Millennial-speak: Let data do the talking

A data-led guide to marketing to millennials

They say we are prone to spending money, careless with personal data, and technology is second nature to us – well, it’s partly true. But it doesn’t mean waving your brand in front of our faces will guarantee you our attention.

Trust me, I’m a millennial and you bet we’re discerning. But I promise you that we are fiercely grounded in authenticity and self-expression. As digital natives (that’s what they call us), our cyber footprints are literally all over the internet.

But remember one thing before marketing to us: Please, get to know us first!

As we (the entitled millennials) are not all the same, you should use insights to tailor kick-ass marketing and PR campaigns to us. Here are 3 sure-fire avenues to get to know us (aka collecting data) and help your brand to zoom in on the ever so critical Gen Y:

Basic Data Analytics

Whether it’s Google Analytics, Facebook or Instagram insights, the basic level of data is easily accessible to all marketers and brands. Studying the data will reveal where online traffic originates, what posts are most popular and, more importantly, will tell you what topics drive the greatest engagement from millennial audiences. So, dive into the data and see where your target audience and millennials connect.

Social Sentiments

Social listening tools like Meltwater can help you track conversations across a variety of online and social media platforms that may not necessarily be owned by you. As the millennial world moves fast, you want to quickly pick up on online conversations and the sentiments surrounding them. Are they positive or negative? Can you use them for trend-jacking?

Third-party Research

Looking at a bigger picture, you want to get research and consultancy firms like Nielsen and Euromonitor involved. With the help of their comprehensive database, you can gain some insights into the millennial pulse.  While the free online samples may not necessarily reveal all that juicy data, they should provide you with an adequate snapshot to point you in the right direction.

Questionnaires

Scalable, easy to conduct and great for getting to know millennials questionnaires can be tailored to suit specific demographics and/or geographics. Considerable effort needs to go into asking the right questions so that collectively the responses will reveal insights that might support your campaign objectives. Using platforms such as Google Forms and SurveyMonkey make it really easy for your business to reach audiences.

Be a Millennial

If you really want to get under our skin (and into our minds), then you should behave like one of us. Get on Reddit, join Facebook and Instagram live events, and watch YouTube videos – don’t forget to read the comments. It’s the most authentic way to connect with us.  I know that millennials have gained quite the reputation for having an inflated sense of entitlement, but once you’re better acquainted with us, you will better understand our needs, concerns and priorities in life.

But just like you too – we agree that personalised treatment never goes out of style. Regardless of the generation, customising your brand’s messaging to your target audience will always be part of the right path.

You want to hear what millennials think about your campaign? Drop us a message at [email protected].

5 reasons Millennials and PR agencies are the perfect match

The Millennial generation are making their mark on the professional workforce, gradually climbing the corporate ladder and bagging leadership roles, with many taking an entrepreneurial path and running their own successful business.

There are a lot of opinions out there about this (large) group of individuals, who make up a huge percentage of today’s workforce. Some say they’re entitled, narcissistic and lazy – but if you can harness their potential in the right ways, you might see the magic that makes this chosen generation a special one.

Speaking from first-hand experience as a Millennial myself, we can break away from the archaic and stiff stereotype office environment, and are fiercely creative. We thrive on collaborating and brainstorming, but can also be independent workers who enjoy the alternative, less beaten path and the thrill of a challenge.

We can help push the envelope for your brand, forcing and enabling your team to come up with better and more challenging ideas that stray away from cookie cutter corporations. We’re not perfect – and there are always going to be challenges for companies managing multi-generational employees – but we can give that edge and bite you might need.

If you’re on a bit of a hiring spree for your business or agency, keep in mind the following reasons Millennials can help with your overall workflow and success.

  1.     We multitask like we were born juggling

I’ve got my headphones plugged into Mixcloud, both Whatsapp, Facebook and my email open on my browser, and I’m Skyping colleagues while writing this blog.

Millennials are natural multitaskers, having grown up in a distracting world full of screens, bright lights and loud noises. Yes, for some it can be distracting – I mean, it’s not like we’re all the same – but a rather natural ability to multitask forces us to practice discipline and time management to get top priority tasks done.

  1.     Creativity and brainstorming is our bread and butter

We thrive on collaboration and forming ideas. We enjoy the social aspect of work, throwing ideas around and drawing on others’ expertise and knowledge to shape our own thoughts and opinions. We like strategy, and we like to feel part of something bigger. We want the big picture to feature our faces (perhaps this is where we get someone narcissistic…), meaning we’re willing to put in the creative work needed to execute big campaigns and manage dynamic clients.

  1.     We’re outspoken

Millennials aren’t afraid to speak their minds. Because we want to be heard, we are confident in our abilities and won’t hesitate to share our ideas, thoughts and displeasure equally. However, this doesn’t always work in our favour – it’s easy to come across as unreasonable or defensive, but with the right management and support in place, we can very much harness our strong opinions in the right way for your business.

  1.     We’re hyper-aware

We are in tuned with current affairs, trends and understand how social media works. We scroll through our feed in the morning like reading the papers. We’re present on multiple platforms, taking in bite-sized pieces of information about what is happening around the world around us, making sure we don’t miss anything. Sure, sometimes our knowledge isn’t in-depth, but you can’t argue that most of us don’t have an awareness of the latest news and trends. This can only help with building ideas for campaigns and story ideas for journalists that are timely and interesting.

  1.     We are egalitarian – and we expect our employers to be, too

Our generation is a diverse one. We have progressed to become more understanding and accepting of cultures, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientation and much more, and we are therefore generally empathetic to differences. This is especially helpful when it comes to client management in a social setting; we’re more aware of different cultural practices such as bowing, saying “cheers” in different languages, and so on.

At the end of the day, Millennials aren’t really all that different from the generations before them in terms of what they want to get out of their lives. They simply come from a different, more modern, background – and depending on the individual and the company they work for, this could work for or against them.

Intuition, skill, capabilities, attitude and a smidgen of luck all play a part in achieving your ideal hire. All the best!

Interested in boosting your employer branding through a strong PR or content campaign to attract the best talent? We can help! Get in touch at [email protected]