Thursday, February 19, 2015
Millennials & Content
In 2014, NewsCred's highest-performing piece of content was about the millennial demographic and how brands were eager to reach them, but they weren't impressed. We were curious what the key to their hearts, minds, and wallets was - and judging by the success of this one blog post (42K views and counting), so are you. So we commissioned a study to survey 501 millennials and the results reveal that nearly two-thirds (62%) feel a direct correlation between content marketing and brand loyalty. The problem? They are turned off by the content they’re receiving. The survey also revealed 10 proven tactics that brands can leverage in their content marketing to successfully reach this elusive demographic:
1. Tailor content to individuals’ unique cultural interests
When it comes to engaging millennials, creating content tailored to their individual interests is extremely important. This means you need to keep in mind their age, location, and cultural interests at all times. You also need tools to help you develop a deep understanding of who they are, where they are, and what motivates them.
2. Make sure content is useful or helpful towards solving everyday problems of millennials
Creating content tailored to their individual interests is extremely important. You also need tools to help you develop a deep understanding of who they are, where they are, and what motivates them.
3. Avoid being sales-y or self-promotional>
In 2014, our average attention span is less than that of a goldfish. Does that mean every article should be a listicle? No. The days of long-form content are not over. This just means that content should not feel like an empty marketing ploy.
4. Keep it short
Despite the value of long-form content, 41% of millennials said the main reason they abandon content is that it's too long. Keep the context of your content in mind – are they on a mobile device looking for a quick distraction or researching for real, in-depth information?
5. Aim to be thought-provoking and intelligent
NewsCred’s survey found that 60% of millennials only share content when it is “thought provoking and intelligent.”
6. Be funny
Do you like to laugh? Great, so do millennials (and just about everyone). But it isn’t just about laughter, it’s about emotion. Millennials want a reason to connect with your content, and in turn, your brand. If you can build an emotional connection with someone, it means you can build trust.
7. Be authentic
Aside from your content inspiring, educating, or entertaining your audience, it also needs to be a positive reflection of your brand’s perspective.
8. Don’t bank on virality or social endorsements alone
When asked “What gets you to share?” over 50% responded “It’s relevant to my circle of friends.”
9. Ensure personalization by price point, location, race, etc.
Keep it personal –
54% of millennials prefer content tailored to their age, 55% prefer content tailored to their location, and 63% prefer content tailored to their cultural interests.
10. Deploy formats that are easy to digest and share
The truth is, millennials consume content across a number of different platforms, and their favorite platforms change with the wind. Part of maintaining relevancy is putting your content on the right channel.
In the infographic below we explore other major data points from our study: "The Millennial Mind: How Content Drives Brand Loyalty" and seven ways brands turn off millennials with bad content marketing.Please copy and paste in your browser to view.
http://blog.newscred.com/article/10-proven-ways-for-brands-to-connect-with-millennials-infographic/844d5b36d7889d22abe8d90fb02dedd4?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=original&utm_campaign=10ProvenWays&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRons6zKZKXonjHpfsX66ewvXKewlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4CRcBrI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFT7jAMaZkw7gJWBk%3D
Questions: Upon reading the article and viewing the link to infographic page, what are your opinions on the best way to reach today’s ‘new’ generation of society through an e-business platform? What area do you see the most potential for growth? Explain your position. What does business need to do to capture this market?
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1. The best way to reach today's "new" generation is through e-business is staying updated and simple. As stated in the article when people read an article they want the information to be useful, easy to read, short, and something that either holds some emotion or some laughter. Those are the best ways to reach out to your potential customer through an e-business platform.
ReplyDelete2. I think the best area where you can potentially find growth would be in the laughter area as once you touch on someone’s emotions you've got them hooked for the long run. Also, laughter is way to brighten someone’s day, so this is just a good way to get your message across and still have fun with it.
3. The best way for a business to capture this market is by following these ten steps or as many as possible that will go with how their company is ran. The business just has to remember whatever they do to always keep it new and fresh.
I think that the ways that are illustrated in the article really are the best ways to reach millennials. As illustrated, if companies want to reach millennials, the need to be cool, relevant, honest, and have personalizable content. I think that the most growth for millennial reaching will come in the form of personalization. In this day and age, nobody will settle for anything that they cannot personalize. If companies can relly adapt their products to fit people's wants, they they will be successful. This really also deals with customer service. People want their experience tailored to them. Not people like them, but them. I think businesses really need to keep open minds when they deal with millennials. For short, nothing is sacred when it comes to marketing to milennials. Companies cannot afford to keep old, outdated schools of thought around. Companies need to be new, fluid, and ready for change.
