Opinion: Making BFSI marketing millennial-friendly

Vineet Sethi, CMO, Niyo writes on why millenials are an essential target group for a brand's growth and takes us through the marketing checkpoints that BFSI brands need to keep a tab on while targeting millenials.

We all have heard it – Catch them when they are young. Targeting the millennial generation is a clear method to develop lifetime loyalty and hence we could see the BFSI industry focusing on millennials. The idea is to connect with them now and continue to engage them when they are in their prime earning, spending, and borrowing years.

Millennials are those people born between 1981 and 1995, who grew with the millennium. This generation is important because of its size; by 2025 it will represent 75% of the global workforce. This generation is quite interesting! Some have seen the transition from physical letters to emails, some have gotten accustomed to the shift from dialer phones to smartphones and above all the advent of the internet later in their life, and the younger lot of the group, born in the 90s that grew up with the internet. The biggest mistake marketers commit is viewing this diverse group with a myopic vision.

Here are certain aspects to keep in mind while marketing to millennials:

Millennials are the first set of digitally active consumers

With every single form of consumption of content being driven through smartphones today and internet penetration on the rise, a seamless user interface and user experience are all it takes to differentiate from the competition. On the contrary, an experience that fails to be transitional for the multi-screen generation and misses the point of simplicity in its design fails to hold the attention of the millennial user. All marketing initiatives need to be mobile and digital-first.

Millennials are research-driven

The resources available on the internet give access to a plethora of information on any subject. Millennials come from a transitional stage where their exposure to advertisements has made them more critical and cynical towards brands’ communications. As a generation, they tend to search on all platforms about the brand its service/product before making a purchase decision. Hence, it is important for brands to have common communication across platforms.

Peer review driven

A balance of provision of information from the brand as well as trusted sources makes for an appealing strategy to communicate with millennials. These trusted sources could range anywhere from ratings and testimonials to their favored influencers marketing for the products. In the digital age, it is imperative to maximize the use of these resources to increase the touchpoints with the audience of this generation, which yearns to be accessible across platforms.

Also read: Opinion: How is hyper-personalisation helping brands to enhance user engagement

Simplify and guide

Simple and effective communication solves most problems. Millennials just entering the workforce today find themselves in situations wherein they are required to make a lot of routine financial decisions quickly and plan for longer-term financial goals and needs. They might not always rely on financial experts for financial advice and hence they require sources of information that are palatable and easy to comprehend.

Personalization and power of data

Millennials appreciate brands that understand their needs and are able to communicate with messaging that can clearly state delivering the same. Digitization helps to create various cohorts, basic demographics, interests which can help in getting the communication personalized. Financial institutions can connect with the millennial crowd by understanding their goals, pain points, and interaction preferences. However, this data is not enough, implementing actionable data-driven, multi-channel experiences which will in turn help improve customer engagement and drive sustainable growth will drive the message through.

Support a cause

As a generation, millennials are purpose-driven individuals and they appreciate brands reflecting the same. While many might argue that humanizing a brand can have its side effects, to truly be able to engage with the millennial crowd, it is crucial for brands to do so. Brands are expected to take a stand with social causes and voice out opinions, to go over and above the usual norm, and drive a purpose to their communication and ethos.

While tons of research is underway to understand the millennial audience better, consuming it all is a challenge for financial marketers, but taking the insights and translating them into marketing solutions that are effective is the key. These solutions will ultimately help the brand with reach, engagement and ultimately aid in converting this highly influential market segment.