Social Marketing to Millennials

To achieve a stake in the Millennial marketplace, you have to stand out from the pack; and with competition more fierce than ever, companies have taken to newer and more “out of the box” methods to communicate their message to younger consumers. 

According to a recent study by the Participatory Marketing Network (PMN), only 28% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 say that the emails they currently receive from marketers are impactful to them.

The majority do agree that they would be open to, and more engaged with innovative emails of which they have more control over the frequency and subject matter. Overall, Gen Y consumers are eager to see "innovative services" which allow them not only better control, but the ability to organize and manage emails coming from marketers.

In other words, as far as Millenials are concerned, there is a fine line between creative, collaborative marketing and the same old spam clogging their inbox. 

Social media has also become a powerful marketing force. Advertisements on Facebook and MySpace have become the newest billboards in the digital space. But according to a survey conducted by Pace University and PMN, while 84% of young consumers notice ads on social networks, only 19% of them find the ads relevant. In other words, these digital billboards are not a magic marketing solution. 

While young consumers did not necessarily find advertisements to be relevant, 48% did however join a brand’s “fan page” on a social network. The main reasons? 

1)      To get news or product updates
2)      To submit opinions, and
3)      To connect with other customers, all of their own volition.

This suggests that half of all young consumers are open to the idea of having a "fan" relationship with a brand in the same way they would with a celebrity or popular music group. 

Again, we return to the notion of control.  

The very act of becoming a “fan” points to a feeling of ownership, a satisfaction of the desire for control. Marketers that best formulate strategies to tap into and galvanize these consumer sentiments will be best positioned for success in years to come. 

Posted by Wally Koval
w.koval@abmmail.com

Comments

[Dan]

The fact that only 28% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 say that the emails they currently receive from marketers are impactful to them suggests that Millennials aren't getting what they want from marketers.

Millennials want to read stuff that's cool. Edgy. Authentic. And Meaningful. Of course some brands must be careful to not go beyond their style guides for copywriting and design, but Millennials couldn't care less about a large company's style guide.

Millennials want hip brands, not stodgy ones (unless the stodgy brands are willing to poke fun at themselves and potentially become hip again).

Unfortunately, there is a limit to how much material in the inbox one can consume. The scarce commodity of attention will go to the emails that are considered cool, worth reading, exciting, a nice diversion and even hip.

That's the challenge facing the modern Millennial marketer- to create the stuff Millennials want.

I challenge you to start creating the content Millennials might want, and also to use appropriate data capture mechanisms to see what's working, what's not and adjust your creative accordingly.

[Anonymous]

I think social media should be utilized wisely because it's actually not cheap to run this kind of program.