It’s no secret – marketing to millennials is tricky. Millennials have a huge amount of buying power and make up 58% of mobile shoppers. Because of this, many companies and brands are trying to figure out how to tap into the buying power of the millennial generation – without going broke.
It’s a competitive space, but there are also many cost-effective ways to reach millennials. Much of this is due to the fact that social media, particularly where video is concerned, is wildly popular among millennials and also happens to be one of the least expensive ways to market your brand.
Influencer marketing is also gaining popularity, and for good reason: it works. At Clever Real Estate, we surveyed 1140 Americans and found that millennials are 54% more likely to purchase a product or utilize a service recommended to them by a social media influencer than the previous generations.
It’s also been shown that a mixture of funny and educational content is most likely to influence millennials to purchase, with 43% preferring funny content and 29% preferring informative content.
While Facebook has been king in the social media marketplace for a long time, YouTube and Instagram – especially now that IGTV is gaining popularity – are quickly gaining on Facebook as the preferred social media outlets for millennials.
So what does all of this mean for brands? How can you tap into the millennial buying power while still saving money?
Here’s what you need to know below.
Organic Growth is Cheap and Effective (When Done Right)
For those who don’t mind spending endless amounts of cash, marketing can be successful in a number of ways. However, following the initial success of a well-funded ad campaign, the stark reality hits – you have to run another campaign to keep the momentum going.
That’s why organic growth, such as growing a YouTube channel or an Instagram account, is so beneficial to marketing your product. You have to invest a lot of time into creating good content that resonates with your audience. However, in return you save a lot of cash, and the efforts you put in pays dividends and keeps working for you in the background.
What’s more, most millennials are over the in-your-face sales tactics of the past. They’re much more willing to listen to social media influencers tell them about an affiliate link than they are to listen to a commercial on television. By reaching out to a handful of lesser-known (but niche) online influencers and pitching a partnership, entrepreneurs can strike deals that grow their presence cost-effectively.
When creating video content on YouTube, focus on answering specific questions your audience has that your competitors aren’t thinking about. Concise, to-the-point videos get your brand attention and establish thought leadership.
Organic growth relies mostly on the time you put in and the quality of the content you create. It also relies on consistency. If you can create quality content on a consistent schedule that resonates with your audience, you’ll see growth happen – and it’ll be growth that lasts.
Affiliate Marketing Works
As mentioned above, products and services that are mentioned by social media influencers tend to sell well because their audience likes to help them out. The audiences of social media stars on Instagram and YouTube are invested not just in the content that their chosen influencers create, but are genuinely invested in the well-being and success of their favorite creators.
That’s great for businesses because simply sponsoring a video and offering an affiliate link can result in a huge boost in sales. Offering to return a portion of the sales made from an influencers dedicated link back to the influencer doesn’t cost a lot of money, but it can be wildly beneficial.
Influencer audiences are happy to shop with affiliate links knowing that they’re supporting their favorite creators without having to pay more.
The Power of Micro-Influencers
When you think about a social media influencer, you may think of huge YouTube stars with tens of millions of subscribers. However, these influencers can often be hard to contact and expensive to work with.
That’s why it’s so important not to overlook micro-influencers. These are creators who have between 1,000 and 100,000 followers. It might not sound like much, but these are often some of the most dedicated followers around.
They make up the core of the influencer’s fan base, and even if that influencer goes on to worldwide YouTube fame, those core 100,000 people will always be driving the engine of growth and championing their creator of choice.
Micro-influencers are also far easier to contact, less expensive to work with, and tend to be big in whatever niche they operate in. For instance, beauty channels that focus solely on beauty tips for a certain ethnic group or niche channels that focus on a specific aspect of gardening might not seem like obvious choices for influencers to work with.
However, if those micro-influencers have a lot of committed fans who would like your product or service, the low cost to entry can still make it a great opportunity.
Facebook is Still King
Yes, it’s true; many millennials have started to drift away from Facebook in favor of video-related platforms like Instagram and YouTube. However, Facebook is still king.
Not having a Facebook page is like not having a website. Regardless of how often millennials might choose to use it, if you don’t have it, they won’t consider you legitimate.
Video is Vital
Finally, while you’re growing your own YouTube channel and Instagram account and gaining organic traffic, it’s important to focus on video.
Not that long ago, video was merely an extra. It was nice to have and made you look flashy, but it was considered icing on the cake.
Those days are gone. Now, with the emergence and increasing affordability of AI and VR technology, video is just a given. If you’re not creating quality video content for your audience, you’re alienating a huge portion of the millennial audience.
Get behind video, start making great content, and watch your following increase even faster.
There’s still a lot to learn in the world of social media-based influencer marketing and video content, but it’s a worthwhile undertaking for businesses who understand the power of marketing to millennials.
At its core, marketing is all about psychology, and the psychology of marketing to millennials is largely centered on digital media, social media, devices and mobile shopping, and online behavior.
Get in the game, learn what sells to millennials, and up your video game. Once organic growth starts happening, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see just how fast you can tap into the millennial market.
