The definition of Millennials (future micro influencers) as given by the U.S Census Bureau is that they are the people born between 1982 and 2000. Millennials are 83.1 million strong and they form one-quarter i.e. the largest demographic section of the U.S population.
The United States of America is home to about 87.5 million Millennials between the age of 18 to 29 as compared with 83.7 million who are categorized as “Generation X” with their ages between 30 to 49 years. On the other hand, about 66.4 million of the total populace is covered by baby boomers ( 50 years and older).
By 2020, millennials are anticipated to account for an estimated 30% of retail sales in the United States. Keep in mind that we are talking $1.4 trillion in spending.
Successful marketing to Millennials:
The secret to successful marketing to Millenials lies in the realization that they are a very different generation, and their way of thinking and purchasing is different as well.
1. Millennials think and consume differently
The 18-to-34-year-olds differ in media consumption and purchasing habits as their parents and grandparents. They not only outnumber the baby boomers and the generation x category. But also differ in their habits of thinking and consuming owing to the fact that they are brought up in the worst economic conditions and the marketers are not usually, as a matter of fact, accustomed to target that. The 18-to-34 years old are people who are driven by their hearts and not brains, and there is so much more to define them than simply regarding them as ” the first generation of digital natives”. They intend to make up their own mind so the advertising pitches that have been working well with baby boomers and Gen X-ers might not come handy with Millenials because these 18- to 34-year-olds don’t have the
same media consumption and buying habits as their parents and grandparents.
2. Millennials are always busy on their smartphones
Being the first generation of digital natives, you will always find Millennials busy on their smartphones. No wonder they are reported to own 7.7 connected divides out of which they use 3.3 on a daily basis.
Another important fact to take into account is that an 18-year-old is different from a 34-year-old in many ways, about 90% of teenagers reportedly live with someone else i.e. a parent or parents. On the other hand, about 30% of the 34 years old live in their own homes and 60% with their children. Owing to the excessive use of the internet, about 54% Millennials prefer making online purchases over physically visiting the market. This indicates an increasing need for web-presence, e-commerce, and digital marketing.
3. Millennials prefer visual rather than the verbal content
With the rapid evolution of social media in the last score of years, Millennials are drawn more towards the visual content such as graphics and mini-videos as compared to the heavier information content in verbal posts. This consequently has led marketing towards visual platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube among others.
4. Millennials are social media driven
Millennials have taken over Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. The majority of these social media pages have focused on a topic of common interest such as fitness, beauty, travel, clothing, crafts and have successfully generated a huge fan-base. The charismatic appeal of these social media pages having a follower base of hundreds and thousands of people has led a vast majority of companies, big or small, to court these social media platforms to endorse their brands and products.
5. Millennials look up to blogs and bloggers for inspiration
Micro influencers are recruited by small-to-medium businesses for advertising and endorsing their brands, while large companies still turn towards macro influencers which include celebrities such as models, actors, and athletes for marketing.
Celebrities are of course capable of drawing attention and building brand awareness. However, influencers have networks too large to develop organic elationships with their followers, which leads to their content being perceived as advertising. From your customers perspective, promoting your Brand by hiring celebrities does not hold much leverage as compared to the micro influencers who are trusted in their fields.
6. Millennials trust Peer Recommendations
Micro influencers and Ambassadors act as the building blocks of your marketing regimen. Micro influencers are revolutionizing the whole marketing industry. According to stats, working with a micro influencer will boost your Brand’s engagement up to 3 times compared to traditional adveritising through Influencer and Digital media marketing. Micro influencers have been reported to be 6.7 times more efficient than macro influencers which leads to an easy, and cost-efficient targeting choice.
Micro influencer marketing is proven to drive higher engagement rates than conventional marketing strategies. Moreover, influencer marketing is gaining popularity because of its flexibility, ease, and scalability. Working with 10 micro influencers with 40,000 followers each will give you better results than working with one macro influencer with large followers. The final result is a deeper reach within your target audience through trusted sources of peer recommendations.