ReplyDelete1. I don't really have much opinions on this subject. In my dealings with millennial, I realized one of the biggest things that makes them who they are is the fact that they feel a sense of importance/individuality that most generations feel later in life. (eg: That rush you felt when you were 16, and starting to become independent from having your own car and own job. They're feeling at 12, because they have a blog with followers and adults give them specialty and importance as if they're an adult) So if you can do something to make them feel like they're better than previous generations, or that they can be individuals, they'll eat it up.
ReplyDelete2. Video advertisements/commercials. They used to be something special, but for the last little while, it's really hit a rut. A lot of commercials follow the same formats, and that's why a lot of people are bored of a commercial's format, before being bored of the commercial's content. Thus doubling inattentiveness, With commercials now being shown on tv, theaters, youtube, phones, popup ads, etc. If they can improve them, they can make a drastic difference.
3. To capture the millennials, you need to make them feel important. Like they can change the world, or that they're doing something different from previous generations. It's a lot like the big brother syndrome. They've had 2 generations now that have documented all the stuff they did and have made legacies about them. Millenials want to step out and make a name for themselves. Make them think your product is an movement of individuality that will drown out the old, and they'll eat that stuff right up.
1. I think the best way to capture the millennials attention to your brand is to make it short and sweet focused on them and their way of life. Humor is always a good additive as it sparks emotion to hook them.
ReplyDelete2. The area that I see the most potential for growth is video. Video can be quite short, easy to share, and can capture an emotional response. Currently it is in use, but there are far more businesses that could utilize this method of advertising and creating brand awareness.
3. In order to capture the millennial market it is necessary to keep the information fresh and short. Technology today is ever changing and it is necessary to keep up with the times or risk being left behind.
1. The best way to reach this generation through an e-business platform is to keep the content short. If it is too long, your potential customers might be turned off by it. Maybe not because they have a short attention span but because something that looks long and wordy usually ends up being boring. The other best way is to add some laughter to it. This generation doesn't want to read something depressing or boring. That's for the news. If you can reach them on an emotional level, that is also a great way.
ReplyDelete2. An area I see to have the most potential is the personalization aspect. The content needs to reflect the customers you are targeting. Many websites tend to have the same context or setup and this would just keep bringing in customers that reflect that. If your target market is a bubbly 16 year old girl, don't make your website be black and white.
3. Businesses need to understand this generation and their target market so they are able to relate to them. Keep things light and funny and don't make it too long. If the business were to follow these 10 rules from the article then they should be able to capture the market.
1. I think the best way to reach out to the millennial's is really what the article has stated. With technology becoming more and more of our every day life you have to keep it updated at all times. This will ensure that your message is always current. Plus since people lead such busy lives these days you have to keep it short, simple and funny to capture their attention.
ReplyDelete2. I see video has having the most potential. This is a great way to incorporate emotion making them hooked. I know when I first think of emotion I think of something that touches my heart but its important to include all different types of emotion so this way you can capture everyone all at different times since we all go though different emotions on a daily basis.
3. In order to keep this generations attention you need to keep it short, sweet and up to date. This article has included 10 great rules I think every business should follow!
1. After reading this article what I gather about the best way to reach the "new" generation is the shortness of attention span we must have. Around half of the points say something with keeping to short or not trying to have to much information. And also to grad our attention you need something new and something different, something we haven't seen before. If it is the same old thing we just over look it, because we have already over looked it once.
ReplyDelete2.I think the area that has the most potential for the most growth is keeping it short, like I said above the new generation has extremely short attention span, we have been built that way by the internet and always expecting more, quicker. So if you could have an ad that is so eye catching and attention grabbing right away that doesn't need a lot of explanation that would be an area that could be capitalized on.
3. I believe that a business needs to follow these 10 steps and they will already be ahead of the game when it comes to their customers. These steps made a lot of sense to me and I agreed with most if not all, that being said I am apart of the new generation, I like things short and simple, I have a short attention span, something that makes me laugh I keep reading, as soon as its trying to sell me something I ignore it. These are all valid and I believe totally true and a great way to capture this market.
I think the best way to reach this generation is through grasping emotion and keeping it short. I love seeing different videos but if they get too long and drag on then i instantly exit out because i just don't feel like watching it all and get bored. there are so many videos out there that can tug at heart strings and i find them to be the most empowering and interesting. They are something that can make a difference in the world and change your perspective on things and those are videos that i think can capture this generation the best. Humour should be thrown into things as well though because not everything inspiring can be a sad story either, humour can also make people think and realize things. I think keeping it short will continue to have growth because as stated in the article people are always on the go and looking for something quick to watch to use their time or do not have the time to sit and watch something really long. Businesses need to make sure that they are keeping up with the latest trends in the generation and what they are into and following. the more they know about what they like, then the more they can continually reach out to them and get their attention.
ReplyDelete