Millennials in a Media Strategist World

Posted on September 24th, 2019 by True Media

Millennials are overtaking Baby Boomers as the dominant U.S. consumers, and Gen Z is not far behind them. This transition will certainly affect different industries across the board — from retail, electronics, and travel to opportunities for investors. By default, it will also play a huge part in the strategic planning of media dollars and overall advertising campaigns for companies across the country.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you move forward in this dynamic shift of U.S. consumers. 

  • As Millennials and Gen Z become the main target audience, it’s important your ad dollars align with their media habits. These generations grew up with the internet and smartphones and spend much of their time online (5 hours per day on average). With that in mind, planners must incorporate a mobile strategy within their media plans along with a simple and streamlined mobile experience once consumers reach a website. Not only use technology to seek information on products and prices, but they also place value in whichever channel offers the best deal. With research being more accessible than ever, it is imperative that brand messaging appears during that period of discovery.

 

  • It isn’t just about reaching these generations, it’s about connecting with them based on their media habits and purchase behavior. It’s imperative for marketers to find creative and engaging ways to break through the clutter and stand out with authentic and customized content. 

 

  • Banner blindness will be an issue more than ever with this group as advertisers jump on the digital train to reach them.  This only reinforces the need to produce engaging content to connect with them.

 

  • As traditional advertising channels (broadcast, print, OOH) start to see budgets move away from them, we may see an emergence of unique ways of using these channels and bringing them back to life in new ways.  With this, keep in mind that deeper targeting and flexibility of media buys are crucial to best reach the targeted audience.

 

  • Having a strong amount of paid social, digital display, digital video, and digital audio is a good start. At this point digital and social channels should be considered “traditional,” which means now is also a good time to figure out what is the next platform the upcoming generation will find valuable — and get to work!

 

What our #TrueExperts say:

“I often hear “Millennials are ruining this industry” and as a millennial myself, statements like those often bother me. It’s important to remember, Millennials are doing a lot of the same things as Gen X and even Baby Boomers are, just in different ways. They are still consuming TV content, they’re just watching on streaming services vs. cable networks. They still value peer recommendations, they just turn to online reviews. They still shop, they just shop online and in brick and mortar stores. This should be seen as an exciting time for media and brands, rather than a time to worry about shifting trends. Brands who can embrace this shift will do well.” – Margarita Klikizos, Senior Digital Media Strategist

 

 

 

“With the growth of digital spending, it’s important to capture attention within other media channels and not go away from traditional advertising avenues. In many cases, phones are a second screen next to traditional television, however, Millennials and Gen Z are adopters of streaming services and a high percentage of cord-cutters. To reach this group through television it’s important to shift budgets into ConnectedTV and OTT to drive your message.” Renee Crawford, Senior Account Planner

Innovative Insights