If we’re talking about reaching out to the Millennial audience, every marketer must know how challenging it is to conduct an email marketing campaign. There’s a rumor that this younger generation has wholly abandoned email and moved on to other online communication services.
However, a recent study has come up with a surprising counterpoint. About 62% of Millennials prefer email as their go-to channel to receive brand communication and around 64% of them feel a more personal connection when getting an email.
This data indicates that email marketing is still relevant to Millennials despite any label attached to them. But, what makes a Millennial audience so endearing that marketers need to keep with them?
First off, Millennials perceive information differently. They are avid Internet users with knowledge in hand. Simply put, they know what they consume and what the other party wants them to do. Therefore, it isn’t easy to persuade this particular younger generation as they need to know whether one can benefit them.
To understand a winning email marketing strategy for Millennials, you must get a clear grasp of their characteristics online. It’s an essential part as you’ll know how they react on the Internet.
The Millennials’ Characteristics on The Internet
1. Keen Blog Readers
Whether it’s a blog or another type of textual information, Millennials still depend on this type of information before making a choice. A blog contains useful information that no other platform can do the same.
Suppose a brand spends on social media ads to reach out to a wider audience. Millennials won’t take it immediately, especially if it’s a new brand they don’t know. They will look for more in-depth information through a WordPress blog before initiating the purchase.
This is the reason why Millennials can’t get fooled easily. They need to know the context completely and judge you by the information spreading online.
2. Rely on Social Proof
Social proof is a vital part of every marketing campaign as it gives real testimonials from past clients. This approach has successfully acquired more customers for decades. Millennials are no exception to this strategy.
They rely heavily on social proof to get a deeper understanding of a brand. This scheme is exceptionally unique as the past customers can say whatever their experience is from one brand.
Like with Gen Z, if you’re going to convince these Millennials, the best take is to incorporate social proof by collecting what your customers have said.
3. Have High Curiosity
Millennials tend to have a high curiosity about something they don’t know. You can see the evidence by looking at the trend. The reason being is that Millennials create the movement themselves by continuously surfing for more information on the Internet. It results in massive searches within a short period of time.
However, this characteristic has its flaws too. Having a high curiosity sometimes leads to quick boredom as this younger generation tends to rely more on instant gratification.
On the other hand, marketers can benefit from this trait by creating a useful and unique campaign to get the Millennials’ attention. The rest of it will be much easier.
4. Hate Salesy Campaigns
It’s a bit scandalous to say that everyone hates sales campaigns. In fact, most people don’t mind it at all unless it gets pushy.
Millennials hate being forced to do something they don’t want. An over salesy campaign is not only impractical but also leaves a wrong impression for the brand itself. That’s why the current marketing strategy doesn’t invest in this approach anymore.
Strategy to Win Over the Younger Generation Audience
Image source: Bluecore
Finally, after you understand the Millennials’ behavior on the Internet, it’s time to apply these strategies for your email marketing. Remember, over half a percent of Millennials still consider email as their communication tool. Therefore, by incorporating the following methods, you’ll win them in an instant.
1. Personalize Your Email Marketing Campaigns
About 64% of Millennials consider email as personal communication between their colleagues. They still deem it a private way to connect with them.
However, as private as it can be, Millennials do spread their email heavily on the Internet. The most prominent reason would be the need to register a social media account, making it easy for marketers to get in touch with them.
You can benefit from this situation by personalizing your email marketing for the sake of a successful campaign. Personalized email such as calling their first name or setting up a particular message can start a deeper relationship with them in the long run.
2. Implement The Right Tones
Email marketing was experiencing a thriving point in the past years. The reason being was that most of it were written in a monotonous and formal tone— the very reason why Millennials avoided this kind of email in their inbox.
Understanding our audience must come up with the knowledge of what thoughtful approach you’re implementing. Millennials can easily get irritated with your email if it doesn’t deliver the useful information they seek.
Write your email copy as if you’re having two-way communication with them. It signifies your presence as a brand rather than a simple copy and pastes that sounds like a bot.
