Create Facebook posts with a funny meme: Check. Write tweet with trending hashtag: #Check. Now to throw in an Instagram pic of that office-selfie to show how you’re real people. OH! And don’t forget to make sure you catch that recycle bin in the background to show how you care about the planet. And… BOOM! Looks like you’ve got all the ingredients you need to tap into that millennial market, right? Well… maybe not. Before you hit send on any of those, let’s just take a quick look at a few ways you might be a bit more successful.
What is a Millennial?
Millennials are an idealistic generation of creative individuals who connect to each other through social media and the internet-at-large. These 18-34 year-olds typically like to rally behind ideas, causes, and movements to help bring a deeper sense of meaning into their world. I say “their world” because to connect with millennials, you need to understand the world as they see it.
Understanding The Millennial Perspective
Millennials have grown up in a world where they don’t feel they can trust the media, corporations, or even the government. When you consider the context, it is easy to see why. Millennials (or “Gen Y”) grew up learning that corporate greed inspired companies to seek greater profit by creating cheaper, lower quality food that has affected the health of multiple generations. They watched as shady banking practices brought our entire US economy on the brink of collapse during the housing bubble. They’ve even witnessed businesses, politicians, and entire nations be slow and even reluctant to adopt green energy sources even with the depleting ozone, oil spills and more that threaten our planet. And that’s just the elevator-pitch.
These experiences, combined with instant access to more information than ever before has helped mold Millennials to be finely tuned skeptics who are understandably cautious when being told who, and what to believe. With barriers that deeply rooted, it might seem impossible to get through to this jaded demographic. Luckily, there are a few simple things that you can do to help your company connect with the generation that is on track to spend more than $200 billion in 2017.
Crowdsource Content: Let The People Speak
No matter how important you think your own marketing message is, millenials may still not trust you as a source. So what sources DO they trust? According to a research study done by Crowdtap and the Social Media Advertising Consortium (SMAC), millennials spend more time watching, reading or listening to User Generated Content (UGC) than content from any other source. In fact, the study concluded that Gen Y found UGC to be 35% more memorable and 50% more trustworthy than other, more traditional media sources like newspapers, TV or magazines. This means that collecting feedback about your brand, services or products from actual users and then redistributing that content is the most effective communication you can generate to connect with millennials looking for information they can trust. So get out there and find your brand advocates and hand over the mic!
Meet Millennials Where They Live: On Their Phones
But wait… Having UGC to share is only part of the battle. You still need to be able to nest your message where your audience is living. Although it may be no surprise, a study by Kantar TNS, shows that millennials spend nearly an entire day every week on their smartphones with nearly 75% of that time on mobile being spent on social media. This is great news for businesses, as these platforms are designed with some tools that can help companies learn about and reach audiences. The trouble is, you are competing against every other company trying to grab a few fleeting seconds of attention before the reader gets pulled away by a funny cat video. If you are trying to catch the eyes and ears of a millennial on their mobile devices, you’ll have to find a way to stand out from the masses and make sure your message is clear, compelling, memorable, and authentic.
Support A Cause
Supporting a cause as a business, can be a fun and effective way to connect with a driven, passionate group of people. For millennials, this is a great way to connect as they want to support brands that align with their values. This is probably why you may have heard millennials called The Cause Generation. In fact, according to the 2015 Millennial Impact Report, 84% of millennials who were employed made donations to charity. This can also be a great way to grow the reputation and respect of your company as a whole and show your customers, employees and followers that you truly care.
Be Authentic
This was vaguely hinted at when we touched on Understanding The Millennial Perspective. However, it is arguably the most important point to take away about the millennial generation: your company, brand or product doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does have to be authentic.
- Try showing behind the scene shots of your business.
- Engage directly with customers on social media so they can talk to a real person.
- If you can, have fun with a mistake you made and allow your customers to participate in the conversation rather than trying to hide from your mistakes. Humanizing your company can be the single, most effective move you can make when trying to connect with the millennial generation.
Stick The Landing: Stay True To Your Brand Voice
At a time when competition for the consumer dollar is fiercest, brand loyalty could be your greatest asset to achieving success. A study on the millennial consumer shows that the largest spending generation of our time is also fiercely loyal, with 60% of millennials surveyed saying they are “..often or always loyal to brands that they currently purchase.” This means if you can tap into the spending habits of this generation early and stay true what captured them in the first place, you could create a loyal following of lifelong brand advocates.
Millennials have a deep desire to engage, be connected and make a positive, meaningful impact on the world around them. In order for your company to truly reach this generation, you will need to demonstrate that these things are important parts of your business as well. By implementing these strategies and putting them behind transparent motivations, your brand could support (or even become) the movement for millennials to rally behind.