What Are the Best Marketing Channels for Millennials in 2020?

Many marketers are finding it hard to please millennials – a generation of digital natives, who make decisions based on online reviews, word of mouth information, and research. So, what are the best marketing channels for millennials in 2020? Let’s find out.

Millennials have grown up in the age of digitization and are known to be self-aware, socially conscious, entrepreneurial, and have a fresh perspective on life.

Let’s take a look at some insights about millennials as uncovered by Goldman SachsOpens a new window :

• Millennials are those born between the years 1980-2000
• This generation is the biggest population currently in US history, estimated to be around 92 million
• Millennials prefer to access (or rent) the products and not be burdened by ownership – 60% of millennials chose to rent and not buy luxury items
• 57% of millennials compare prices before making a purchase decision
• Price and quality are the key factors while making a purchase
• They turn to social media and online networks to make the purchase decision and most of them prefer to buy online

Millennials are reshaping the economy with their different attitudes to ownership, need for instant gratification, price comparison, and reviews. As this generation is now in their prime working and spending years, they have a significant impact on the market and the economy.

But what should be your outreach strategy for millennials? Is social media still the best marketing channel to reach out to millennials? Can we rely on search? What about email marketing?

For millennials, engagement preferences may be more different than any generation before, and brands need to have the data of how interaction and engagement actually drives increases in frequency and spend to make informed decisions on what channels are best for engaging their audience.

~ Dennis Becker, CEO of Mobivity, exclusively to MarTech Advisor

We dig deeper to find out more about the best marketing channels for millennials for your 2020 strategy.

Top Channels for Your Millennial Marketing Strategy

It is difficult to win over millennials with traditional marketing. To market to them effectively, you need to understand their mindset, reach out to them at the right moment, right time, and serve them fresh and authentic content that resonates with them.

For your 2020 millennial marketing strategy, you could:

1. Tweak Your Social Media Strategy
 

Different generations use social media platformsOpens a new window for different reasons. For instance, Baby Boomers use social media platforms like Facebook to connect with peers, gather news, and share media. Millennials divide their time across multiple platforms like Facebook and Messenger to connect with friends, family, and peers; Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest to keep up with trends; and Twitter and LinkedIn for news and to connect with their professional peer group. Gen-Z is a tech-savvy generation that uses platforms like TikTok and Snapchat for visual communication and community experiences.

With growing privacy concerns and more fake news, making the rounds, it seems like younger users are losing interest in platforms like Facebook.

So, what should your social media strategy include in the near future?

Millennials learn to adapt quickly and try out new platforms. So apart from Facebook, visual platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and Pinterest too have become popular among them.

• While millennials are pressed for time, using visuals like images, GIFs, memes to communicate your brand message can drive both awareness and engagement among your audience.
• Collaborating with influencers on the social media platforms to win millennials’ trust can immensely boost your millennial marketing strategy.
• Producing engaging content like original photos, behind the scenes or product demonstration videos, DIY tutorials, and user-generated content will help you improve brand awareness and brand recall.
   

2. Leverage Video Platforms
 

We all know how valuable video marketing is today. Video platforms such as YouTubeOpens a new window and TikTokOpens a new window can serve as the best marketing channel for the millennials. It is difficult to capture millennials’ attention, given their busy lives and visual content is easier (and quicker) to absorb and has a lasting impression. Also, millennials and Gen-Zers enjoy creating and posting videos, thus offering a huge opportunity for marketers to engage them in content creation.

For creating a compelling video marketing strategy for the millennials, you could:

• Tell your brand story with compelling videos or short movies.
• Invite users to create and share their videos to engage more and form a relationship with your brand.
• Leverage trending music and hashtags to build your brand’s video content.
• How-to videos are a great way to showcase your products and services to your target audience.
   

3. Fortify your SEO with Compelling Content
 

Millennials do thorough research before making their purchase decisions, and the best way to learn about a product or a brand is to search for it. Hence, being on top of the Search Engine Results Page is crucial for reaching out to millennials.

But with recent Google updates like BERT, marketers are wondering whether crafting search optimized content will still work.

Well, instead of optimizing your content for search, brands should focus on:

• Creating compelling and relevant content
• Structuring your content to address users’ problem
• Match the context of content with user intent
• Preparing your content for conversational and voice search
   

Learn More: How to Beat BERT: Combating Google’s Latest BERT UpdateOpens a new window

4. Social Proof
 

Millennials are not impulse-buyers, and neither do they trust traditional advertising. They perform thorough research, speak to peers, or read product reviews before making a purchase decisionOpens a new window .

Marketers should, therefore, invest their resources to gain social proof that could feed a millennial’s purchase decision.

• Google Reviews and Yelp are a good place to gather user reviews
• Addressing user concerns when they write a comment or review is a good practice, and it helps build trust among customers. Thanking customers for positive feedback drives loyalty.
• Most customers don’t write a review, and others do only when they have negative feedback. Encourage and remind your customers to review your products (or services) soon after purchase/delivery.
• Being proactive in seeking user feedback (or review) through email or in-app.
   

Learn More: How to Put Negative Customer Feedback to Work for YouOpens a new window

5. Go Mobile
 

53% of millennials use tablets, and 19% of millennials are smartphone-only internet users, according to PewResearch CenterOpens a new window . This is why adopting a mobile-first approachOpens a new window is a must to reach out to millennials.

Here is what you can do for a mobile-first strategy for marketing to millennials

• Optimize your websites and ads for mobileOpens a new window
• Use location-driven marketingOpens a new window for sending out targeted, real-time marketing messages
• Create consistent, seamless, and integrated experiences
   

Learn More: Mobile Marketing: Navigating the Modern ConsumerOpens a new window

Key Takeaways

Millennials respond to discounts and personalized recognition available via loyalty programs. Knowing where to place limited marketing dollars in a way that delivers unprecedented Returns on Marketing Spend is the only way to truly tap into a variety of audience preferences across generations.

~ Dennis Becker, CEO of Mobivity, exclusively to MarTech Advisor

Marketing to millennials is no mean feat. Marketers need to be consistent and persistent in their efforts to create memorable experiences that are driven by data, quality content, and value to users.

The best marketing channels for millennials are:

1. Social media with authentic content that users need or look for. Visual content like images, GIFs, and memes that can capture their attention.
2. Video platforms like YouTube and TikTok, which captures their attention and helps solve their problems.
3. Creating compelling, structured, and conversational content can help you optimize for search and improve brand awareness.
4. Gathering social proof like user reviews and customer feedback is essential to winning millennials’ trust.
5. A mobile-first strategy should now be a priority to create seamless mobile experiences for millennials.
    

Different generations have grown up in different ecological, financial, and technological environments that shape the way they think and perceive things. It is, therefore important to understand their core beliefs and fit your marketing message accordingly. Understanding where your target audience is and their preferences can help you find the best marketing channels for them.

Are you using different marketing channels to market to different generations? Share with us on TwitterOpens a new window , LinkedInOpens a new window , or FacebookOpens a new window ; we’re always listening!