Where the Millennials are Going

And how you can find them. -Jon Negroni 

As the age of New Media continues to march along, many new target markets are being more and more defined. One of the most exciting new target markets? Millennials. Young men and women between the ages of 18 and 29 are becoming the most important generation that marketing managers have their eyes on.  

Morley Winograd and Michael Hais, co-authors of Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation Is Remaking America, state that there are over 95 million millennials born between 1982 and 2003, and they have become America’s “largest generation.” 

So, how can your business succeed in reaching this wide and diverse target? Social media has become the go-to method for reaching millennials and for a good reason. According to eMarketer, millennials are the most active users of social media and are most likely to engage in new social media. 

For marketers, this means that the most interactive and forward-thinking media tools win the day. Simple advertisements won’t work anymore, which we’ve already seen through Facebook. Just a few days ago, General Motors dumped their Facebook ads claiming that they were “not delivering results.” This validates the TNS study from last year citing a .05% click-through rate for Facebook ads. 

So, what does work? At Richter10.2 Media Group, one of our main strategies for effective marketing is using proven, empirical methods of generating interest from our target publics, or what we like to call, “reaches.” This involves using various databases and research tools to find out where the target is and what messages are going to resonate with them. For us, social media is a tool, not a solution.  

For example, let’s say that your business specializes in making laptops geared towards college students. To be successful, this business will have to sell itself to millennials using a persuasive strategy that will gain and keep their attention. 

Videos highlighting the clear features and benefits of these products would be essential in effectively drawing in new laptop customers. (Click here to see the benefits of videos as a reach method)

At Richter10.2, we would create your video based on a quality tier system of your choosing and even show you what media channels the video can be placed on to bring about the most effective reaches. That’s where social media comes in. With our help, your business will have the resources to place the video where it will be seen the most, which includes social media channels determined to be the most appropriate for your target public. 

Through this strategy, you will identify clear increases in sales correlating with video impressions, resulting in a comprehensive outreach campaign that gave you high returns at minimal costs. Plus, this is just one example of how your business can use Richter10.2 services.  

The question, “where are millennials going,” has a simple answer. Everywhere. It’s not a matter of where marketers need to ambush this target. This is a matter of tailoring your message to the location and profile of each and every individual segment you want to reach. Instead of trying to create trends, our agency focuses on identifying and predicting trends, which leads to a personalized, effective strategy.

Interested in trying this out for your business? Give us a call. Shoot us an email. We look forward to taking it from there. 

Jon Negroni is the Director of Public Relations, Promotion, and Marketing at Richter10.2 Media Group. For more information regarding Richter10.2, check out our introduction video here.

References:

PBS: "New Book Explores How Millennials Shape American Life, Culture." 

eMarketer: "US Social Network User Penetration, by Age, 2009-2013."

Technorati: "GM Scraps Facebook Ads Stating Ineffective Returns."