Millennial Marketing

By Blaire Townshend

In a recent article on Search Engine Journal, Neil Patel took an unconventional tack—instead of writing about the importance of marketing TO millennials, he advised millennials on how THEY could market to others. He summarized his suggestions in five main points:

• Choose the channels that resonate with your audience
• Be your brand
• Embrace the selfie
• Strategy trumps tactics
• Look at your data

Besides these suggestions, Patel also advises millennials to emphasize "authenticity," and thinking "holistically," and to know the difference between attention and impressions. He argues that these strategies will help millennial marketers to find value and to best serve their audiences.

As a millennial myself, I find these suggestions to be in keeping with what I know of myself and how I prefer to be marketed TO. Authenticity and transparency are of the utmost importance to my generation, and we seek out brands and companies that practice both in their marketing initiatives. The idea of "being your brand" speaks to this, as well—we want the brand to accurately reflect the people who administrate it, and to feel that brands are personable and accessible. As someone who is entrenched in the arts marketing world, this is particularly relevant to me.

I found this to be an interesting article not only in its unusual focus, but also because I represent both sides of the coin. I am a millennial who who wants to pursue marketing; and the current marketable audience of interest is the millennial generation. By valuing authenticity, transparency, and relatability, as Patel suggests, I hope to effectively market to my peers in a manner in which I in turn would wish to be marketed to.



Patel, Neil. "An Introduction to Digital Marketing for Millennials (Not 'To Millennials')." Search Engine Journal. 15 Apr. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.