Reaching the Millennial’s

Written By: Lea Giaquinto, Vice President of

Media

Edited By: Tim Lavelle, Director SEO/Social Media

Reaching the Millennials

Introduction

The Millennial demographic is defined as people age 18-34 and is the largest generation by population

size. Many marketers are fascinated with this demographic based upon their unique behaviors.

Millennials have become a pivotal segment for media consumption trends in the US, but they’re also

productive consumers that operate very differently than any other demographic group. It is apparent

that Millennials will have a heavy influence on the future of the content industry, as well as on the

habits of future generations.

The majority of millennials came of age at the same time as the web began to mature, helping shape the

structure and function of the internet itself along the way. Understanding millennials consumption

habits can serve as a leading indicator for the larger media landscape. Agencies and brands are eager to

understand how to engage with this demographic in order to stay ahead of the curve.

By analyzing how this segment operates, marketers are able to obtain a glimpse at what the future of

media consumption might look like.

How Can You Reach Them?

Authenticity is key for millennials. They want smart, purposeful brands that entertain, inform or

otherwise provide actual value. Brands will need to surprise and disrupt to uphold the attention of this

particular audience.

Marketers should explore letting this segment co-create content to foster authenticity and participation

in the conversation. Millennials are known to not accept boundaries and will reject brands that appear

to place roadblocks in the way of their active participation in the conversation.

Millennials comfort level with digital technology has them engaging online in ways other generations are

just beginning to understand. Let’s explore various ways that brands can successfully implement these

strategies.

Mobile

Many believe that millennial lives are ruled by the smartphone and research shows that this assertion is

pretty close to the truth. 81% of this audience owns a smartphone and 1 out of 5 are mobile-only

internet users.

According to Comscore, millennials spend an average of 96 hours a month online, and are both more

reachable, as well as more likely to engage with brands via mobile devices. In fact, it is estimated that

by 2015 more content will be consumed on mobile by millennials than any other device.

According to a 2013 study by eMarketer, “Roughly 93% of millennials used a mobile phone in 2012 and

among that about 63% used smart phones. Millennials also have the highest penetration of Internet

usage, with 93% of millennials using the Internet.”

Per Nielsen, an astounding 83 percent of millennials reporting sleeping with their smartphones, and

millenials are more than 1.5 times more likely than other demographic groups to own an iPhone.

Mobile is a needed tactic to reach and engage with the millennial audience.

Social Media

Millennials want to be connected and engage with their friends, but they’re also willing to do the same thing with brands. According to Nielsen, millennials are checking in socially between 20 and 21 hours each month.

On average, millennials actively utilize 7 social media channels throughout their daily life – with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, LinkedIn and SnapChat being amongst the most popular destinations.

In spite of what you might have heard about its declining popularity or relevancy, Facebook remains incredibly important for engaging with the millennial demographic. In reviewing the total time spent on social media channels, at least three quarters of that time is spent on Facebook, making it far more important than any other social network, but there is also substantial growing opportunities to reach millennials via Instagram, SnapChat and Tumblr.

Online Video

Millennials are far more engaged viewers of online video than other age groups, watching an average of

356 online content videos per month, which is nearly 100 more than 35-54 year-olds and twice the

number of videos watched by 55+ year-olds.

It is clear that online video is attracting the time and attention of millennials, and it’s readily apparent

that marketers seeking to engage with this demographic should be leveraging the medium. Video is

high-impact because it encompasses sight, sound and motion together in a captivating experience that

is more targetable than traditional media.

According to a recent Verizon study, the majority of media consumption now occurs away from the TV.

In fact, 68% of millennials would rather watch TV on their laptops and 31% would chose a smartphone

over their TV. (Source: Verizon. “Millennials and Entertainment.” March 2014.)

Unlike older audiences, millennials expect to watch TV when and where it is convenient for them. In

effect, millennials are far more prone to watching video on-demand, or to playing TV shows on the

Internet, when compared to those 35 and older. 64% of Millennials reported regularly accessing their TV

content online through a streaming service.

Source: Verizon. “Millennials and Entertainment.” March 2014

Key Takeaways

Perhaps the most important shift in consumer content behavior is personalization. Millennials want to

feel like they are in control and that the content they are viewing was created just for them.

Time is also very valuable to this audience, and immediate gratification must be delivered on-demand.

Millenials aren’t fond of waiting, but expect to receive the content they want, right when they want it.

This means that online offerings will increasingly become the channel through which millennials seek

traditional TV content.

Marketers must understand that they need innovative marketing programs in order to engage

millennials, and that failing to live up to their expectations risks being completely rejected by this

important segment of the population.

Millennials will continue to approach their futures with the understanding that they have countless

options in front of them. Only those brands that can accommodate and support this outlook will be able

to win the attention and support of the millennials.