a great source of additional income!
- Consider segmentation – Modern shoppers want personalized exchanges with the brands they support. So don’t even think about sending a generic email to all your subscribers at once. Instead, segment your subscriber list into like-minded groups so you can send each of them personalized offers and the content they love. Don’t worry, it’s not as hard as it sounds…
- Always have something useful to say – Every message you send should have a purpose. This is email marketing 101, but also helpful tips if you’re looking for millennials. As mentioned above, millennials consume content almost constantly. As a result, they naturally shut down everything that does not directly interest them or that they find irrelevant to their current life situation. To use email marketing successfully, you ONLY need to reach them with relevant messages that contain a lot of value.
- Experiment with different strategies – Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of email content and presentation approaches. For example, if you always send plain text emails, you can use eye-catching templates and include beautiful images in your next campaign. Or go one step further and test interactive content. You know what we’re talking about: emails inviting subscribers to play with an interactive menu.
The Power of The Millennial Generation Is Too Big to Ignore
So, does email marketing work for Millennials? And more importantly, can marketers leverage this to take their brands to the next level? Well, the answer is fairly simple: yes.
Given the buying power of millennials and the fact that they still believe in the power of email, a very obvious observation can be made: email marketing is the key to unlocking – and continuing to nurture – long-term relationships with millennials. By mastering the art of email marketing, you can convert millennials into loyal brand advocates.