Sell Me An Experience

The Keg Mansion, sold the haunted experience

Last year for Christmas, my boyfriend and I decided to book a hotel and go to Toronto for the weekend, instead of buying each other presents. We went to the Keg Mansion with his family, Ripley’s Aquarium, on a Steam Whistle Brewery tour and to a board-game café. Why did we do this, you might ask? We wanted to share new experiences together, instead of getting each other gifts that didn’t really mean anything.

Ripley's Aquarium, an underwater experience

Another great way to market to millennials is through experience, or in other words, experiential marketing. Creative Guerilla Marketing defines experiential marketing as a form of marketing that focuses on helping the consumer experience the brand. They also said that it is used to form a memorable and emotional connection between the consumer and the brand so that it generates customer loyalty and influences the purchase decision.

Experience Toronto in a beer

Experiential marketing can be anything from free sampling, to full out guerilla-marketing stunts. An experiential marketing campaign that quickly comes to mind for me, is Red Bull. Red Bull ‘gives you wings’ and it gives you a unique experience. Another example is the launch of Tim Horton’s Dark Roast coffee, where they completely blacked out one of their locations. Consumers got to go inside, in the complete dark, and experience the new flavour with their senses of taste and smell heightened.

As millennials, we are more interested in buying in on an experience, than the product or service itself. How many times have you wanted to go to Harvey’s and create your own personalized burger? I know I have, because it’s not just a hamburger, it’s an experience. The Store Front Blog states that experiences, especially shared experiences, are what connect millennials as humans. Building an experience to go with your product or service allows us to build a relationship with you.

Collaboration is Key

Learn the values of your millennial audience

As a millennial, I resonate better with brands that know and support my values. I love when a brand is socially responsible or if they collaborate with a good cause. I then become more apt to buy products from them because we share the same values.

Collaboration marketing is a great way to reach the values of the millennial audience. Marketing Donut defines collaboration marketing as the co-creation of products, marketing campaigns or on-pack promotions between two or more businesses. Essentially a business can get together with another brand to promote each other and share each other’s products to expand their own reach.

You might ask: why is this good for the millennial audience?

St. Joseph Communications released a study that stated 50% of millennials in the U.S. said that the brands they use say something about who they are, what their values are and where they fit in. They also found out that 48% of millennials try to use the brands of companies that are active in supporting social causes.

What to do:

Figure out what the values of your millennial target audience are and use those values to create a collaborative marketing strategy. Make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and develop your campaign from there. Finding out the core values of your audience will allow you to find the perfect match for collaboration. In turn, your brands reach will grow and the millennial audience will resonate with your brand because your values match.

Collaborate with a brand that makes sense

Make sure you stay true to your brand. Don’t create a collaborative marketing campaign with a business or charity that doesn’t make sense to your brand. Why? You guessed it- it won’t make sense to your audience either. Make sure your co-collaborator matches your brands values or has a common cause. That will create a complementary relationship and will help you to achieve success in your collaboration marketing campaign.

It's a Mobile World

We are the mobile generation

Marketing Land defines millennials as the first generation to truly be “mobile first”. In fact, we are so attached to our mobile devices that we take them everywhere- even to the bedroom and to the bathroom. I’ll admit it, I take my phone into the bathroom if I am showering and I sleep with my phone right beside my pillow. Mobile devices have created a unique connection with millennials and it should be used to its marketing potential.

You might ask: Is mobile marketing something I should do?

The answer is yes. According to Tech Crunch, millennials are the largest group of smartphone owners. In addition, Facebook recently released statistics that stated that out of their 1.59 billion users, they have 1.39 billion users on mobile. And 78% of their revenue is generated from mobile ads. Mobile devices are playing a huge role in how millennials engage with brands. Of course, it isn’t the only way that we interact with them, but it is becoming the primary channel.

The do:

Make your content and platforms responsive for mobile. There is nothing more annoying than going onto a website from my phone and it doesn’t work properly on mobile. At that point I would move on, and look for whatever it is that I am looking for, somewhere else.

Responsive Design

The don’t:

Since our mobile devices are very personal and come everywhere with us, don’t use mobile as a way to bombard us with sales messages. We will find a way around this or shut you out completely. Instead, use mobile as a way to tell your story and engage with us.

As I am sitting here writing this blog on my laptop, I further my point on how important and effective mobile marketing truly is. Unintentionally, for all of my research I used my phone, instead of using the browser on my computer. Which goes to show how often millennials use their mobile devices. After all, we are the mobile generation; it makes sense to utilize mobile as a way to market to us.

A Social Media Society

A social graduation. 

What’s the first thing that you do when you wake up? I’ll admit it, the first thing I do is check my social media accounts. I check my Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. I run the social media accounts for two local businesses, so I might check my social accounts a little more often than you. But, the fact is, we are constantly on social media because it is engaging, conversational and fun.

What is social media?
Merriam Webster defines social media as forms of electronic communication through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content. But, I disagree. Social media exists without the Internet; it has just majorly expanded with it. So, lets define social media as forms of communication through which users create communities where you can share information, ideas, personal messages and other content. Click here for a great list of social media platforms and types. 

