Millennials are rewriting the textbook on advertising in a social media driven world. Traditional ad placement can still yield results, but millennials respond best to genuine, human advertisement. Here is a short list of ways to capitalize on the new trends being set by the current generation.
Make sure your social media presence is strong. Most companies have active social media pages, but the key is to interact in such a way that shows millennials that a real person is speaking to them, not just a scripted social media bot. This means being careful to not over saturate the newsfeed with content, or you might drive away some of the more savvy millennials. A great way to strike the balance between providing enough content while retaining engaged customers is to respond to comments posted on social media. This shows millennials that someone is reading what they are writing, which will spark fierce loyalty.
Contribute creative content to online entertainment. It’s very easy for a company like Target to attract parents of children to their brand because what they offer is immediately important to them. However, consider the viral advertising produced by Red Bull. They have their brand in multiple arenas, from sports to video gaming to music. They frequently produce extreme sports videos, plaster their advertising on sports cars and airplanes, and entice gamers to purchase their drinks to unlock video game perks. For a smaller company, funding large projects like this may be impossible. However, putting your funding into a viral video that demonstrates a positive message will remind millennials that your company is filled with people that truly care.
Don’t be afraid to speak about the latest social movement. In June 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was a right in all 50 states. This marked significant progress in the efforts of the LGBTQ community to reach equality for all. People around the world celebrated by blasting social media with the iconic six-colored rainbow, representative of the LGBTQ movement. Social media brands jumped on this opportunity to show millennials that they too support marriage equality by recreating their brand icons with the iconic six-colored rainbow. It’s important to note that this can be taken too far, however. A brand took out an ad to show off their new LGBTQ friendly Twitter avatar, and this backfired. Companies being supportive of social movements can be attractive to millennials, but trying to make a profit off of those movements is a recipe for disaster.
Millennials can be a fickle demographic, but making sure that your social media content is genuine is all you need to ensure engagement from millennials.