Marketing To Millennials: What You
Need To Know
ConversionFanatics.com

Millennials: Who are they? What do they like? And how do they differ from previous
generations, especially in terms of digital purchasing expectations and behavior?
First coined in by historians Neil Howe and William Strauss in 1991, the term millennial
represents the cohort of people born between 1980 and 2000 (plus or minus a few
years).
Howe and Strauss chose “millennial” because research for their book Generations, which
was released just eight years into the millennial age, indicated that this generation
would be “drastically different [from] the one before and therefore needed a distinct
name. Plus, the oldest [millennials] would graduate high school in 2000, a date that
loomed large in the 90s.”

One of the most significant factors contributing to the uniqueness of this generation
stems from the way millennial children were raised, with much more “structure and
protection” than the generation that precedes it although Howe would argue that all
generations possess distinct attributes (generations are like snowflakes; no two are
exactly alike).
Nevertheless, millennials differ in a number of ways from their mostly Baby Boomer
parents. Plus, they demonstrate some serious purchasing power (presumed to spend
over $200 billion a year, according to some estimates). And as a result of these
differentiating factors, the face of business is changing, and on-the-ball marketers are
adopting strategies that factor in the distinctive behavior, values, and perceptions of the
millennial generation.

What Savvy Marketers Need to Know about
Millennials
So, what are some of the stand-out qualities of millennials that marketers should
consider?

Millennials are not makin’ it rain
Whether they’re still in college, looking for their first job, getting married, or starting a
family, many millennials are at a point in their lives during which transitions and big
changes are likely to occur.
Consequently, money is often tight for millennials and marketers should take this into
account with their marketing campaigns. For example, marketers could offer free
products or “age-driven discounts” every now and then, similar to how some companies
provide discounts for students, active-duty military, and senior citizens. It’s about
showing empathy and appreciation for the millennial consumer’s age and current stage
of life.

Millennials like to exhibit their bragging rights
Millennials are high achievers. They are accustomed to celebrating milestones. They
enjoy receiving praise. And through social media, millennials have a platform to trumpet
their achievements and experiences –from momentous occasions, like getting engaged,
to more mundane activities, like preparing a home-cooked meal—all while garnering
positive feedback from their peers through “likes,” comments, and re-tweets.
From a marketing standpoint, what this means is marketers need to be able to answer
the following question:
What can I do to make millennials want to brag about my offer?
Additionally, millennials typically have one or two preferred social networks that they
engage with more regularly than others. Therefore, marketers should spread their
message across multiple platforms and adopt a more holistic approach with their
campaigns in order to reach as many millennials as possible.

Millennials are snap decision-makers
Most marketers are familiar with the concept of the “elevator pitch”—a roughly 30-
second long speech that summarizes your offer and value proposition and gets
customers interested in learning more. Well, the timeframe to grab millennials’ attention
is even shorter—with millennials, it’s an elevator pitch in a two-story building.

Elyse Dupre: “Millennials want to know what the product is and how it’s
going to benefit them right away. It’s just the culture we grew up in.
Information has always been just a click away. If a brand can’t answer a
millennial’s question, the millennial will take his or her business
elsewhere.
My brother and I used to say, ‘patience is a waste of time,’ and while it certainly isn’t the
most virtuous saying, it does reflect the want-it-now millennial lifestyle. Brands need to
make sure that their product information is available in all forms—mobile, in-store,
online—so that millennials can access it anytime, anywhere at the drop of a hat.
Also, marketers need to get to the point. If I have to watch a video, create an account,
and wait for an email confirmation, I’m probably going to lose interest.”

Millennials’ Marketing Preferences
Recently, NPR hosted a focus group comprised of two dozen Southern Californian
millennials of varying races, genders, ages, and occupations to discuss which brands and
advertisements they liked and disliked.
Below, you’ll find a selection of quotes and a summation of the marketing qualities that
were stressed during the group’s conversation.

Top marketing qualities millennials dislike:
When it comes to advertising, there are certain qualities that millennials do not respond
to well—specifically, a lack of authenticity and misrepresentation.
Mamie Young: “One campaign that really turned me off was the Kia campaign with the
hip-hop hamsters. I think they’re trying so hard. And that kind of turns us off because
there’s a lack of authenticity When you want us to buy a car, you’re trying too hard
when you’re putting people in hamster costumes and hip-hop dancing and driving
through neon-light cities. It’s just too much.”

Sarah Harburg-Petrick: “I wish they would stop using women as props. Women are not
props, they are not headless. They are people who have feelings, desires and a lot of
cash to spend on goods. So, stop using women as if they are these soulless, shoe-
buying, pink-loving, shrink-it-and-forget-about-it things. It’s so frustrating. A soda
company basically said this is man diet soda, and women can’t apply. It was so
frustrating!”

