Do's and Don'ts of Marketing MillennialTalk Recap

This Tuesday on #MillennialTalk, Francis Thai spoke about “The Do’s and Don’ts of Marketing to Millennials.

We had an amazing turnout on our Twitter Chat with approximately 180 contributors and almost 16 million impressions!!! Francis is truly the expert in digital and wanted to share some of our discussion from this week’s chat.

Q.1 Marketing to Millennials …what do you think makes it so difficult?
@FrancisThai  Social Media! It’s changed everything. The speed of social is so quick,. It’s difficult for brands to stay innovative. Superbowl for example. 2 years ago, Oreo did great with their “dunk in the dark” efforts. Many others couldn’t capitalize. This year, everyone had “real time marketing” teams on standby – but nothing happened.

Q.2 How is Marketing to Millennials different than previous generations?
@FrancisThai  Media consumption habits are different, so marketers need to address Millennials differently than previous generations. Facebook and Twitter is where they discover news. DVR, Hulu and Netflix is where they’re watching “TV”. Marketing strategies that worked years ago, aren’t necessarily as effective anymore.

Q.3 What marketing trends do you find most exciting right now?
@FrancisThai Content marketing is the most exciting trend right now. Brands that can connect w. consumers on an emotional level are powerful.

Q.4 Why is customization and personalization very important to Marketing to Millennials?
@FrancisThai  There’s just SO much information out there now. Without customization and personalization, there’s too much to filter through.

Q.5 How influential is GEO-Targeting?
@FrancisThai  It’s still effective, but no longer a requirement – because of the nature of social media. “The content will find its audience” is what we said at BuzzFeed quite often – and its true.

Q.6 Mobile mobile – how do you think marketers can best utilize the Mobile Marketing?
@FrancisThai  Marketers need to think mobile first! Social platforms and top websites are all skewing higher mobile traffic % now. That’s an indicator of where usage is trending. It applies to various industries – Retail, Banking, Entertainment, etc.

Q.7 Native advertising has become a marketing #Buzzword – why?
@FrancisThai  This could be an entire chat segment on its own! I can go on forever! In short, Native Ads are effective. When done correctly, it’s natural, engaging, and shareable. Advertising that people actually like. That’s why its so hot.

Q.8  Because Millennials are so collaborative do you thing brands should welcome User Generated Content?
@FrancisThai  Absolutely. UGC, whether good or bad – is a gold mine of information and feedback that brands need to embrace.

Q.9  What are some tactics brands are using that are NOT working?
@FrancisThai  Banner ads reformatted as Sponsored posts or promoted tweets! They make me cringe. It’s not natural, and FB and TWTR hate it.

Q.10  Do you think the power of word of mouth is most influential?
@FranicsThai Yes I would agree with that. I don’t eat at any restaurant without yelping it first. I don’t purchase a product on Amazon without first reading its reviews. So yes, most definitely influential.

Q.11  How should brands utilize social media best!?
@FrancisThai  Treat each platform differently and create content and strategies that specifically cater to each platform. Don’t forget about Pinterest and Instagram. Don’t forget about mobile! Whatsapp and Snapchat are social platforms also.

Q.12  Which brands are killing it right now???
@FrancisThai  @Netflix! I love what they did with @NYTimes and @OITNB (Orange is the New Black) – http://nyti.ms/1o0E8QF
@micnews (PolicyMic) is all about Millennials. You should all check out their mission statement: http://bit.ly/1yL76d4. @purina is killing it. Their work with @BuzzFeedVideo is truly amazing. http://youtu.be/G4Sn91t1V4g