5 Tips for Marketing to Millennials: The ‘Evolution’ Will Not be Televised

If you were born after 1980, chances are you could recite a half dozen jingles from childhood TV shows but most of us would struggle to recite more than 3 people’s phone numbers. #guilty

We grew up being sold to constantly, from before our earliest memories were formed. Our favourite shows were interrupted every 12 minutes with Ronald McDonald and Tony the Tiger, animated characters that appealed to our innocence and blurred the line between entertainment and advertising.

As millennials grew up, the evolution of marketing moved away from television and followed to social media, AdWords and the first viral videos before YouTube even existed (cue: “It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time!”). Needless to say, millennials developed an immunity to traditional marketing as quickly as it could evolve.

Here are five tips for marketing to millennials and Gen Zs:

1. Remember, filtering is second nature. We’ll scroll past or ’Skip This Ad’ almost on autopilot. It is said that the average person is exposed to 5,000 ads per day. No one can process that amount of information, so we've become human ad blockers by default.

That being said, millennials don’t actually mind ads as we rely on them to discover new products and services. What we do mind is ads that miss the mark - in terms of the content, the brand, the voice, or the actual product itself.

Which brings me to my next point…

2. By all means, get personal. Content matters, yes. But making an authentic connection means you need to understand who you’re speaking to, because millennials are not one-size-fits-all. It requires immersion into our networks and lifestyles in much the same way that we would welcome a new friend into our circle. We’ve seen this with brands partnering with social media influencers, endorsers and affiliates.

3. Don’t sell a product, tell a story. Millennials are more likely to choose brands we feel a personal connection to, with values that mirror our own and with missions we can identify with.

4. Connection before conversion. Much like real-life human interactions, it takes a dialogue for brands to engage millennials and build lasting relationships. But don’t stop there - actually listen. Allow the dialogue to gauge what matters to your millennial customers, and whether you’re heading in the right direction as a brand.

5. Build relationships and credibility with inbound marketing. While this doesn’t just go for millennials, it’s importance cannot be overstated. By understand your customers' pain points and creating content to help them solve it during their buying process, you effectively draw your customers to you. The reason this matters most to millennials is because it builds trust, by showing up with the right information at the right time while they are doing research during a purchase consideration.

Marketing to millennials has evolved to more closely mimic human interaction where building personal relationships, maintaining authenticity, and solving a legitimate customer need will carry you further than a tagline or ad campaign ever will.

About me: I've helped companies from music PR agencies to dating apps to recruitment attract millennials for the past five years through re-branding, brand storytelling, social media growth hacking, and partner marketing. www.marieladelamora.com