How to Market Your Pizza to Millennials

Direct mail isn’t just a marketing channel that “may” still have legs. Instead, it’s the very best form of outreach today, especially if you’re trying to target millennials. There are lots of myths out there about millennials being all digital, all the time, but statistically speaking – they have more of a connection with direct mail than you might think.

Tactics that Work for Gen Y

Since they’ve grown up with digital and have always been bombarded with screen time, they have a deeper appreciation for an authentic hard-copy book, home-made birthday card, or feel-good note.

Being seen and heard is also important to this generation. They want to feel like they matter. Print marketing has the ability to do this – make them feel seen and heard – and stand out to them against the array of digital media they face every day. Millennials receive hundreds of emails every week, so when they get mail, it’s much more exciting. 62% of millennials (according to a recent survey) said they’d visited a store in the past month based on mail (which was more often than Gen Xers or Boomers).

Millennials are also big on trust. Like we said before, they’ve always been bombarded with tons of information, primarily online. Whether it be news, articles, advertisements, or another source, they know that anything can be altered if it’s digital. They have a deeper trust in direct, paper sources and find them more credible. The same goes for their privacy. They know that whenever they’re using an app or a website, their information is possibly up for grabs – often to people who shouldn’t have it. Direct mail doesn’t run that risk. And if you need the facts, we have them. 58% of millennials worry less about direct mail privacy than digital communications privacy.

Personalization is Key

So, millennials like direct mail – but what will make it stick with them? And what will cause them to visit your shop? The key is personalization. In one survey, 75% of millennials said receiving personal mail made them feel “special”. Additionally, “63% of millennial consumers are willing to share data with companies in exchange for personalized offers and discounts.” They’re much more likely to pay attention to the mail you send them if, for example, it has their name, a photo of their favorite item, and a personalized coupon or code.

Here are some other ways to personalize for success:

  • Create a targeted list

Target their behavior and engagement with your shop, their demographics, and their life events (and if you don’t have the time to do this, hire an expert), and use personalization to drive loyalty and influence purchasing decisions, because 50% of millennials say they’d share personal details in order to join a rewards or loyalty program.

  • Incorporate personalized digital elements

Millennials are still used to and are likely to engage with digital as well – so look for ways to incorporate both. Use QR codes to lead them to personalized landing pages, menus, online ordering services, or social media accounts.

  • Don’t forget to test, track, and repeat

It’s always important to test effectiveness, and this rule definitely applies to personalization. The millennial generation age span is between the 1980s to the mid-1990s, so they have a range of values, likes, dislikes, and priorities. So, test and see what works and doesn’t for your specific audience. From testing the size of your mail to the call-to-action – you can learn a lot about your potential and current customers, and if tracked correctly, increase your ROI.

Although Millennials are digital natives, it doesn’t always take what you may see as “modern” marketing to keep new customers coming in the door and regulars returning. As media and trends change and millennials continue to come into their own, businesses like your shop have to become more in tune with what their generation likes—direct mail included. Contact us for more information on how to make your direct mail a success for your shop.