How do you reach this digital generation who does not know life before cell phones, laptops, IPads, Pods and everything digital? This segment of the market has now surpassed the baby boomers. These 18 – 34 somethings are 75.4 million strong. We at CMA are always challenged to figure out what makes this market segment motivated to buy. Their spending power was $600 billion strong in 2016.

This figure has got our retailers doing a double-take. While these choosy shoppers are a huge market share, they are also an enigma. As savvy digital gurus with high expectations of brand and low regard for advertising, how do we find a tactic that is going to make them tick?

Our agency has had numerous programs fail because we have not listened properly; millennials want to be heard….

73% of millennials report they purchase directly on their smartphone. This is no surprise…we tell our Brick and Mortar merchants that they need to compete by offering a consistent, responsive brand experience across desktop, mobile and tablets. ICSC has been telling us for years now that the Omni Channel campaign with touchpoints and push messaging is most important now. This group must move between platforms with ease. All merchants need to have pick-up locations setup for online purchases or make deliveries to local homes.

Over 98% of millennials are more likely to engage with a friend’s post and take advice from friends regarding purchases. So our merchants need to bridge this gap by having testimonials from local residents and social posts that look like they are “real,” not staged posts and not stock photos on websites, social platforms, etc. This is the way to a millennial’s heart. You must have relevant content and a special emphasis on user generated content.

84% of millennials report that user-generated content has at least some influence on what and how they buy. The millennial wants to have a voice versus being spoken to.

Over a third of the millennials like to flip through their phone and window shop, place items in the cart and then they forget to purchase the product. Brick and Mortar has a better chance to sell them direct in the store upon entry if the retailer will just learn to speak with, not at, them. We need to get into their mind and stop putting them down as spoiled, opinionated and overzealous for digital items. They, like all of us, still need to touch, smell, hear and taste products…way more fun than surfing the Internet.

Over 64% of millennials say companies should offer more ways to share opinions online. We at CMA tell our retailers to post comments on their social media sites and have an open forum to leave a comment on a website or social site that provides credibility for their brand/products. You need to open your business up to providing more ways for your fans to express themselves through social contests, user generated content, or customer care channels. Keep everything “real” with photos, testimonials, short clips/videos. Make it easy to pick-up the product and provide online incentives for stepping out their front door and into your stores.

Okay GURUS, keep it REAL, keep it FRESH and keep it SIMPLE; this will get you to the finish in the digital age of advertising.

To contact the gurus go to www.MarketingGuru.com.