Patrick Sitkins
Millenials represent a unique generation and specific challenges when it comes to marketing financial services. Many label this group of young adults as irresponsible, especially when it comes to professional financial services. So how do you get the attention of an entire demographic of people who don’t seem to care about planning for the future? The answer is to truly understand what motivates millenials to spend money and how they evaluate companies.
Millenials Aren’t Reckless. They Are Mostly Broke.
This is the first generation to make less than their parents. Many of them are loaded down with student loan debt from earning degrees that didn’t help them find high paying jobs. They tend to be highly educated and underemployed because of a difficult job market. This means the common assumption millenials are simply wasting their money on frivolous items doesn’t hold true. In most cases, it is more accurate to say they don’t have the amount of discretionary spending money previous generations enjoyed.
Millenials Are Savvy Shoppers.
Instead of buying into brand imaging, millenials look for value. They aren’t nearly as susceptible to the kind of advertising trying to evoke an image of wealth and luxury. Instead, they are looking for a good value and transparent brands that seem genuine and are looking to do some good in the world. They respond well to companies tied to a cause. If they can’t make a big difference in the world with their own personal wealth, then they become much more conscious about the effects of their spending power and become more discerning about where they invest their money. This tends to be especially true of millenials who have their own children.
Millenials Are More Fearful About Large Purchases.
Not only did millenials enter a dismal job market after college, they also watched their own parents get laid off, lose homes to foreclosure and drain retirement accounts. They are all too familiar with financial insecurity, which makes them hyper-cautious when it comes to buying cars, mortgaging a home or taking on other significant debt. The result is they are in a sort of financial holding pattern that doesn’t involve a whole lot of long-term planning or use of professional finance tools.
How To Market To Millenials.
First and foremost, you have to provide credible information. Millenials aren’t going to respond to sale pitches that only focus on the benefits without acknowledging or discussing risks. You have to earn their trust by offering reliable, credible and trustworthy content that allows them to make an informed decision. They look to see if you genuinely have their best interest in mind or if their natural skepticism when it comes to all things financial is well founded. Don’t try to obfuscate information. Millenials will see right through your tactics and you will lose a potential client.
Secondly, provide real solutions easily applied to their lives. They aren’t interested in taking risks or spending money. They want something that will makes their lives easier right now, not years down the road. Once you improve the now, they will be more open to planning for the future.
Making your professional finance services attractive to a fiscally conservative generation who can be spendthrifts to the point where they don’t plan for the future, means recognizing their fears and challenges. They don’t have a lot of money to spend and they don’t necessarily trust financial markets. It is up to you to offer significant and valuable solutions in order to win them over, then help them plan their future.
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