What does the 'Digital Generation' Expect from Businesses?

BY ADAM M. BAKHASH

SINCE MILLENNIALS NOW SURPASS the baby boomers as the nation’s largest age group in the workforce, they are redefining society in profound ways. They’re also reshaping markets.

As a result, businesses need to consider new ways to approach this segment of the population with their sales, marketing, and advertising efforts.

To start, think of how the world has changed during the lifetime of the millennials. These are the children of astonishing advances in technology. Millennials are used to learning and communicating efficiently. As a result of “having the world at their fingertips,” millennials have high expectations for qualities like convenience and enhanced communication.

Businesses need to think seriously about how to deliver customer service to these convenience customers, particularly as they begin to take on more leadership roles and further shape our society.

So how does this apply to you and your business, and what can you do to adapt?

Create consistency and convenience

In the age of Amazon where layers of algorithms are already calculating what products best suit a buyer’s lifestyle or when they’re likely to buy a product again, it’s important to bring consistency and convenience to your customer service experience. Remove all unnecessary hurdles from service and sales to make the experience constantly convenient. This can be as simple as adding services like an electronic signature to your forms, so a customer or prospect doesn’t have to go through the trouble of downloading, printing, signing, and then scanning back or mailing documents to you.

There are many tools and apps out there for every type of business that can be easily integrated into the customer experience. The goal is to make the experience scalable and repeatable through different markets and products.

Display transparency and communication

Businesses of all sizes can take advantage of the opportunity in front of them, which is marketing to millennials—who will outspend baby boomers before long.

Digital marketing has vastly expanded the sales network for companies that have adopted the style of the “social native” in which content is created by users and represented to new and existing consumers. Many consumers are taking away a layer of a once-coveted advertiser by spending their time letting other consumers know their true feelings on a product with reviews and original content, so offer plenty of opportunities for customers to contribute user-generated content on your social media channels.

Millennial consumers crave targeted messages that fit their lifestyles and ideologies, so create a connection that then creates loyalty to your brand. They need to trust in your brand to be loyal to it. Simply put, say what you mean and mean what you say. By its nature, clarity builds trust. I’ve found that having that reliable and transparent brand message, combined with a strong social media presence, can make all the difference in reaching this large market with strong lifetime value.

Stay ahead of the curve

Naturally, millennials probably aren’t impressed by the way companies such as Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, and Uber have redesigned the way people buy, sell, and consume. This type of discovery-based shopping, social purchasing, and DIY ethos is all they know—it’s not unique. However, those over 45 are often simply amazed by it. But at the same time, they may be struggling to enjoy the new reality we live in while also getting frustrated by it.

Over time, I believe we will see a vast majority of businesses change direction to adhere to the new way consumers buy, trade, and share ideas. This will likely be led by discovery-based (browsing-oriented) buying and social shopping, frictionless and convenient applications, and transparent communication directed to consumers, particularly those in the millennial generation and beyond.

Adam M. Bakhash is a senior wealth advisor with Wilmington Trust, a subsidiary of M&T Bank.