Audiences have different expectations of the content they like to consume. One of the most popular and most basic forms of doing this is by marketing to different generations.
But how do you do this?
Let’s start with talking about how you can target Millennials with your marketing efforts. Millennials, born between 1981 and 1986, have lived through a lot, starting with the millennium, low rise jeans, Britney Spears and witnessed the rise of Facebook. These events have led them to be tech-savy, socially conscious and crave authenticity.
So, why are they important for marketers?
They make up a significant portion of the consumer population and they are now entering their prime earning and spending years, making them a valuable target audience for businesses.
Characteristics of Millennials
Demographically, they are the most diverse generation in history, with a range of ethnicities, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. They are also highly educated, with over 60% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Behaviourally, Millennials are known for being constantly connected to their devices. They value experiences over material possessions and are willing to spend money on travel, entertainment and self-improvement.
Attitudinally, Millennials prioritise social responsibility and are drawn to brands that align with their values. They are skeptical of traditional advertising and prefer to receive information through word-of-mouth and social media.
How to reach Millennials
Digital marketing is the obvious choice when trying to reach Millennials. If we wanted to run a campaign that would attract millennials attention here’s what we’d try;
Influencer Marketing
These days, if you click onto Instagram (millennials go-to social media platform) you will more than likely see influencer after influencer promoting products. This is because it works – millennials trust the opinions of influencers they follow on social media. The best part about this, is there are influencers for every industry and niche so reaching a large audience is easy.
All you need to do is decide on the product, messaging and content type and the influencer will do the influencing.
Email Marketing
Millennials being are easily reached via email. Whether on-the-go or on their desktops,a powerful email campaign can get millennials to click through and turn them into loyal customers.
The most recent challenge marketers have faced with email campaigns is the expectation of content to be personalised and relevant to their interests. Before setting up your campaign think audience segmentation and personalise content for each segment. This will ensure you are targeting them at the right time with the correct message.
Hyper-personalisation
Audience segmentation doesn’t just apply to email marketing. Millennials want to feel like brands understand them as individuals. This needs to be apparent across all channels and touch points.
Hyper-personalisation can seem like a challenge but once your audiences are segmented successfully it is just about tailoring the messaging to their needs and building a personal relationship with them.
Storytelling
Millennials value emotional connections which is why storytelling is a great strategy for brands to use in their campaign and messaging. Storytelling within marketing is just the use of narratives that evoke emotion while reflecting the brands core values.
Experiential Marketing
Craving experiences, millennials can be won over with experiential marketing. More often than not experiential marketing occurs offline at events or in public spaces. Examples of experiential marketing include pop-up shops, interactive events and brand activations.
These types of events require interaction from millennials making it more likely for them to remember the brand. Logistically they can be hard to organise, but a successful campaign is always worth it.
Targeting Millennials in marketing requires a deep understanding of their characteristics, attitudes, and behaviours. Digital marketing, content marketing and experiential marketing are all effective strategies for engaging this audience, but success requires authenticity, personalisation and storytelling. By overcoming scepticism, balancing authenticity and commercialism, and staying relevant and trendy, brands can effectively capture the attention and loyalty of this valuable consumer demographic.
Unsure on how to segment you audiences?
