Friday, November 25, 2011

6 Pro Tips for Marketing to Digital Natives

It’s a dilemma that faces almost all organizations with a product to sell or a brand to enhance: how to get the attention of the wired Millennial generation, that tricky demographic in the 17-34-year-old age range. Our cohort of Millennials is more connected than any generation before, with almost three devices per person and a canny sense of identifying the cheesy marketing ploy. Therefore, it takes a specific plan of attack to create a marketing campaign that will appeal to this group.

This article from Mashable.com lays out six different tips for making yourself relevant to the Millennials and successfully grabbing their attention. Each tip has an accompanying video of a good use of that tip, so be sure to check it out. Some are really fun!

1. Cater to their needs
Millennials need tools that are useful and that are able to push through the crowded browser windows and various social media updates to provide functional applications. We also like to be entertained and informed and we definitely want to receive some sort of award. Brands can help build Millennial loyalty be bringing the messaging down to a personal level and recognizing the work of this generation or just saying thank you for their loyalty. A little bit can go a long way.


2. Don’t be conventional
As ads infiltrate our lives from every corner, it’s important that a brand create an advertisement that will stand out and capture our attention. When we have the option of fast-forwarding through a commercial, we almost certainly will every single time. Brands need to create content that makes Millennials want to watch instead of skip through.


3. Gamify with Friends
This one doesn’t really take much further explanation—Millennials like to play games, especially when they can compete with friends. There are ways that brands can incorporate some friendly competition similar to creating a fantasy football league to encourage interaction.


4. Give them ownership
This tip is about giving millennials a chance to have a say in the creation of content as a way of engaging them in the development of a brand.


5. Let them discover
We always want to be the first to discover that next great band or song, which helps explain why programs like Pandora and Spotify that allow users to share on Facebook exactly what they’re listening to have become so successful. Some cool new marketing campaigns are allowing audiences to help discover the next big thing, and then hopefully share that with their friends, thereby increasing brand identity and loyalty.


6. Be Everywhere
The importance of a good SEO strategy is stressed in this point as today, more than ever, people are searching for information in the unlikeliest of places.

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