How brands can tap into the self-care trend

Self-care. Me time. Choosing happy. These are all phrases floating around the Internet and social media space, but the phrases are more than a mantra, especially for younger consumers. Self-care is a $450 million market with memberships to gyms and spas only the tip of the iceberg. Here's how brands can tap into the self care market.

by Kristina Knight

Younger consumers don't just talk about taking care of themselves, they are putting their money on it. Millennials, in fact, are spending 2x more than other demographics on self care.

According to new data from Valassis, millennials and millennial parents are especially interested in self care, from going to the gym to decompressing with a massage, but they aren't just looking for the most high-profile places to spend their money. They want value and are willing to shop around to find exactly what they want.

For example, most millennial parents (72%) and 64% of millennials who have already visited a fitness center are also interested in what competing centers offer, and more than half have had memberships at more than one gym over the past five years. The key to reaching this demographic is to create a relationship with them.

"Connecting with your audience based on their self-care behaviors gathered from consumer insights, in-market signals and past purchases helps personal services providers understand what fuels purchase intent," said Peter Wright, director, vertical marketing, Valassis. "Having a holistic view of the consumer enables marketers to create demand through predictive consumer intelligence and deliver personalized, relevant messages."

Researchers further found that advertising is especially influential for this demographic. For instance, half of millennials parents said they 'didn't think about' getting a massage unless they saw an advertisement and three-quarters say seeing mailers increased their interest in the offerings.

While developing creative to capture the interests of younger shoppers, don't skimp on the personalization. That, according to new Adlucent data which indicates more than two-thirds are using email or social media accounts to log in to ecommerce sites and that 46% prefer relevant ads be served in exchange for free access to sites.

But, the way businesses personalize is important. Half (50%) of younger consumers say they are 'creeped out' by brands that show them ads for items they just bought, and that this type of advertising makes them think the brand doesn't understand what they need.

More Adlucent data can be found here.

Tags: Adlucent, advertising, advertising trends, demographic advertising, ecommerce, ecommerce trends, Valassis