Every generation seems to have some generalizations attached to it. For example, the mid-century “greatest generation” is now popularly identified with overcoming obstacles with a can-do attitude. The of the 1960’s generation is painted as about flower-power, free love, and drug experimentation. Most recently, the so-called Millennials have been attached to some not-so-positive traits like self-entitlement.
How all of this becomes important for marketers is understanding our audience, their behaviors, and their traits. This is where we tap in, develop an engagement, build trust, and be able to do business. So, it’s critical for us to get it right and not get lost in popular biases and misconceptions. For example, when it comes to bootstrapping their learning, Millennials are a strong model of self sufficiency. The research in 2017 showed that 70% of Millennial YouTube users watched a video to learn how to do something.
it also turns out that they are almost 3x as likely to leverage video to learn something versus an instruction manual or a book. This is all valuable data for marketers. Imagine the waste of printed materials in targeting products for these users. Conversely, imagine the frustrations that will be caused if you don’t provide an online version of instructions. Going further, visualize the engagement of a new stream of users on your YouTube channel, that you have the ability to connect with and perhaps show a highly relevant ad. Or, at least provide further value with information they’re looking for and links to more material on your site.
Finally, Millennials also leverage communities like YouTube to learn about their place in the world, as well. They have shown that they connect strongly with those that share their own struggles and how they’ve overcome them. This is a call out for marketers to think about their brand and authenticity. Especially with video, there’s a great opportunity to be authentic and “keep it real”. As well, reading from a script and having your presentation be too canned is also something that video exposes quite well.
Times change and it’s fair to say that the generations develop some generally true behaviors and traits. The Millennial generation gives businesses and organizations great clues to how they want to consume, be engaged, and how they want to connect. This is an opportunity for marketers to pick the right approaches to get great results.
Contact us at Red Fin Marketing to get better insights about your audience and better achieve your goals. We handle everything from website development, marketing strategy, social media management, to completely outsourcing your digital marketing department. The methods and tools are not our focus, your results are.