Children of the millennial generation are used to being doted upon. We were raised in an era of good-for-you, encourage-your-self esteem schooling complimented by a technology revolution that we insist that only we understand. Consequently, we expect more from our advertisers. No longer can you entrance us with pretty campaigns and shiny products, but children of the millennial generation ask one question when they are buying, reading, or consuming anything: What are you going to do for me?
In short, they (or we) want to feel special, personalized, catered to. At the same time, an article in BusinessWeek points out that they’re not easily exploited. If an ad doesn’t interest the consumer, they’ll just click right past it.
In Erik Qualman’s book Socialnomics, he explains that advertising was founded on the tradition of selling a product based on sizzle and sheen. In today’s model, consumers are beyond that. They want to know what sets products apart, and that it’s important to consider consumer needs.
Marketers aren’t the only ones who have to consider this. As bloggers and writers, we also need to recognize our public and their needs, or they’ll simply click right past what we have to say. That’s not just a financial consideration either. What’s the point of writing stories that are ‘in the public interest’ if it doesn’t reach even one member of the public? When composing our stories, we need to be able to give the public something too.
Below are a few ways that we can cater to the public. Let’s face it: we need to.
1. Be generous: Whether it’s a free product, coupon, or even a useful business tip or funny joke, it’s important to give back to your audience. In a blog post from copyblogger.com, it is explained that with a little giving, audience loyalty and happiness is easily established.
2. Be succinct: Keep it sharp, keep it smart, keep it to the point. As writers, we often want to run around in circles, but readers nowadays almost never want to. In a presentation used by Pat Lilja from Tunheim Partners used to explain the millennial generation, the primary communication modes of millennials were explained. They included emails, text messages, social networking and RSS feeds: all short, quick ways of reading information on the go. If anyone’s going to catch it, it has to fit into one of these formats.
3. Be fun: How many YouTube videos are passed around the web purely because they’re funny or amusing? Have you noticed that the most popular Superbowl commercials (with the exception of Tim Tebow’s controversial ad) were all funny? Enough said.
4. Be real: Millennials can smell fake from a mile away. Don’t try to fool them, because the truth is the way to go. Daniel Burstein for Marketingexperiments.com cited the recent Domino’s Pizza campaign as a good example. Dominos first admitted that their pizza tasted like cardboard, then created a very open campaign about how they changed their pizza. Not only is the new pizza pretty good, but Domino’s has a fresh customer base.
5. Be open: Communicate directly with your audience. Comments and critiques are the most important tool that you have as a business or a writer, because they show that not only does some one care enough to give you feedback, but they’ll probably also come back to see what you said. The trick is that you have to respond, and react. Be open to these critiques and you’ll develop loyalty to your brand because your readers will have an active part in your endeavor. It’s like going into a restaurant where everyone knows your name: you’ll come back just because you feel at home.
Tags: Advertising, blogging, Dominos, millennial, social media marketing, Socialnomics, Superbowl
Wow! Thank you! I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?
Sure. I’d really appreciate it if you used some of what I’ve written as long as you link back to me. It will help us both!