Every brand that knows they need to boost their marketing mission also knows they need to specifically attract the millennial market. This isn’t just because they are easily the biggest generation out there, but because they have influenced the generations either side of them – the baby boomers and Generation Z-ers. The problem you face is knowing how, and that is because millennials are like no other group in society.
They don’t feel compelled to be shackled to traditions or locations, they don’t necessarily believe in the inherent value of face time, they want to learn but not from pieces of paper, they enjoy learning from other people’s experiences as much as their own and they celebrate life, not work-life balances.
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By Monkey Business Images
With all this in mind, we have pulled together a list of things you can do to build brand awareness by engaging and connecting with the millennial generation (read: make your business go the-best-kind-of-boom):
1. Incorporate A Social Cause
Millennials detest being marketed too. That whole idea of a hard sell makes their guts twist and their wallets look elsewhere. What they do love, however, is supporting brands that support a cause. It is this idea that their money isn’t just being spent on a product, but on a brand that has a conscience; a brand that is using some of its profits to help a good cause. It is the Tom’s-effect and it has seen so many brands go that way with huge success. The launch of Critically Endangered Socks has been massive, the support of MyGumboots has been staggering and even brands like Fairfax & Favor that bring out a limited edition product to raise money for charities such as Breast Cancer Care. By going out of your way to support a cause that creates positive changes near or far encourages individual millennials to support your brand.
2. Mobile Needs To Be First
The thing that makes the millennial generation feel so fragmented is that they all seem to be into different things and attracted by niches. But whether this is true or false, there is one guarantee that binds them all and that is the smartphone. You can bet your bottom dollar that every millennial owns a smartphone and that they all use their phones to search for absolutely everything and anything. Scrolling Instagram during the commercial breaks, scanning QR codes when they see a billboard and going onto Google when they see branding that attracts them. It’s almost subconscious. What does this mean for you? That’s simple. If you want to be successful in the digital world then you need to be going mobile-first with your marketing strategy. You need to make sure your website is optimized for mobiles, whether that is by making a mobile-specific version or by having a website that is responsive. You need to consider having a native app knowing that 81% of millennials prefer navigating apps to websites. It is about having advertising campaigns that are primed for mobiles. Basically, the more you can do on the mobile front the better.
3. Social Media Must-Haves
Shutterstock licensed photo – By nopporn
Another almost-constant amongst millennials is social media. It is falling down the rabbit hole of Pinterest, comparing their lives to one another through highly filtered Instagram photos, scrolling Facebook when they are even slightly bored and using Snapchat to connect with friends. They do this to chat, to showcase their daily lives, to see what the famous are up to and to voice their opinions on anything that presses their buttons. That is why you need to implement a social media marketing approach, and a big part of that should be social influencer marketing. Yes, having up-to-date social media pages is the first step to connecting and engaging with them, but if you really want to convert millennials into customers then you should get influencers to celebrate your brand, wear your clothes, use your products and post about them on their pages. These people are worshipped by their followers, which makes them perfectly positioned for you to get in front of people. As such, your first step should be to identify which influencers’ best align with your brand.
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4. Content Will Always Be King
Like we alluded to above, having an active presence on social media is super-duper important. However, if you really-really want to connect with millennials then you need to be producing and sharing the right kind of content. After all, the internet is made up of one-billion websites, meaning you need to be on top of your game if you want to be a success. For starters, this means having great written content, from your “Our Story” page to your blog posts, which is why we recommend you hire a top-notch creative content writer. That said, don’t just rely on words. Instead, shake it up a bit and respect the art of content mixing. Add branded imagery to your content. Shoot, produce and upload videos to your pages. Anything that you think will help you connect with your millennial audience. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be spending a small fortune on content or hire full-time employees. But you do need to produce high-quality and engaging content, from the headlines right the way through.
Shutterstock Licensed Photo – By one photo
Of course, none of this is possible if you don’t understand what millennials want and need, and the bottom line on that front is accepting that they are inclusive. That is their main value. It is being inclusive of equality, diversity and acceptance right the way across the board. It is this idea of social justice. That is the idea that they support above all others, which is why you need to value these things as well. But don’t just say it. Prove it. You have to show it in your content. You need to address it in your visuals, your videos and your words. You need to make sure all of your choices promote and demonstrate this idea of inclusivity.
Do these things – and do them well – and you will find that you are on the right tracks to being revered by the elusive unicorn that is the millennial generation.
