Millennials are an important consumer group that many people don’t know much about, especially in the food industry. For example, do you know how millennials interact with food brands? What’s important to them? And how should the food industry market to millennials?
Here are some questions to ask yourself when thinking about how to reach the millennial market.
How Important are Millennials?
The first step to marketing to millennials is understanding the characteristics of this consumer group. Millennials are characterized as young adults ranging in age from 18 to 34 years old. This diverse group makes up 75.3 million people in the United States.
According to Entrepreneur Media, Millennials make up $1.3 trillion per year in buying power. That buying power is enough to get any company interested in reaching them.
What do Millennials Care About?
The days of cheap, nutrient-lacking meals are long gone with the millennial group. This massive generation puts a greater emphasis on where their food is coming from and who is providing it.
As described in The Atlantic Daily, millennials shy away from spending money on processed foods. In fact, millennials care about food being “fresh, less processed, and with fewer artificial ingredients” according to Business Insider. The quality of your food or your food production techniques can be huge selling points for millennials.
Millennials will be looking at how your company operates. Mintel reported in a recent study that “nearly three quarters (74 percent) of Millennials wish food companies were more transparent about how they manufacture their products (compared to 69 percent of non-Millennials),” as stated by Food Engineering Magazine. And 59% of millennials reported that they would stop buying a brand of food if they think the brand is not ethical. So not only do millennials demand transparency, but they expect that your company be in sync with their generation’s values.
Lastly, while millennials care about what food they are eating and how it is made, this generation still eats out quite a bit. According to Business Insider, millennials eat out more than both Baby Boomers and Generation X. Dining out is so important to millennials that 53% of millennials go out to eat once per week. This love of restaurant-eating is something the food industry can hone in on. Whether your company is a restaurant or a food truck, a big portion of your customers could be millennials.
How to Market to Millennials?
Based on what millennials value in their food producers, the best thing you can do is be authentic. Be open about your company’s food industry practices. Show millennials what your company values and how you instill those values in your everyday practices.
If you build a brand that millennials are drawn to, you have the opportunity to create strong brand advocates. Be sure to use platforms that millennials are using such as Facebook or Pinterest. According to the American Press Institute, 88% of surveyed millennials reported getting their news from Facebook, followed by 36% getting news from Pinterest.
Fourty-five percent of surveyed millennials decide to regularly post or share news content to Facebook themselves. So if you can get your millennial customers to share news about your company on social media, they may handle your marketing for you.
Now to the final question- how do I start marketing the food industry to millennials? Craveity specializes in marketing for food-related businesses and prides themselves on being able to communicate the right message to the right channels in the right way. In tune with what marketing tactics millennials are likely to respond to, Craveity has services devoted to digital marketing. Craveity can do everything from creating your social media platforms to growing your Twitter platform. With Craveity’s help, you can have millennials interested in your brand.
