As a business owner you will likely be aware of the importance of segmenting audiences into groups and targeting them accordingly. But do you know how to you market to and engage with the 18-36 cohort in a meaningful way? In this post we will look at the some of the characteristics of ‘millenials’ as they are known, and what they are looking for in online content.

Some characteristics of millenials

• Many in this group have seen it all – so to speak – and are not easily fooled. They know hype when they see it, and they want authenticity when dealing with business owners. They also like to be treated as individuals and not just as part of a mass group.

• While this may be the era of vanity and the ‘selfie’, millenials are also actually very concerned about global issues – such as social responsibility, world poverty, environmentalism, racism, and social justice.

• Millenials have grown up around a lot of diversity – in terms of race, religion, ideas, family structures and so on. This is something to consider reflecting in your advertising campaigns and images.

• Research by SDL indicates millenials check their smartphones 43 times a day on average. They also show a strong preference for social media when looking at brands – far more than online search, emails or SMS.

• They are very tech-savvy, tend to have short attention spans, and enjoy sharing content they think their friends will find entertaining.
  

• They tend to distrust online advertising, and prefer obtaining information from friends and peers – which could make a good case for the use of influencer marketing.
  

• They are often pretty keen to put off marriage and childbearing until a later date, and many might still be living with their parents even in their thirties.

Tips for honing your content for millenials

• Share your most successful content on your social media pages. SDL recommend finding the 10% of your content that does 90% of the work and posting this on social sites. Make sure to time your social posts wisely.
  

• Engage with your social media audience. Millenials especially do not like being ignored or overlooked. Respond to comments and answer queries promptly.
  

• Make it easy for people to share your content. Consider creating a mobile app for shareable content.

• With so many millenials constantly checking their phones, make sure to optimise your content for mobile devices.

• Create #hashtags for your most popular topics – see our previous article for more information on this.
  

• Invite people to contribute to your site – perhaps by asking them to post a comment, video or photo of themselves using your products. You could always turn this into a competition with prizes. A classic example of this is from musician David Nevue who recently invited people to submit videos which combine images with his music, for prizes of signed CDs and free sheet music.
  

• Make them feel special – offer loyalty programs, or special deals to people participating on your social media pages.
  

• If your business is involved in social and community issues, talk about it. Take a leaf out of Richard Branson’s book – he is not afraid to make his views known. However do be authentic in this – savvy people are pretty quick to spot when it’s just a ploy!
  

• Reflect lots of diversity in your marketing. The traditional mum, dad and 2.4 kids for instance is no longer the family ‘norm’ for millenials.

Really, this is not rocket science. As with all your content marketing efforts, it just involves knowing what your audience likes, what they are looking for and how they think. Once you’ve worked this out, the rest should follow! However if you feel you don’t have the skills or the time to market your content and social media posts for this cohort, consider hiring professional and experienced content writers to do this task for you.