Millennials are savvy shoppers when it comes to shopping online. And when it comes to shopping around for their wedding suppliers, they’re going to be just as savvy when it comes to what they do and don’t go for.
But because we do so much shopping online, we’ve also given a lot of our secrets away. And that’s what we trust when it comes to making a buying decision.
Here are 6 factors that will influence a millennial purchase decision, and how you can further build your business towards them.
Millennials prefer mobile
The average person in the UK will spend 2 hours and 9 minutes using the internet of their phone every day, with another 1 hour and 50 minutes on social media.
While social media is automatically mobile-friendly, having a mobile-friendly website making your other communications mobile-friendly is so important. Google searches have also recently changed to favour more mobile-friendly sites over those that won’t work as well on a handheld device.
Get your web developer to check how your site is viewing, and loading, on mobile, and start optimising this over your desktop site. Look at what your emails and email images look like to make sure they’re not expanding in responses on your mobile. And check what your social platforms look like on mobile to make sure you’re optimising them to the best of your ability.
They expect a social presence
When it comes to social media, millennials expect a social presence to be able to validate a brand further. In fact, 81% of couples say that a supplier’s social media has an influence on their purchasing decision.
Having an active social media presence that properly reflects your brand, not just from what you’re saying but from other testimonials, is a great way to increase the strength of your social presence.
We like brands we can trust
Our generation gives a lot of trust to peer-to-peer communication, so having that social presence can make a big difference when it comes to whether or not we’ll purchase. Reviews, in particular, are a great way to boost the trust of your brand.
90% of couples will be influenced by previous reviews from other customers before booking a supplier. So make sure you ask for those reviews and see how you can build the number of good quality reviews you have online.
They want to feel like part of a community
Social media has made it easier for every business to get into the home of their customer, but it has also saturated those customers to a point where they are desensitised to advertising. If you really want to reach potential couples, your best practice is to make them feel like part of a community rather than just customers you are trying to sell to.
Social platforms like Instagram and Facebook have created ‘close friends’ and ‘groups’ for instances like this, to make their platforms less generic and more intimate. Stories are also a great way to make more genuine interactions with your audience and let them into your life so that you build that community connection.
Loyalty counts
With that community also comes loyalty. We millennials are an indecisive and flighty bunch so being rewarded when we are loyal is something that we definitely value.
This can be a bit tricker in the wedding industry as we’re not really expecting repeat customers, but there are still ways to show this loyalty. Responding to reviews that a previous couple has left, or sharing images from a previous wedding you’ve worked, are all ways to show that you are loyal and connected with a couple after their big day. Which will, in turn, show potential future couples that you care about them and their whole journey, not just their wedding day.
Offline can still influence online
Despite more purchases being made online, don’t underestimate the importance of those offline connections when it comes to millennials. Millennials are more likely to look at what they want online, and then head into a shop or store for the customer experience of actually purchasing it.
Which means that as wedding suppliers, you have that unique opportunity to further grow that face-to-face contact and personal touch points. Whether they’re coming in to look at a venue or try on a wedding dress, creating a customer experience rather than just a service is a great way for your offline presence to reflect that online community you’ve already tried so hard to create.
