Millennials are a difficult demographic to reach. Born between 1980 and 1993, technological advancements in communication have shielded this demographic with screens, making this “invisible audience” hard to find.
While this demographic has been assigned many stereotypes, Greg Kihlstrong stated that the most common are that millennials value technology above all other things, are not brand loyal and lack interpersonal skills
As a millennial myself, I can personally say that most of the people my age that I have come across do fall under these stereotypes.
So how can marketers reach us? I've put together 3 suggestions to tackle the challenge of targeting millennials.
1. Target Millennials on Personal Bases
Milennials value maintaining strong personal connections with friends and family. Even though Millennials are crazy addicted to social platforms and communication technology, they aren’t as selfish as everyone makes them out to be and really do care about others.
Still, because technology and social platforms are such an important part of their lives they are constantly receiving content, whether it be from friends or companies. So how can you make a Millennial care about your product?
Amy Goddard suggests that a one-size-fits all approach is not effective. Millennials want to feel special and see that companies are personally creating content for them.
To achieve this, create unique campaigns that specifically target this demographic.
Another thing to note is that Millennials aren’t just attached to their phones. They are on their phones, watching TV, and using their computers all at once. Your marketing campaigns shouldn’t target one platform - they should target all platforms. Goddard also notes that cross-platform campaigns will help you reach this invisible audience, especially if you publish your campaigns on social media.
2. Target Millennials With the Promise of An Experience
Terlizzi put it best by saying that Millennials are not motivated by the same things as previous generations. This generation is motivated by relationships and experiences.
Millennials love to use communication technology to share experiences. So not only should you be creating content that is unique, but your content should also help to create shared experiences that lend to and borrow from your brand.
When I am scrolling through my numerous newsfeeds, I pass over content that doesn’t grab my attention. Whether its a blog with a boring title, an ad that has no relevance to my life, or a question that I don’t feel like answering- if the content doesn’t instantly move me, I won’t even click on it
When creating your marketing campaigns, design them to be interactive. Millennials are constantly looking to interact through communication technologies. If your brand can successfully elicit a sence of interactivity, they then you are more likely to generate leads from this audience.
On the other hand, If Millennials feel like your content is just disturbing them, then you can be sure that they won't find a way into your Sales Funnels.
Blogging can make or break your campaign. It has become an important aspect of interactive marketing. However, instead of writing a blog about your product, write a blog about a person who uses your product. Since Millennials care about other people, they will be happy to see that you care about other people as well.
3. Target Millennials With Visuals
When it comes to targeting Milennials, the most effective content tends to be visual content. The saying “ A picture is worth a thousand words” couldn’t be more true in this scenario.
In fact, millennials share 2.6 billion photos a daily basis.
Visuals have the power to make or break your marketing campaigns, especially when it comes to millennials. At Penguin Strategies, we stress the importance of adding visuals to almost everything we put out, even if that means taking an extra 30 minutes of our time.
Memes, videos, cartoons, etc. are great visual tools that can get your message across just as effectively as written content. However, when it comes to the standard written content that companies can’t replace with visuals, such as whitepapers and e-books, make sure those written contents also include visuals.
Reaching Millennials
Millennials may seem detached and distant, shielded from human contact by a bevy of screens. Whether it’s a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, or a TV, just basing a marketing campaign on the probability that your audience is behind door number 1 will no longer suffice.
Millennials are not as difficult to understand as everyone makes them out to be. Using the suggestions above will not only help you create the create the effective marketing campaigns targeted to this all-important demographic, but it will also help you build a relationship with the Milennial generation.
by The Penguin Team on September 22, 2015
As a leading B2B digital marketing agency, We help B2B Technology Companies, enterprise software, and hardware companies increase brand awareness, reach more qualified leads and close more customers. Penguin Strategies is a Diamond Partner of HubSpot.
