Using video to market to millennials in 2021 is your opportunity to set your product or service apart.
As the largest generation in the U.S., millennials are the target audience for many products and services. But this group can be tricky to market to, as their tendencies and rapid consumption of online content frequently shifts.
Recent studies show a preference among millennials for high-quality, funny, and informative content. Marketing videos shared on social media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, are likely to get many hits with this demographic, as are videos endorsed by trusted sites and influencers.
Millennials are a notoriously tricky generation to market to, as they are avid consumers of online platforms but their interests are constantly shifting. Millennials — anyone born between 1981 and 1996 or so — grew up during the rapid expansion of the internet. They are primed for online marketing, but producing marketing that holds millennials’ attention can be tricky.
The American Marketing Association (AMA) explains that millennials appear to be one of the hardest generations to understand, but there are ways to engage them online. They are searching for attention-grabbing content that connects them with products they are interested in.
Although millennials exhibit shifting preferences, they are 25 percent more likely to engage with online advertisements than older generations. The key is to know what types of online content millennials respond to and which platforms they most frequently utilize.
A recent eMarketer study found that over 89 percent of millennials watch digital video, such as YouTube, at least once per month. Experts predict that this number will continue to rise each year. In 2017, almost half of millennials watched their favorite shows on social media.
The increase in social media platforms that offer digital videos has added to this trend. Particularly with younger millennials who demonstrate high rates of social media use, a lot of video viewing takes place on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat.
Posting your marketing videos on the right platforms is key to the success of your advertising campaigns.
If your goal is to market to millennials, video advertising is the way to go. A recent study conducted by Clever Real Estate found that millennials are most likely to engage with online video ads than with any other type of online advertisement.
Roughly 35 percent of millennials who engage with online ads are mostly likely to engage with online video ads or social media ads that include videos.
While it is clear that video advertising appeals to millennials, content also matters. The Clever Real Estate study investigated what type of ads this generation responds to best. The survey found the following response rate to online ads:
While you can focus your marketing efforts on funny and informative advertisements, know that millennials showed the highest response rate to ads that supported a cause they believe in. Cause-based marketing, explains Clever Real Estate, appealed to 74 percent of millennials in their study.
Producing marketing videos that are funny, informative, and appeal to a cause millennials can get behind is a solid strategy for increasing engagement in this generation.
Once you have created an engaging video that appeals to the points millennials care about, you need to know where to market it. In addition to finding what types of videos this generation likes, Clever Real Estate also determined where they are most likely to engage with video marketing content.
Digital ad platforms and company websites are great places to promote your video. In comparison to older generations, millennials are 25 percent more likely to purchase a product because they saw an ad on social media.
Likewise, millennials are likely to engage with websites and apps that appear trustworthy. In fact, 92 percent of millennials report a website or app’s appearance as being an important factor for determining whether they submit their personal information or not.
With so many social media platforms available, knowing where to concentrate your social media marketing efforts will help save you time and money, and achieve the best returns. AMA explains that while Facebook continues to reach the widest audience, it is not necessarily the go-to platform for all millennials.
In a survey of young adults, ages 18 to 34, the following responses were given when asked if they have ever bought a product or service based on a social media ad on various social media platforms (multiple responses were allowed):
Younger millennials, ages 18 to 24, expressed concerned about Facebook’s use of their personal information. While Facebook is still widely used, young adults were 34 percent less likely than older generations to purchase products or services based on a Facebook ad. This trend illustrates the importance of expanding your video marketing to other platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, that are growing in popularity among this generation.
This demographic may be more challenging to market to, but they should not be overlooked. As of July 2019, millennials overtook baby boomers as the largest generation in the U.S., according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The millennial population is estimated to peak at nearly 75 million in 2033.
Additional findings to consider when developing marketing videos for millennials include:
Millennials can be harder to market to than other generations because they have frequently shifting mindsets. What appealed to them at one point may no longer create the same impact it once did.
Marketing via Facebook is the best example of this. Once the prime social media marketing platform, it has fallen out of favor with millennials, particularly the younger ones.
Although it can be tricky, you can effectively market to millennials as long as you can keep up with them. As eMarketer explains, marketers need to adapt their strategies, particularly now as we move into 202`.
Millennials have high social network use of platforms that are heavy on video content. It’s smart to capitalize on this use and specialize video content to appeal to this generation.
At Gather Voices, we can help you optimize community and member engagement through powerful videos that engage your target audience, drive results, and leave your viewers with unforgettable experiences. Contact us today to learn how we make the process easy.
Defining Generations: Where Millennials End and Generation Z Begins. (January 2019). Pew Research Center.
Millennials Overtake Baby Booms as America’s Largest Generation. (April 2020). Pew Research Center.
New Study: Marketing to Millennials in 2019. (September 2020). Clever Real Estate.
The Digital Video Series: Millennials Infographic. (November 2018). eMarketer.
What You Need to Know About Marketing to Millennials. (May 2019). American Marketing Association.
