Your next generation of customers is here. How are you reaching them?
They’re 18-25 years old. They just moved to a new place, scored their first post-grad job, or maybe their mom just told them that she’s not going to make their appointments for them anymore. Whatever the circumstances, millennials are looking for services. Doctors, dentists, auto shops, insurance agents, the list goes on. What is your business doing to capture them?
As a recent college grad, I spent the last year finding my own new service providers. So how did I decide?
Referrals from friends. I asked the people I trust where they shop locally. There’s almost nothing better than good PR and referrals to bring in new customers.
Web search. I googled the services I was looking for in my area. I generally skipped over any results at the top of the search marked as “Ad” and stuck to checking out the organic results.
That was pretty much it. It helped if I had heard the business name before, either from seeing it in my travels or hearing it on TV, but that wasn’t enough to seal the deal. After I had a name or two in mind, I had to learn more about the company. Where did I look to find out more?
Website: A company’s website is make it or break it for millennials. If a website looked old and out of date (or worse, the company didn’t even have a website), I started to question if the company was even still in business. Plus, if its website wasn’t up to date, how did I know their practices were going to be?
Facebook: I checked out Facebook every time. Similar to websites, if a business’ Facebook page hadn’t been updated since 2011, I wondered, “Is this business still open?” If it was, is it not modern enough to even have a current Facebook page?
Once I found an up-to-date website and Facebook page, what did I want to see on them?
Photos and videos. I wanted to see a business’ office or workspace. I wanted pictures and bios of providers so I can see if they would be a good fit for me. I wanted to see before and after photos. I wanted to see them interacting with customers and the community. Basically, I wanted to see
Reviews and testimonials. Just like referrals from friends, online reviews and testimonials showed me if a company could, and should, be trusted with my business. Those stars really do matter.
All of these things can be boiled down into one idea: company culture. I was looking for businesses that could provide high-quality, modern services. A business that cares about me, and that has an environment I felt I could fit into and could be comfortable in.
You may be thinking, “My business does all of those things!” But are you letting customers know that on your website and social media? If not, millennials may be ruling you out before they even give you a shot.
Taylor Headshot
Taylor Pelissero is an account manager and resident millennial at Stokes+HERZOG.