If you’ve got more than 10 years of experience in contractor marketing, congratulations! Except, everything’s changed and nothing’s stayed the same. Digital marketing. Social media platforms. Smartphone-sized communication. The learning curve has been … winding? Steep? Perilous? Or, none of the above if you’re into innovation over consistency.
That’s the mindset, generally speaking, of the millennial generation. Assuming you can size up a segment of the population by dates of birth, marketers have identified several traits for those born between 1980-1995. Namely:
Values innovation over consistency – This is where “fear of missing out” plays well in your messaging. This trigger is a strong driver for millennials (Example: counting the minutes to the release of the Apple Watch). Your campaigns can also tap into this need with innovations in healthy home. Clean indoor air, healthy water, security, safety, highest efficiency – all areas where contractors offer innovation instead of, say, that same old tap water everybody’s been drinking for years.
Curiosity – Millennials don’t like to be spoon-fed their solutions (a trait that’s probably unrelated to appreciation for parental monetary contributions?). They like discovery. You can feed this need in your creative call-to-actions. Pique interest, then lead millennials into researched solutions for the home. Envision a posted social media test, “What is your home improvement personality?” Then, ten questions and answers can reveal whether they’re quick to make a change or prefer long-term deferred maintenance.
Looks for reviews – A social-media generation doesn’t want to make big decisions in a vacuum – or even small decisions for that matter. Just as they wouldn’t shell out the big bucks to go to a movie without knowing the buzz, or taking the great risk of stopping in at an untested restaurant without knowing what someone else has to say about it – they’ll certainly want to hear another point of view about the products and services you’re offering. Good tip: Post calls-to-action to link to customer reviews.