How Neuromarketing Can Help Your Brand Appeal to Millennials

Millennials, once viewed as egocentric and aloof, are now adults.

In the past, companies would roll their eyes at the thought of entertaining this generation. But now, it’s more important than ever to find a way to catch their attention.

It is expected that millennials will make up nearly 50% of the world’s working population by year 2020. These are individuals who will be starting and running their own companies. Their buying power will exceed all generations before them.

But, millennials are notorious for being hard to reach using traditional marketing techniques. Why is that?

Millenials are instantly gratified digital natives

Many of them grew up with computers and the internet. This digitally connected upbringing means they think, behave and communicate differently to the generations before them.

They are also making very different lifestyle choices. The rise of the sharing economy is testament to this, as millennials avoid the burdens of ownership associated with cars, houses and even music - rather demanding access as opposed to ownership. This has given rise to the likes of Uber, AirBnB and Spotify, digital disruptors that are revolutionising their respective industries.

When millennials want information, they want it fast and concise. They’ve always had it that way thanks to texting, social media and Netflix - everything they need at a click of a button.

This isn’t the "old" days when you would write a letter and wait a few weeks to get a response. This isn't even the days of writing an email and waiting a few days for a response. No. Millennials don’t have time to wait. Their future is instant.

How can companies ensure that they engage effectively with millennials?

Simple. Through Neuromarketing.

Neuromarketing provides us with the biometric and consumer neuroscience tools we need to ensure that we not only grab the attention, but also engage emotionally with this illusive audience.

Through measuring and analysing their implicit, subconscious responses to your marketing and advertising communications you will have a much better idea of how your company can stay relevant to the millennial audience. What messages are relevant and compelling; which drive social proof; demonstrate your company values; inform; entertain or provide value? It is these aspects of your brand offering that are vital for millennials, and Neuromarketing can ensure that you get them right.

Here are three ways Neuromarketing can help you effectively engage with Gen X.

1 Building and structuring a website that grabs attention

It’s not good enough to just have a website anymore. That website needs to be intuitive, easy to navigate, interactive and usable on mobile devices. It also needs to grab and maintain attention, and engage emotionally with your audience.

Using eye-tracking technologies and heat mapping visualizations for example, Neuromarketers are able to understand how exactly your millennial audience are interacting with your website. What grabs their attention, how do they visually navigate the content, and what is the actual, real-world user experience thereof. With the inclusion of Electroencephalography (those cool brain-wave-measuring head gear) we can also understand the emotional experience of your entire site, from check-in to check-out.

With this insight, you can reconsider the way you present information online, and optimize your website to create more meaningful and emotionally engaging user expereinces that deliver on your business objectives.

2 Developing chatbots that not only answer questions

Chatbots have been around for a while, but their value to the millennial user is more important than ever given their ability to provide them with instant, personalised assistance.

In the past, chatbots simply answered questions. These days, their functionality has superseded this and they are now able to truly engage with your consumer intelligently. Neuromarketers have been involved in this area of chatbot development and are finding creative ways for companies to conduct business using this form of artificial intelligence to better service the needs of millennials.

At Neural Sense, we are currently assisting with the development of a chatbot for a client that has the potential to provide short term insurance for their customers in 5 minutes or less. For the millennial, there is no better alternative.

3 Omitting marketing techniques that do not work

Companies may be investing into marketing avenues that their millennial audience do not care about. Neuromarketers can help you relook your messaging and the marketing channels you are using to deliver that message.

Using facial coding software (to measure the emotional response based on facial expressions) and electroencephalography (to measure the levels of approach motivation achieved), for example, Neuromarketers can observe and analyse the ways millennials react to your current marketing stimuli. By analysing the data, they can help companies pave the way forward by seeing what brought forward a desired response and what did not.

If you would like to millennial-proof your company, consider hiring the services of an innovative Neuromarketing company like Neural Sense who has worked on similar projects before. Get in touch to secure your business for years to come.

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