Target Millennials Effectively in Your Email Marketing February 19, 2019, | Posted by Samantha

The Millennial generation has become a top marketing priority for most marketing teams, as Boomers and Generation X both begin to age out of the peaks of their spending power. The generation born between 1980 and 2000 represents an increasingly important demographic, as they settle down and begin to gain a better control over financial power--but even with that being the case, for many marketers, Millennials remain something of an enigma. When it comes to email marketing, Site Impact has always been proud of our knowledge of the different demographic groups and what appeals most to each one--so today we’re going to discuss how to make your efforts more effective for the Millennial audience.

Adapt to mobile-first or be left behind

The first thing to understand about email marketing when it comes to the Millennial generation is that the overwhelming majority of Millennial email subscribers access their emails either primarily or almost entirely on their personal devices--smartphones or tablets--compared to older generations. While email marketing has traditionally been a desktop medium, brands that want to continue to court Millennials will have to make sure that their messages render properly and come across in the best possible way on mobile. There is nothing that will tank a marketing effort more readily than broken links and images, or badly formatted layouts that look ugly on a phone screen--at least in regards to those prospects who are only ever going to see them on mobile. With the rise of mobile email, many tools have become available for brands of all sizes--so there is no excuse for sticking with desktop-ready email formats alone.

Learn which incentives are most likely to work

Generationally, what works to spur conversion is going to be different--that’s just a basic fact of marketing. In order to get the highest possible conversion rates from Millennial consumers, you will have to know what appeals most to them. One good way to look into this question is via cart abandon emails; these are generally the most lucrative type of emails that a retailer can send, with high click-through rates and strong conversions--in some cases even spurring recipients to spend more than they had originally intended to in their previously-abandoned virtual carts. Millennials require a bit of a nudge compared to other demographics, even if they are more likely to convert; the best options for ensuring conversions on abandoned carts are % off offers, as opposed to free shipping or other low-value extras. Millennials commonly abandon carts due to the long term psychology of limited finances--and many in the generational cohort still struggle with a lowered financial circumstances compared to their parents. Offering a % off to complete the transaction is a great incentive.

There are more tricks and tactics to appealing to Millennial consumers, but these are the most important single aspects to ensure effective marketing efforts. Millennials are also concerned with privacy, so providing a robust and accessible system for them to opt-in, opt-out, and control the use of their data is going to make a strong difference as well. Contact Site Impact to learn how we can help you cater all of your marketing efforts to each demographic you want to approach to get the best possible results every time.