There’s no doubt content marketing is important to businesses that want to attract and develop relationships with customers. But simply creating and curating large volumes of content is not only inefficient and often ineffective, especially when Millennials are the target market.
Millennials expect to find the information they want on social media, and they want it as customized as possible. That’s why savvy marketers focus more on creating the right content for their audience, and delivering it consistently.
How Millennials Behave Online
Millennials are consumers, too, but they behave differently than other generations. According to “Content Finds the Customer,” a report by software platform SDL,
Millennials are using their mobile devices and social platforms to create their own online experiences.
When searching for items of interest or news, they first turn to their favorite social networks, like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube. Then they check out customizable newsfeeds like Reddit, Buzzfeed or Tumblr.
Millennial Email Trends
Millennials still use email, but it’s not their preferred method of communicating and sharing information – that would be social media. However, this age group often stays connected to their communication channels all day long.
Millennials check their smartphones 43 times per day, according to the SDL survey. So an email received by a Millennial is most likely going to be viewed the day it is received.
3 Things Businesses Need to Know About Millennials
Businesses that want to connect with Millennials for marketing purposes need to know as much about their audience as possible. Here are three unique attributes when it comes to online communication with Millennials:
- Millennials Connect with Companies on Social Media
Businesses should make their content readable on any device and easily shareable. The SDL survey showed that five out of six Millennials connect with businesses on social media. Since Millennials share an average of six content pieces a day through social media and five content pieces a day through email, getting your content into their hands is important.
- Millennials Respond to Targeted Content
Businesses need to make their content relevant to the audience. The Millennial generation simply prefers content that is targeted to them, their tastes and their preferences. For music, they much prefer customized listening services such as Pandora and Spotify over random radio options that mix in songs they don’t like. Tailoring your content to them may yield greater results.
- Millennials Expect a Quick Response
Businesses should make it easy for customers to take action on an offer, and consider their speed of response when targeting Millennials. This generation grew up in an era of instant everything, from overnight shipping to 24-hour global news cycles. When interacting with companies, they expect quick service and prompt replies. For example, they prefer online chat to other forms of technical or customer support, according to the SDL survey.
3 Questions Business Should Ask Themselves
To build their brands and ensure they get the highest return on their resource investment, businesses that seek the Millennial audience should be asking themselves three important questions.
- Are we focusing our efforts where our audience can discover our content? Since Millennials are accessing information on social media first, analyze your data to see where they are engaging most with your company. Focus your efforts there, rather than taking a scattershot approach. And remember, social is not always about selling products or services: provide useful content and your customer base should naturally grow.
- How can we improve our response time? Millennials like instant gratification, so make sure your website and customer service channels are available in real time. Set up online chat. Enable alerts on social media channels so you know when your business is mentioned or an inquiry is made. Make sure to answer questions and complaints promptly.
- Does email still have a place in our strategy? While social has replaced email for content sharing, Millennials will still engage with a company through email if they know and trust the brand. Messages generated through purchased email lists will likely be ignored. Approach email strategically and you’ll be more successful.
Learning how Millennials approach brand engagement and content on social media can help you better strategize how to connect with this audience and create more satisfied, long-term customers.
Please Leave A Comment
Related posts:
Brands Need to Create Experiences When Marketing to Millennials
Millennials’ View of Business
Millennial Females Bring in the Most Referral Traffic through Social Media
Online Ad Campaigns Shifting from Direct Response to Brand Advertising, Study Says
Digital Marketing Expenditure Expected to Increase Among Small Businesses