Marketing to Millennials: Content is King
In our last blog post, we discussed why you should make millennials your next target market. Now we’re diving into the nitty-gritty and giving you some of our best tips for marketing to them.
Millennials will see through traditional advertising and tune your message out faster than you can turn a magazine page, close a pop up, or change the radio station. Millennials have different values than previous generations, especially when it comes to how they spend their money.
Traditional methods of advertising, like magazine ads, direct mail, radio and TV spots will turn off millennials. In their mind, these kinds of ads are pushy, impersonal, and unrelatable. A 2014 survey revealed that 84% of millennials don’t trust traditional advertising.
So how do you reach them?
Millennials know what they want, and they know how to find it; researching companies via blogs, Facebook groups, and YouTube videos. If they’re shopping for an experience, they’re going to dig deep, find options, and read about the experiences of others. Millennials compare companies based on so many more factors than price and presence.
The best thing you can offer is information.
Millennials are drawn to support businesses that are dedicated to improving the lives of their customers. A simple way to appeal to them is to offer useful content. Rather than solely talking about your product or service, share blog posts, videos, and how-to’s that fit the lifestyle of your ideal customer.
Think of a makeup brand offering beauty tutorials, a t-shirt company sharing photos of real-life customers in fully-styled outfits for inspiration, or a gym sharing motivational memes and stretching tips.
Showing and talking about your product is not enough; demonstrate how it is used and be sure to show real people using it. Do you offer a service that appeals to a specific clientele who live (or want to live) a specific lifestyle? Show your delighted customers enjoying that lifestyle. After all, it’s this desire to live a picturesque lifestyle that made Instagram a top social media platform.
Involve and incentivize your current customers to create content for you.
Does your business have a hashtag? Offer a monthly giveaway to your customers who post about your business on Instagram and use your hashtag. Get their permission to use their photos and you’re on your way to building an engaging feed full of real customers advocating for your brand. Plus you get the added bonus of them spreading the word to their followers, too!
It all comes down to social media with millennials. The sooner you start putting out intriguing and useful content that your ideal millennial customer wants, the more of these customers you’ll see engaging, and spending, with your business.