Marketing to millennials: The ultimate digital conundrum

Digital marketing is not a one size fits all concept. We’ve said that more than once before and we are bound to say it again. Digital marketing is a complex enough way to get sales leads for your business. By letting yourself think each digital marketing layout will work for any business, you are making the battle that much more difficult.

Where this comes into play more prominently is when your target market is of the millennial age breakdown. Millennials are very difficult to market to online. This is because they have been exposed to the internet for their entire lives. They are almost immune to online ads. Because they see so many, even if they do notice yours, their inclination is to not click and just continue scrolling.

They understand digital marketing- far more than any older generation. It’s been on their radar since they were children. They know when they are being marketed to, millennials know all the tricks in the book.

They aren’t too interested and, frankly, they just don’t like being marketed to. So, you need to be clever. Very quickly, millennials are becoming the most prominent and largest target market for businesses. Understanding how to market to them effectively is key.

To get the attention and actual clicks from millennials you MUST stand out from the crowd. You need to provide value, opportunity, and incentive to click. What makes your product worthy of their attention? How are you getting that attention? Are you using all the right channels to reach your millennials? Make sure you are giving all the information you need to your audience to get them really interested in what you have to offer.

There are certain marketing methods online that are more likely to have success for millennials. You should be using these different techniques to get sales leads from this target market and achieve marketing success.

Influencer marketing to millennials

Influencer marketing is an effective and clever way to market to millennials online. It is especially effective on Instagram. Millennials are heavily influenced by the social media celebrities they choose to expose themselves to. They want to be just like these influencers and do/ use whatever and go to wherever these influencers are doing/ using or going to.

A lot of companies use influencer marketing when targeting this increasingly prominent target market. HiSmile, Gucci and Fashion Nova are just some of the many successful companies who have built their empire through influencer marketing. Nowadays, it’s one of the most informative and subtle types of digital marketing.

Even with sponsored hashtags and posts, people are still genuinely interested in the products these influencers are advertising as a level of trust has already been developed between the influencer and the influenced. Use this trust to your advantage. Reach out to influencers you know your audience is exposed to regularly. Have them review your product and give an in-depth opinion on your products.

Giving your target market this much information, from a source they have come to know and trust online, will help generate value for your target market with your products and from value comes that potential sales lead!

Offer incentive to buy

Millennials are always looking to get as much as they can for their money. They respond well to discount codes, giveaways or gifts for spending a certain amount. Use these kinds of offers to reach out to your target market.

Give your target market something on top of already getting the product they will potentially be buying. By securing that transaction with your target market you now have a customer and have the ability to use this lead to get sales in the future.

Whether it’s a discount code associated with an influencer (very effective) or a code/ product they will easily be exposed to somewhere else, use them to get millennial interest. They’re all about getting more for less so this will work well for you to get those sales leads you’ve been waiting for.

Giveaways are very effective in creating a relationship between you and your target market as you can offer them in exchange for an email, phone number or even just a follow on your social media accounts. Either way, they become more connected to your business and you can market to them in a more subtle but effective way.

Be mobile friendly to suit millennials

Millennials are on their phones more than any other device they own. Play to that habit. Make sure your website is mobile friendly. Make sure that your marketing is occurring both on desktop and mobile channels. And make sure the functionality of all your digital marketing and your e-commerce website work just as effectively on mobile as they do on other platforms.

By providing access to what you have to offer on mobile, you will be reaching a much bigger audience. This group is more likely to click on mobile and more likely to be exposed to your content on mobile as they are so frequently on their mobile devices.

Through the use of mobile, millennials are constantly connected. Use this to your advantage. Be there constantly in ways that they respond best to.

Use your influencers, socials, discounts, prizes, giveaways and general presence to let your audience know you are there and are getting their attention with methods that go beyond traditional digital marketing methods. This will help secure their attention and interest.

Millennials are definitely one of the more difficult groups to market to. But that doesn’t mean the task is impossible. Be clever with your channels and use your social media platforms to really get them hooked on what you have to offer. Be different, provide value and challenge this target market and you will be successful in generating leads for your business.