So, how did social media exist without the Internet?
According to the Business Times, before the Internet detonated evidence of private communications and the use of mass media for social connection were found. Many of these earlier cases share the characteristics of modern social media that we deal with everyday. An example of social media before the Internet is cave writing. 

Social media and the millennials: 
As you probably know by now, millennials are defined as the generation of smartphones and social media. Social Media Week stated that millennials are more likely than other generations to share their experiences on social media. Social media becomes a great tool with millennials because we can increase the reach of your brand exponentially.   

We like to align ourselves with brands that reflect our interests and aspirations. Successful marketing with social media is done through engaging, inspirational and authentic content. Don’t just use social media as a platform for promotion- you will lose your audience. Engage with us. Create conversation with us. Build relationships with us. And make sure you follow the 80/20 rule when posting to your social media accounts.

Replace Interruption With Listening

A lot of marketing and advertising tactics focus on interrupting the consumer. Take a moment; think about how often you are interrupted by forms of outbound marketing each day. Maybe hundreds, even thousands of times? But, when was the last time you actually paid attention to a TV commercial? When was the last time you clicked on the ad on your computer screen?

Content marketing is the exact opposite. Forbes defines content marketing as a technique where you create and distribute valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire an audience. Content marketing is replacing the constant interruption with listening.

But, why is content marketing is important?

News Cred did a study on millennials that stated 62 percent feel a direct correlation between content and brand loyalty. It was also found that 64 percent respond more positive to brand messages that are tailored to their cultural interests. These statistics reinforce that millennials, do in fact, want content marketing.

Your next question: Why do millennials want content marketing?

Compared to our previous generations, we do a lot of research before reaching a purchase decision. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t do research on a company or product before doing business with them. The more relevant and enticing content, the better. Having compelling content available online is a great way to break through the cluttered landscape and to reach the millennials. We like visuals, videos and interactive content to help aid us in the buying process.

Most of the millennial generation has grown up with endless access to information. This has shaped how we interact with and learn from content. We want to stay constantly informed. We are looking for stimulating content that will teach us, interest us and engage with us. So, have tailored content at the ready for the millennial generation.

Check out this study done by Yahoo and Tumblr to help you create a successful content marketing strategy for millennials.

Outbound on the Outs

What I got in the mail today

When I get my mail I quickly scan through it for bills and then I throw out the "junk". When I listen to the radio and a commercial comes on, I change the station. I simply don’t own cable because I can watch TV on the Internet without commercials. Everyday the human population is targeted by many outbound marketing strategies.

First you might ask: What is an outbound marketing strategy?

According to Wordstream, outbound marketing is a traditional form of marketing where a company initiates conversation by sending their messages out to an audience. Outbound marketing consists of TV and radio commercials, direct mail, print advertisements, email blasts, etc.

Then you might ask: What’s the difference between inbound and outbound marketing?

BoldThink Creative defines inbound marketing as targeting an audience by providing useful and quality content to entice them to find more information on your products or services. In short, for inbound marketing the consumer finds you and for outbound marketing you find them. Click here to find an info-graphic showcasing the different types of inbound and outbound marketing tactics.

So, how does this tie into millennials? 
Outbound marketing strategies don’t work on the millennial generation. We see outbound marketing as intrusive and impersonal. We see it as company-focused and untrustworthy. Our attention spans are short, but our demands are high. We want marketing efforts to be personalized because we like to feel involved in the purchase. Outbound marketing strategies cause clutter in our everyday lives which doesn't impress us. So, why waste your time and money?

What to do: 
Millennials make up 50% of today’s population. Change your marketing strategy so that it is driven by our generation. Start personalizing your approach and we will come to you.

Millennial, Who?

The goal of this blog is to unveil tips on how to properly 
market to the millennial generation.

My millennial friends and I

What exactly is a millennial?

According to Business 2 Community, a millennial is someone that is born between 1981 and 1997. Millennials, or gen Y's, make up today’s 18 to 34 year olds. As a millennial I know us inside and out– I know who we are and what we value. We are a tech savvy, social, passionate and relationship orientated generation. On the other hand, we can be impatient, impulsive and demanding.

But, why focus on marketing to millennials? What makes us a better focus than other generations?

1. Money
We are shifting into our prime spending years. A study was released by LinkedIn on affluent Millennials, which stated that the millennial generation is expected to make an annual income of $3.4 trillion by 2018. Which means we will surpass the baby boomer generation, who are only expected to bring in $2.8 trillion by that point.

2. Technology
On top of our financial power, we literally grew up in the era of technology. From an early age online communication, smartphones and the Internet were standard. The technology industry has shaped with the preferences and desires of our generation.

We, as millennials, mark the start of a monumental shift in the process of buying and selling. So the question is no longer why, but how.

This blog will serve as your how-to marketing-guide for the millennial generation. As a millennial I will share my insights on today's marketing efforts and techniques. Throughout my posts I will reveal what we like and what we don’t like. I will teach you how to properly reach, entertain and obtain us. Tune in each week and prepare to dive into the mindset of millennials.