It is no secret that social media is becoming overly popular at an alarming rate. From Facebook Status Updates to Snapchat Filters, Instagram Stories to Retweets, the ways in which to engage with and participate in the online world seem as endless as out logged hours spent in front of a screen. As this new era has been brought to life, so have the opportunities to utilize these countless hours spent online in a marketing strategy. What better way to target your ideal customer than to gather information about their interests and habits and show them exactly what they are looking for in an ad or a social post?
Who Are Considered Millennials?
The vast majority of the population that uses social media tends to be from the millennial generation. This tech savvy group, born between the years 1980 and 2000, were raised in the world of social media and allows it to influence daily aspects of their lives, including what, how, and when they purchase a product or a service. This means that if your target demographic is a millennial, the best and often the only way to reach them, is through social media. However, many argue that not all millennials use social media as much as assumed. If this is the case, is it then worth it to drop all other traditional marketing campaigns in order to devote a large budget to social media marketing? The question then still remains, how many millennials are actually using social media? Let’s find out.
How many Millennials are on Social Media?
It is estimated that 88% of millennials use social media. That’s 1.5 billion potential millennials that you could be reaching outside of your traditional marketing efforts with a social media marketing strategy. Like other generations, this group of people still shop and are still subject to marketing, but in different ways.
Millennial Shopping Habits
Millennials spend approximately $600 billion dollars a year and are expected to spend almost $1.4 trillion annually by the year 2020. This number comes from both online shopping as well as in-store shopping.
Online Shopping
Many millennials shop online, but the one common issue with making a purchase online is that many people want to see the physical item before they purchase it. They want to feel it, smell it, and see it before they decide whether or not it is something that they want to spend their hard-earned money on.
Another deciding factor on where a millennial will purchase their goods or services, be it online or in-store, is the return policy. If the return policy allows them to return the item with no questions asked and without additional shipping fees, there is no harm in making a purchase online. However, if the items/services are final sale, the shopper may second-guess making a purchase online without seeing the physical item in person.
In-Store Shopping
Although millennials do shop online, it is important to note that they also shop in-store. The appeal of seeing an item or service in-store is something that is ingrained in our brains, as consumers. The reassurance of seeing the item in person helps a shopper justify their purchase and the monetary value behind it.
Online shopping and in-store shopping do have some overlap though. With access to the world wide web, many millennials will do research about a product prior to going to the store to purchase it. Sometimes millennials even shop online while they are standing in a brick and mortar location. Why you ask? It all comes down to price and quality.
With the advances of online shopping and smart phones, it is simple for someone to walk into a store, see the product they would like, and then search for it online to see where they can get it for a cheaper price.
The Influence of Social Media
It is no secret that social media has a large impact on the way that millennials make purchases. There is not just one way that social media and the way that millennials use social media influences their behavior. From influencers to discounts, ads to reviews, there are many factors that contribute to millennials reaching the end of the buyer funnel.
Influencers
Have you ever seen a shampoo commercial that features your favorite actress? Did this commercial make you want to use the same shampoo as them? This is no accident – these people are influencers promoting a product. Influencers, traditionally famous or not, are quickly becoming a huge part of the social media world. These people use their large following and audience to promote items. Whether they decide to promote items that they use in their daily life or promote items for a profit, this marketing technique has been seen before. Utilizing celebrities is not unique to the online world, but it seems to gain more traction.
Discounts
Discounts and sales are not new to the marketing world. Consumers love to save money and get a deal on a product that they have wanted. Many companies are using promotions that are unique to their social media accounts to gain more followers and to drive sales. These discounts or promo codes may lower the price of their products, but they result in an increase in sales which ultimately means an increase in profits.
Ads
Ads are a great way to promote your items. The difference with social media ads is that you can create a custom audience to target the ads towards. This means that you are still paying for the views like traditional ads, but you get to select the exact type of person that views the ad. What better way to create a successful ad than to know exactly who is going to look at it?
Reviews
If you see reviews about a pair of jeans that arrive with ripped seams and a broken zipper, how likely are you to press the ‘Add to Cart’ button? Reviews are great insider information for consumers, but often a pain for businesses. It only takes one bad review to really hurt your online reputation. Luckily, these bad reviews can be fixed with a good reputation management program.
Although many find it hard to appeal to the millennial generation, the fact remains that they make up over 25% of the population. Regardless of your views on this group, it would be a poor business decision to overlook a group that exceeds 1.8 billion members. If you’re looking to create a social media campaign to target millennials and social media, call the experts at Quick Marketing Group today at 1-800-807-8784 or contact us online! Our team of digital marketing experts can help you enter the new marketing world.
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