6 Ways to Convert Millennials Using Digital Menu Signage

Millennials go out to eat more than any other generation, so many restaurants are looking for ways to engage and delight this growing demographic. With millennials soon topping the list of those with buying power, many very successful franchises are capitalizing on this group’s eating habits. Luckily, there are ways to appeal to and convert millennials without blowing your budget or exhausting your time.

Understanding this generation is the first step to attracting them to your restaurant. Almost 60% of these consumers will pay more if they know buying the product will help support a cause. This philanthropic spirit is obvious in many aspects of their lives, but it’s especially apparent in the realm of food. They want to be part of a progressive community, a group of friends who have common interests and ideals.

Millennials want to know where their food comes from and that it’s fresh, ethically grown, and locally harvested. They also want simple ingredients or whole foods. In the past, value was based on price, convenience, and taste. However, this generation’s positions on value are much more complex. Uniqueness, the restaurant’s ethical practices, the experience provided, and nutritional information all play a big part in their fast-food brand loyalty.

Responding to this research has proven beneficial for many companies. For example, Naf Naf Grill, a budding local restaurant dishing up middle eastern cuisine, has welcomed and adapted to these facts. The team at Naf Naf has harnessed what they know to their advantage by designing their locations with features such as customer-directed orders and food preparation, open kitchens, and marketing campaigns revolving around how the food is grown, harvested, shipped, and prepared.

The digital menu boards in this type of environment have to follow suit to describe a unique dining experience in which the customers feel in control and confident in their decisions. Tapping into the fluid lifestyle of millennials who often don’t eat traditional meals, many restaurants have made “breakfast all day” and added more “snackable” items to their menus. These adaptations also create the sense of a more personalized dining experience—one that not only converts millennials but keeps them coming back for more.

So, what does all of this mean to you when designing your digital menu boards?

6 Ideas for Digital Menus That Convert Millennials

  1. Reduce Friction while Ordering
    Make sure your menu is as streamlined and intuitive as possible. Ordering should be easy, not frustrating or time-consuming. Luckily, video and digital menus help clarify details and have the power to relay timely and accurate information.
  2. Tap into the Power of Words
    Use descriptive words like “local,” “handcrafted,” “cage-free,” “organic,” or “GMO-free” if appropriate. Information like this appeals to the environmentally and socially conscious customer, and they’re especially useful when trying to convert millennials. Also toss in emotive adjectives that almost make the customer smell or taste what’s in store. “Buttery,” “gooey,” “melty,” “zesty,” and “caramelized” are just few that entice hungry customers.
  3.  Align Your Brand Messaging Across Channels
    If you promote anything on social media, follow through with that message somewhere at the point of purchase through a promo board or signage. Your menu is an untapped channel for branding and experience. With video and digital signage, it finally becomes a dynamic and engaging channel that fits snugly into the rest of your marketing strategy. This consistency enforces your brand and offers from Facebook to email marketing to in-store signage.
  4.  Add a Millennial-friendly Snack Section
    Have “snackable” items available, and have popular items available a large part of the day. Restricting choices or adhering to decades-old menu offerings might not align with modern consumers and their changing behaviors. Converting millennials, or any target audience for that matter, is about offering items that fit into their life with ease.
  5. Menu Color Is Still Important
    The use of colors like greens and reds are effective when you want to show freshness for items on your menu. However, choosing colors will likely hinge on several factors, like your branding. When vying for the time and attention of millennials, also consider colors that will help your brand stand out. Differentiation will make your store more memorable, so choose wisely.
  6.  Modern Consumers Are Drawn to Personalization
    If possible, there should be ways for the customers to customize their orders. Changing diets, such as gluten- or dairy-free, plant-based, and more, are common amongst millennials (and even more so with Gen Z). Finding options to accommodate these changing tastes and needs will surely make your restaurant a staple go-to for millennials that need the option to customize to their taste or diet. 

Use the Power of Your Menu to Convert More Millennials 

Millennials are changing the way we eat and dine. Food isn’t just about sustenance and three square meals a day anymore. Food has a story and millennials want to hear it. They want to be a part of something larger than themselves. This generation is connected at all times, so if you want the ultimate word-of-mouth advertising for your establishment, give millennials a satisfying dining experience to encourage those precious online five-star reviews.

Looking for more design tips for your digital menu boards?  Talk to the team at WAND. We offer world-class digital menu solutions that cater to millennial and the rest of your customer base.

Related Reading

Do More with Digital Displays

Scale your business, grow your brand, and delight more customers with the magic of digital menus and signs.