How to sell to millennials in 2024? A data-driven guide

Notorious for their avocado toast obsession—and financial frugality at the same time—millennials are tough to figure out.

At least that’s what all those articles would have you believe.

So how to reach them? Should you promote affordability or sustainability? 

You can’t do both. 

Or can you? 

One thing’s for certain—it’s not easy to reach millennials. 

Which is why this generation is the next one in our series that’ll be put under the magnifying glass. Let’s get started.

Almost all millennials own a smartphone

If you’re a millennial, chances are you are actually reading this from your smartphone as well. And if not, you most definitely own one. 

Here’s the proof:

Naturally, smartphone users are on the rise year-over-year. But while older generations are still a bit behind, millennials and Zoomers are smartphone-first.

This leads us to our next chart:

Not only that. But millennials tend to shop online more than in physical stores—and more than half prefer it that way. 

Targeting millennials online means you’ll probably reach them easily. 

Just make sure your ads and online stores are optimized both for mobile and smartphones—there’s a chance they’ll land on your store while on their smart device.

Bridging between old and new platforms 

Gen Z loves TikTok—and shops on TikTok. Gen Xers and Boomers prefer their precious Facebook. 

Millennials say—why not both?

Of all the age demographics, it’s only millennials that seem to be at least 50% willing to shop on any. Which is a good sign.

However, they do seem to prefer Instagram and YouTube a bit more than Facebook or TikTok, but you’ll find them on every platform.

On top of that, around 85% of all Americans up to 49 years old use social media.

So if you’re looking to target millennials, you know where to find them: all over the internet.

And here’s another thing that backs it up: 

So not only do millennials shop on social media, they do most of their discovery there.

Plus, most of their product discovery happens online, based on this chart. 

Besides social media, they also discover products through search, and ads on other digital channels like podcasts and streaming, connected TV, and others. 

Will millennials use AI for shopping?

Well, turns out some of them already do.

In one of our previous Data Stories, we’ve found that half of millennials use AI tools at least once per day—and more and more use it for product search and discovery each day.

They are also as likely as all other generations to purchase products recommended by AI:

What’s interesting is that neither generation particularly minds AI recommendations.

Millennials, however—especially those that are frequently using tools like ChatGPT—seem to be open about actively using Gen AI during their shopping.

Here’s one example:

According to this, millennials seem to be open to replacing their search engine with GPT.

What does this mean for you: The new AI-powered search experiences from Google, and possibly a rumored search engine by OpenAI in the future, could be a great testing ground for targeting millennials—as they seem to be the ones who’ll embrace it first. 

Take note: millennials are cautious spenders

Here comes the most challenging part.

Selling to millennials can sometimes feel like selling to a bunch of Squidwards from SpongeBob—cautious and prone to nitpick where they’ll spend their hard-earn cash.

Check this chart for instance:

Millennials are affordability-first. More than any other generation.

And while some reports state that millennials prefer brands associated with a cause, or similar—they won’t overpay for it.

So if you’re catering to millennials, make sure your product is affordable first. Especially if your product is a non-essential.

And when it comes to non-essentials, check this out:

When the economy gets tough, millennials are first to cut treats, luxuries, and nights out.

However, even then, most millennials still deeply care about their well- being and appearance—so they’re least likely to cut costs on beauty or personal care products.

On top of that, they also care about their friends and family—so they’d rather cut costs on their own delights than on gifts for others.

What does that mean for you: If you target millennials with a non-essential item when money is scarce, try to frame your offer in one of two ways:

• The product is beneficial to their physical or mental well-being; or
• The product can be a great gift for someone important

Your campaigns may produce better numbers.

What can brands do to win over millennials?  

A lot. But let’s focus on the most important stuff:

If you look at the top things millennials thinks brands should do, they boil down to a few key points:

• Make each customer feel like they’re being listened to, understood, and valued
• Tackle different societal and environmental problems as a business
• Improve their lives either by providing new value or simplifying existing activities

Note that when you tailor your campaigns to millennials.

And when it comes to engagement itself, note this:

A footnote about indexes (IDX) from GWI: Indexes are used to compare any given group against the average (1.00), which unless otherwise stated refers to the global average. For example, an index of “1.20” means that a given group is 20% above the global average, and an index of “0.80” means that an audience is 20% below the global average.

As we already noted, most millennials discover new brands and products through social media—which includes both organic and paid ads. But they also find brands on various other ad channels—including podcasts and virtual spaces.

After discovering a product, most millennials will research it further by reading blogs, messaging the company, or through message boards and forums—which are “in” again.

Finally, to turn millennials into brand advocates, you’ll most likely need to make them feel a part of something larger.

Put simply, a millennial sales funnel can look like this:

• Discovery phase: Top-of-the-funnel advertising
• Consideration phase: Content marketing, organic social, blog and vlogs
• Retention phase: Community management, designated email workflows, and brand causes and stories

Sounds simple enough, eh? 

X to the Y to the Z

Marketing to millennials can be a challenge, but at least some things are clear:

You have to blend affordability with sustainability, authenticity with innovation. 

Plus, try to keep your ads relatable and channels diverse. Because you’ll find “Yers” under every digital rock—or platform.

Nothing left but to test all this out. Let us know what you think!

Sources

• GWI
• University of Southern CA’s Online Master of Science in Applied Psychology
• Statista
• HubSpot