Lauren AckermanOut of all the questions we hear regularly, the question of “How can we reach younger customers?” is the most popular. And it’s one that plagues many marketers.
While this is a difficult and multifaceted problem to solve, data can go a long way toward getting us on the right path.
Step 1: Define the Target Audience
Start by defining who your target audience is by age range; it’s important both to be specific and realistic.
Specific: It’s hard to do research on “younger” but it’s easy to research how 30- to 35-year-olds behave.
Realistic: The further away from your current customers’ age range, the more difficult it will be to pull in your desired target. For example, if your average customer age is 55, attempting to appeal to Gen Zers now in their early 20s is quite a stretch, and one that would require a complete brand, merchandise, and marketing overhaul. But, an attempt to go after Gen Xers may be more fruitful, without the massive overhaul.
It all depends on what your end goal is, and if you have everything needed to make the stretch across multiple generations.
Step 2: Do Your Research
It’s highly likely that you have some of the desired group on your customer file already. These folks are a rich source of information waiting to be tapped.
Do primary research. The goal is to see how this group compares to your “typical” customer, so you should perform research across a random sample of your file.
The idea is to look at the way the desired age group diverges from your older average customer, and the only way to do that is with comparative data. Ask them about their preferences and habits. Don’t overlook an e-survey, which is a quick, easy, and cost-effective way to hear from your customer.
- Purchase motivations: What moved them to buy from you?
- Marketing channels: Where did they find you?
- What are their preferred products, categories, and offers?
- How frequently do they use social media? What platforms do they use?
Once you’ve heard from them, observe what they actually do. This helps round out the picture because sometimes self-reported data and real-world data don’t fully agree.
- Perform a merchandise analysis on these customers to see how their purchase habits differ from your older customers.
- What are their preferred products, categories, and offers?
- How long does it typically take them to convert?
- What is their AOV as compared to their older cohorts?
- How often do they buy in a given time frame?
- What price point(s) do they gravitate toward, especially for first purchase?
- Outside of your business, what can Google Analytics tell you about their other shopping habits (affinity categories)?
- Where does your analytics platform think they came from?
It is also important to bring in secondary research to round out the picture. There’s oodles of generational cohort data for marketers out there on behavioral markers by generation and age group: how they buy; how they consume media; what marketing touchpoints they like; and what’s important to them.
We’ve all heard it: Millennials prefer companies with a cause, whereas Gen Z has a customer loyalty pattern much more similar to Boomers than their closer-in-age counterparts, Millennials.
The big question is, how do your “on file” customers act vs. the typical customer of that generation?
From this point, you’ll be able to spot major behavioral differences between “general” age group and “your” target group.
Step 3: Learn What Moves Consumers to Act by Testing
Perform initial creative testing to see what messages, offers, and images they respond to. Test content type, such as DIY, how-to videos, behind the scenes, and product demonstrations.
To start, email is a fantastic place to execute a barrage of A/B tests to your customer file in a short period of time. You can learn a lot, quickly. You also can perform a similar exercise on social media and with pay-per-click ads, launching variations on the same ad to your target audience.
Test a variety of headlines and images for the same product or product category (on-model, off-model, lifestyle) to understand what type of language and copy they respond to. Test different landing page configurations so you understand what makes them convert.
Start with digital, then retest in print, especially self-mailer and catalog cover testing. Repeat this exercise with multiple products and product categories to make sure that the results are reasonably consistent.
Step 4: Put Your Acquisition Plan Into Place
Armed with data on purchase motivations, media consumption, channel preferences, and the message and imagery that they prefer, a plan is likely already starting to take shape, but keep these points front of mind:
- Merchandise: If you’re targeting a younger customer, you need to merchandise with them in mind. Round out your offering to fit their aesthetic, needs, and wallet.
- Acquisition: You’ve identified the channels that they are active in vs. your regular customers, so now is the time to get your brand, message, and product in front of them. Unless you’re ready to poach from your regular marketing budget, that act of adding these new buyers is going to require an initial investment. Craft an acquisition marketing plan built around their marketing channels and behaviors.
- Going after Gen Z? You’re going to want to get to know TikTok. Millennials? Your plan had better include a heavy dose of social media channels like Snapchat, Instagram, and Pinterest, with a great content strategy and support from influencers. And don’t forget print. Studies show that Millennials spend more time reading their mail than their other generational cohorts.
While no individual step is difficult, it does require a formal strategy, as well as coordinated effort and investment of both time and budget. How you track, measure, and adjust will be key. Ultimately, success will come more easily when based on thoughtful, informed planning and a solid foundation of data insights.