Kenneth Mackins: “I’m super sick of seeing ads with people who are only 5 foot 8
inches to 6 feet tall and weigh, if they’re a woman, 100 pounds, and a man, maybe 150.”
Based on this evidence, in order to appeal to millennials, marketers should avoid using
gimmicks that come across as “trying too hard” and instead foster a more genuine
approach to promoting their brand or offer. Plus, they should be more inclusive in their
casting choices as well as in the messages they deliver and they should stop relying on
antiquated stereotypes to sell their goods.

Top marketing qualities millennials enjoy:
Given the qualities that the participants did not enjoy, it’s unsurprising that this group of
millennials preferred those advertisements that conveyed humility, subtlety, and
diversity.
James McOmber: “An Ikea commercial, where they just let a bunch of little cats roam
around Ikea and make themselves comfortable on the furniture. The end was something
like, ‘A place to call home,’ or something about home. I personally just liked it because it
wasn’t too loud or in your face. It kind of just stayed quiet. It was subtle. I like subtle.”

Garrett Black: “One of my favorite ads that I’ve seen recently are the [Lipton] Brisk ads:
‘not half bad.’ Because everybody’s trying to throw it in your face and say, ‘This is the
best thing ever, this is great.’ No one just admits, ‘Yeah it’s pretty good and you should
try it.’ That has probably been more effective than anything else, just the complete
undersell.”

Amy Sandefur: “I think Cheerios had a great marketing campaign, especially their focus
on homosexual marriages and children and bringing all of that together. And I think that
awareness points to things that are happening socially. I liked that they put out an ad
recently where I couldn’t even tell that the ad was for Cheerios until the end, because
the message was completely different. I think it’s interesting that companies feel social
responsibility to put good things out in the world.”
Millennials don’t want to be hit over the head with a caffeinated sales approach that
relies on hype and buzz words; they want honesty and authenticity. And if a marketing
campaign incorporates a dash of social awareness, then more power to it.

The Best Apps for Marketing to
Millennials
Millennials consume content in a big way, and most of their content consumption
occurs via their phone or tablet. A Pew study reports that “mobile devices are the
primary access point to the Internet for more than 50 percent of younger millennials.”
Moreover, an Experian study found that millennials use their phones 14 percent
more than older consumers to engage in activities, such as texting, communicating and
keeping up with their friends and family on social media, and interacting with apps.

Justin Christianson, co-founder of Conversion Fanatics: “In market
segments ranging from 18-years-old to 34, be sure you are thinking mobile.
Finding ways to integrate your advertising in a native fashion into mobile
applications and programs will continue to be the key to get in front of the
millennial audience.”
On average, millennials have 21 apps per phone, including apps for games, music, and
social networking. Therefore, considering millennials’ penchant for mobile devices,
marketers should take a “mobile-first” approach to engage with millennials,
“because the technology is an extension of their personalities and something they
interact with on a daily basis.”

Furthermore, marketers need to catch millennials’ attention quickly, as millennials
respond better to images and bite-sized portions of text; plus, most of the popular
mobile apps are visual-centric.
Below, you’ll find a list of four of the best apps used for marketing to millennials:

Snapchat
Snapchat now includes a range of new features, including Live Stories, Discover, and
most recently, geo-filters, which are location-based in-app stickers that users can select
and add to their snaps in order to tag their current location, event, or activity.
Resonating with millennials’ desire to differentiate their content from that of other
people, tagging has become a popular social media trend, and geo-filters take text-
based tagging to the next level by enabling users to distinguish their content by adding
engaging context to their snaps.

Additionally, users have to activate the location service on their phones in order for
Snapchat to discern whether their location falls within the parameters of a particular
geo-filter’s boundaries. This makes each geo-filter somewhat exclusive and content-
sharing becomes even more gratifying for millennials, as geo-filters act as the antidote
to the FOMO (“fear of missing out”) bug.
Furthermore, advertising through sponsored geo-filters works well with millennials
because sponsored geo-filters integrate into the Snapchat user-experience more
organically and less intrusively. Plus, word-of-mouth recommendations are very
powerful with millennials.

Tai Tran: “This summer, McDonalds became the first advertiser to create
sponsored Snapchat’s geo-filters. McDonald’s geo-filters blend nicely
with the other geo-filters that users can choose from—when a user is
nearby a McDonald’s, they can now decorate their Snaps with falling
golden fries and a cheeseburger.

With McDonalds choosing to advertise through the geo-filters instead of through the
Discover channels, it successfully engages millennials because adding geo-filters to
snaps make the advertisement customizable and personal for each user. In addition,
each time a snap with the geo-filter is sent, the user on the receiving end will also see it,
thus increasing McDonald’s awareness.”
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Twitter
Millennials love Twitter for a number of reasons: Twitter alleviates boredom through
laughter; tweeting about live experiences and events, such as the Oscars, makes them
more fun; and Twitter allows users to document their stories and perspectives in real-
time.
Given these inclinations, marketers should take the actions listed below to more
effectively engage with millennials and use the following examples provided by Aaron
Moy as inspiration:

