As a business owner, you know the importance of reaching the rising generation. The success of most businesses hang on whether or not they can successful market themselves to “generation Y” customers. Here are a few tips for reaching this important audience.

Traditional marketing doesn’t work

Just because it worked ten years ago doesn’t mean it will work today. For example, email marketing has been popular ever since its beginning in the 90s. But “generation Y” is less likely to be on your emailing list, let alone actually open and read your emails. Texting and social media are your best bets for reaching this audience.

Make a difference

“Generation Y” is more environmentally and socially conscious than any previous generation. They support brands that they perceive are making a difference in the world. Find ways to give back by participating in charity events whenever possible. Go “green” as much as is possible.

Small is cool

While previous generations might have been impressed by the size and strength of your brand, “generation Y” is generally turned off to major corporations which they perceive as bloated money making machines. Don’t try to exaggerate the size and success of your brand. You don’t have to be mainstream to be cool. “Generation Y” will respond if you can create a small but tight-knit community of customers.

Be concise

In the information age, the younger generation just doesn’t have the same attention span. Mobile technology allows people to do a hundred different things in the space of ten minutes. If you’re making use of text message marketing (and you should be) your audience is less likely to read your text the longer it is. Whatever marketing channels you’re using, avoid being overly wordy. Keep it as short and to the point as possible.

Respond in minutes

Not only has mobile technology lessened people’s attention spans, it’s lessened their patience as well. Younger people prefer texting to email because it’s immediate. When they post a photo or an update on Facebook, they want to see an immediate response. Self-centered? Maybe. But it’s your job to cater to this audience. If you are using social media to market your business, set a particular tone for updates on that social media account. Make sure you’re responding to posts within minutes not hours. If you use SMS marketing, consider automated text response that will automatically reply to questions asked via text.

Be image conscious

As we’ve already said, “generation Y” has less patience to read through blocks of text. If a picture can say what you’re trying to say, use that instead. Also, don’t leave your profile picture the same for months and months. Change things up. You might even make use of customer-submitted photos.

Source: practicalecommerce.com/columns/notes-from-australia/73885-8-ways-to-win-generation-Y-customers