03 Apr What to consider when marketing to millennials?
‘Millennials’ are probably the most analysed and talked about generation ever! A quick search of the internet uncovers an abundance of surveys, statistics, articles, blogs and opinion pieces. Yet, one thing that stood out for me as a marketer is the sheer number of millennials involved in B2B decision making today.
Why does this matter, you may ask? Well I believe it does make a difference for those involved in B2B marketing. Millennials, children of the ‘Baby Boomers’, approach life differently and in most parts in a healthier way. I think this is partly due to the rapid advancement of technology from the early 1980’s to 2000 and being more informed by the vast amount of insights and information they glean from the internet.
Many millennials were using technology in their early and more formative years. Today, they consume news and other media differently and much of this is done through audio and video. They follow online influencers, viewing the world through a different lens to other generations and ultimately communicate differently. So, why would we then market to them in the same ways we have previously?
WHY YOU SHOULD INTRODUCE VIDEO ANIMATION INTO YOUR MARKETING MIX
In the last decade we have seen quite a shift in the B2B buyers’ journey. Research from Forrester shows a very clear change in the buying habits of B2B buyer, between 2015 and 2017, where buyers were less interested in interacting with sales representatives and more interested in gathering their own information. This led to a significant shift towards the creation of vast amounts of content to support inbound marketing.
Now things are changing again. Google has recently identified that 83% of B2B buyers carry out online research before approaching a company. While Forbes discovered that 70% of B2B buyers research any potential purchase by watching videos and they also identified that 45% of marketers plan to add YouTube to their marketing repertoire by 2021. At the same time Google is starting to rank video-based content higher than text-based content. We know that 80% of visitors to a website will engage when there is video present
As we are increasingly marketing to millenials, we need to change the way we approach them and the media we use in order for or messages to be effective and to deliver a strong ROI. Over the next decade video, animation and motion graphics and more advanced technologgy such as augmented reality and virtual reality should play an important part in our marketing mix
If you would like to discover how we can help you direct your content and messaging more to ‘Millennials’ contact us now.
John Bancroft
Managing director