1. Share funny content when appropriate and relevant: “For example, while ‘5SOS’ may
not be a family term to some of us, Denny’s knew that it stood for 5 Seconds of
Summer, an Australian pop punk band beloved by millennials. They include the
reference in this funny tweet.”
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2. Use a calendar to keep track of popular events and strategize ways to engage in real-
time: “For example, Trident and other brands quickly generated Tweets in response to
plays at the World Cup.”
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3. Let millennials interact with your brand while simultaneously sharing information
about themselves: “For example, @MadMen_AMC came up with a sophisticated way for
users to tweet that they would be watching the Mad Men season finale last April: they
enabled users to customize an image of a Mad Men character that stated the user
would be ‘out of office’ during the show.”
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Instagram
More and more, images are becoming a core element of online communication and
Instagram perfectly serves this predilection for visuals. As of September, Instagram
has over 400 million monthly active users, and according to the Pew Institute, “53% of
people aged 18-29, which is the majority of the millennial generation, use Instagram.”
Instagram allows users to brilliantly showcase even mundane experiences in a way that’s
both beautiful and compelling, which taps into millennials’ YOLO (“you only live once”)
mentality, as cheesy as it may sound, and the way they value having experiences over
owning material goods.
One of the most commonly cited tips for marketers trying to reach millennials via
Instagram is to “keep it real.” Matt Britton, founder and CEO of New York-based MRY,
shares the following insights:

Matt Britton: “Nobody wants to see an ad on Instagram, period.
Instagram is all about authenticity and telling the world what you are, as
a person or as a brand, one photo at a time. So before posting, ask
yourself whether your photo comes off as authentic or commercialized.
If it doesn’t feel 100 percent real, don’t post it.
This isn’t the channel to re-post your print ads. It’s the channel to tell your brain story
authentically, the same way your customers tell and share their own stories. What does
your brand care about? Where does your brand go? Who does it spend time with?
The mantra of YouthNation for talking on Instagram is ‘show us—don’t tell us.’”

Another Instagram best-practice is to optimize the power of “white space” in both your
Instagram captions and bio. Lengthy passages of text discourage users from reading
your information, but by separating your copy with line breaks, you increase users’ level
of attention and engagement.
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Adding line breaks to Instagram captions is a little bit tricky, however. Paul Ramondo of
RamondoMedia lets you in on the secret:
Paul Ramondo: “So how do you do it?
1. Create your desired text, complete with the line breaks/white
space you want.
2. In order for your paragraph to work, you need to remove any
characters, spaces or emojis following your text.
3. Publish the images and BOOM, you now have spaces breaking up your text-
heavy caption—just nobody call the grammar police.”

As a final suggestion for marketers trying to reach millennials with Instagram, stay
relevant when it comes to cultural trends. Millennials have been responsible for pop-
culture movements, such as “Throwback Thursday” (#TBT), which spread like wildfire and
subsequently became part of the common vernacular.
So marketers need to remain up-to-date on these types of trends and then leverage
opportunities to demonstrate their brand’s relevance.

Vine
While Vine’s level of influence certainly pales in comparison to Twitter and Instagram,
the video app does still hold significant clout with millennials, reaching 14% of the total
digital population in the U.S. And this may seem like some potatoes, but the Vine
community is highly engaged and active, with more than 100 million people watching
Vine videos every month and Vine users sharing 8.333 videos each minute.
Plus, Vine doesn’t limit you to being able to share your videos only on its network; you
can get even more views by sharing your content on Facebook and Twitter as well. So
don’t underestimate the marketing potential that Vine could have for your brand and
offers, especially if you’re targeting younger millennials.

Jeff Fromm: “A few ways brands can use Vine include:
1. To show the action
Vine’s format is perfect for showing what’s going on and conveying excitement…An
example includes the San Francisco Giants, which recorded a Vine of the opening pitch
earlier this [year.]
2. To show company culture (and have a little fun)
[Recently], Urban Outfitters used Vine to create a Vine of a god giving a high-five. It
received more than 2,500 ‘likes.’
3. To show your products
Gap used Vine to showcase a new product available in select stores.”
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Another innovative suggestion for how brands can use Vine is to create a DIY video—
whether it’s an overview of a project or just a quick tip. Vines can be much more
engaging compared to a tweet or Facebook post.
Also, marketers can use Vine to give customers a behind-the-scenes peek at the
happenings of their company, thus demonstrating a different side of their brand and a
little something special.

Conclusion
The millennial generation is unique—there’s no doubt about it. Millennials have distinct
values, perspectives, goals, and behaviors. According to Forbes, “Millennials rank
inward-focused values like happiness and discovery higher than collective-focused
values that mark the Baby Boomers generation, such as family and practicality.”
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Plus, millennials have distinct buying patterns, which make marketing to millennials a
horse of a different color. But with more than 80 million millennials in the United States
—representing almost one quarter of the entire population—along with the purchasing
power of $200 billion each year, millennials are without a doubt the “most lucrative
market.”
Therefore, marketers need to make millennials a priority. And by learning what makes
this generation tick, marketers can foster a more relevant and relatable connection
between millennials and their brand.