3. Optimize Mobile-Friendly Copy
First off, smartphones are the new desktops. Everyone can surf the Internet anytime, anywhere. It’s then not surprising when most traffic is derived from mobile phones.
Moreover, Millennials share a significant number to overall mobile usage as it’s more simple. They won’t bother setting up their desktop only to check the upcoming email. It’s a bit old-fashioned, isn’t it?
If you want to polish your email marketing strategy, you must take into account how your copy will look in the mobile version. It’s useless when your email looks good on the desktop but a mess on its counterpart. Therefore, it’s crucial to optimize your copy before blasting it forward.
4. Incorporate Interactive Content
Millennials are often linked to a short retention span. They tend to get curious but also get bored in the next second. It’s something unavoidable even for marketers to handle.
However, you can find a solution by creating a compelling copy. For instance, creating interactive content in your email marketing can increase engagement. It then eventually leads to a higher retention rate. One step closer to your marketing goals.
You can include images, infographics, and explainer videos to capture their attention. By incorporating interactive content, you directly ask the Millennials to engage with your copy. They won’t be forced to read all the text, which is kind of infuriating to them. This way, it’s a win-win situation.
5. Integrate with Social Media
Social media has become a staple of the Internet right now. You can never get rid of social media in this day and age. But it’s great news for you to promote your product as it’s part of the digital marketing strategy.
Your email marketing campaign should not only be compelling but also persuasive at the same time. Using the right tones, including interactive content, and making your email sound more personalized aren’t exactly enough to retain Millennial readers.
You need an integration at the end of your copy that urges the audience to check it out immediately. But no, it’s not about a call-to-action (CTA). It’s more like a pipeline to your official account that represents your brand well: social media.
The businesses’ social media is a perfect place for branding purposes. If your readers know well your kind of punch line CTA, they most likely ignore it. But that’s not the case with social media. The Millennials are avid social media users. They are more interested in how your brands look on their phone rather than clicking a link that lands on your landing page.
6. Get Straight to The Point
Stop with the wordy and irrelevant text on your copy. First, it doesn’t look convincing at a glance, and second, it leaves your readers bored. It’s important to include many key features you want to deliver in your email marketing, but in the end, it doesn’t showcase the most crucial information.
Remember, Millennials are prone to boredom. They prefer straightforward information that fills their void of curiosity. Therefore, your lengthy email won’t do it justice.
It’s best to keep your copy concise and short with the addition of interactive content. You’ll get to cut down unnecessary information that your audience can easily get from your official account.
Tell your readers what’s happening about your brand and why they must care about it. Simply write down the essential part, add engaging content, and leave your readers with a strong CTA that gives them a sense of urgency.
Conclusion
Writing email marketing for Millennials can be challenging at times. They aren’t easy to approach like its younger generation: Gen Z, who understands the Internet at an early stage.
Given the handy knowledge about a thing or two, Millennials can effortlessly interpret the information on the Internet. It makes every marketing effort distinct from the prior as they see marketing information differently.
Email marketing for Millennials is definitely on a different stage. It’s not something they would look up immediately when it comes in. But it’s not too old-fashioned to do. Most Millennials consider email as a very personal way to communicate with them.
However, you should take into consideration which is your receivers. Not all Millennials are young. In fact, Millennials are now at the age of 25-40. Most of them have work experience that is an excellent source for different business approaches, meaning your email doesn’t merely promote your brand.
If it’s this case, you can use personalized email marketing by incorporating an excellent business proposal in your approach. Prospero is one of the online tools to create a business proposal on the Internet. You can produce and customize your email marketing by using their service.
All in all, it’s best to understand Millennial behavior before incorporating any of these strategies. The methods will work well when you understand who your audience is and how they perceive online information. Only after that, you’ll come up with the most outcome from your email marketing strategy.
Author’s Bio
Andre Oentoro is the founder of Breadnbeyond, an award-winning explainer video company. He helps businesses increase conversion rates, close more sales, and get positive ROI from explainer videos (in that order).
