How to Use Social Media to Draw Millennials to Your Brand

By 2015, Millennials will have a combined purchasing power of $2.45 trillion worldwide [2]. Of course you want to draw this tech-savvy generation to your brand. Where should you start? Social media. Here’s how:

Step 1: Be active on social!

Millennials trust social media more than religion, government, or Jay-Z [1] and use social media for content discovery more than search engines [3]. That means that if you’re not actively posting and engaging with your target audience on social, you’re missing out. Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are the top social networks where Millennials interact with brands, in that order. Make these three networks a priority! Develop a content strategy for each that reflects each network’s nuances. Also, don’t forget that social media is social. If a fan sends you a Tweet or comments on a photo, respond genuinely and quickly to keep the conversation going.

Step 2: Don’t just post content, post the right content.

Millennials want to see media that they actually care about. If it doesn’t relate to them, they won’t pay attention. So, how do you craft content that matters to Millennials? Use social to let your personality shine. Millennials want to buy from people, not corporations.  Post about your products, but don’t forget to post about your employees or your office culture. Use naturalistic language. Be inspired by your own voice as a content creator and be inspired by what your company already is. Use tools such as Facebook’s Graph Search to see what your fans’ interests are and post accordingly. Need a hand getting started? Type in “Favorite interests of people who are between the age of 18 and 35 and that like [Insert business name here]” and watch the magic happen.

Millennials want organic content. Studies have shown that they don’t trust sponsored stories or Tweets as much as other generations. The key has two components: growing your social community and creating sharable content. Let’s start with growth. Expanding your social following increases the number of people who see your posts, which increases your organic reach. Millennials’ top reason for liking or following a brand is to show support for the corresponding company. Letting your brand’s unique personality shine through will give them something to support. To kick your growth up a notch, try adding a small monthly ad budget (at least $50 each month) for Facebook Page growth.

Now you’re increasing the size of your social community. What’s next? You create shareable content. We addressed part of this puzzle before. If your audience cares about your content, they’re more likely to share it. If it’s funny, interesting, helpful, or just plain cool, they’re more likely to pass it along to their friends. You want to encourage sharing because Millennials are more likely to follow your page if they see that one of their friends does, or if a friend recommends that they do [2].

No matter what kind of content you’re creating, remember to always keep it quick and enticing. Millennials have a shorter attention span when it comes to digesting information online than other generations.

Now you’ve got a great following and great content. Let’s fine-tune things. Your content should be easy to digest from a variety of devices, but especially smartphones. Millennials are a mobile-centric audience (they check their smartphones an average of 43 times each day in the US) [3], so make sure your content (and your company’s website) converts well to social media apps and mobile sites.

Step 3: Giving a little will get you a lot.

Studies have overwhelmingly found that Millennials want something more than wonderful content in return for engaging with brands. The biggest social conversion factor is offering a deal or coupon. Don’t hesitate to share these offers on social! With advances like Facebook’s new “Offers” capability, this is easier than ever before. Just remember, even if you’re posting a coupon, it should be eye-catching and accompanied by great copy!

Works Cited

[1] Drexler, Peggy. “Millennials: Trust No One But Twitter.” Ideas Millennials Trust No One But Twitter Comments. TIME, 16 Feb. 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.

[2] Barnes, Nora G., and Ava M. Lescault. “Millennials Drive Social Commerce: Turning Their Likes, Follows or Pins Into a Sale.” Social Commerce. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research, 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.

[3] Understanding Global Millennials: An SDL Customer Experience Research Report. Rep. SDL, 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014.

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