How Advisors Can Market To The Millennial Generation: Responsive Design
A Millennial weighing in on how to market to the Millennial Generation.
This is the third article in a series of tips and techniques for Advisors trying to reach the Millennial Generation. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 before moving on.
This instalment will focus on why having a mobile strategy is key to reaching this demographic, as well as the the significant changes that Google is making to their algorithms come April 21st.
————————————————-
We, Millennials, have adopted digital like no other. It should come as no real surprise that mobile is our choice. Today’s Millennials are the most mobile device population. So, just how much time does this demographic spend with their beloved smartphones? Here’s what us Millennials are saying about mobile:
- 90% of Millennials have a mobile phone. (Cohen, 2014)
- The average Millennial checks his or her smartphone 43 times a day. (Entrepreneur, 2014)
- Mobile search will surpass desktop in 2015. (eMarketer, 2014)
- Millennials spend 14% more time (than any other group) interacting with their mobile devices during the average week. (Cohen, 2014)
- 47% of Millennials access businesses via mobile at least once a day. (USA Today, 2014)
- 36% have made a decision on where to spend money or have switched companies based on what they let them accomplish on mobile (USA Today, 2014)
- 14% say they wouldn’t do business with a company that doesn’t have a mobile site or app. (USA Today, 2014)
- 86% say there are still a lot of websites without good mobile functionality. (USA Today, 2014)
Actionable Millennial Marketing Tips
Advisors that don’t speak mobile are losing out on business.
With 90% of Millennials saying their phones never leave their side, it would make sense that Millennials turn to their mobile devices to research and find the information that drives their buying decisions. However, surveys suggest that this group is not always thrilled by the mobile experience that they receive from businesses. Millennials expect, even demand that your business be accessible by mobile, and if it isn’t, they will leave.
Advisors looking to target Millennials need to adapt to mobile in order to best reach them on their preferred devices. The first step for Advisors is to ensure that their website is mobile by designing it responsively. Responsive website design refers to a website designed to adapt to any device a visitor is using. It is a single website that intelligently adapts to the screen the visitor is on without compromising functionality or aesthetics.
A responsive website is crucial for Advisors to reach the Millennials, who access the web through their mobile devices at an increasingly high rate. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, most Millennials will assume your practise is out of date, and will likely leave your website for one of your competitors. Offering a great mobile experience on your website helps you stay relevant and competitive, and makes for a great user experience.
What change is Google making to its algorithm on April 21st?
In 2015, the number of mobile users will overtake the number of desktop users. Google has released a statement that starting April 21st, Google will begin considering mobile friendliness as a factor when determining how to rank your website in Google searches. This will help users to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices. If your website is not responsive, expect your search engine ranking to take a hit in just a couple weeks.
How do I know if my website is mobile friendly?
It is actually really simple to test your website and check whether it is mobile friendly or whether you need to update it. All you need to do is run your pages through the Mobile-Friendly Test. Click on the test and input the URL of the website you would like to check, hit the blue ‘’analyze’’ button and the tool will determine whether your site is mobile-friendly.
————————————————-
To find out how you can go responsive, get in touch with the Digital Agent team today!
