Millennials are the most elusive, but at the moment, the most valuable generation to marketers. Due to the extreme popularity of the social media application — Snapchat — businesses and ad agencies have started working with the app to capture the attention of the Millennial generation through marketing.
Johanna Coles, executive producer of the Freeform television show, “The Bold Type,” sat down with Tyler Handley, CEO and co-founder of Inkbox; Imran Khan, CSO of Snap Inc.; Tom Montgomery, co-founder and CMO of Chubbies; and Fabian Seelbach, senior vice president of marketing for Curology, to answer what their companies are doing to capture Millennials’ attention and, more importantly, the money from their wallets.
According to Khan, millennials play an important role in today’s marketplace because, in the next decade, 50 percent of all consumer spending will come from them. However, they require a different marketing, advertising and overall strategic plan compared to older generations because of their need for transparency, collaboration and authenticity from a brand.
“The way that we view millennials is that they really care about brands that speak to them as a friend would speak to them,” said Handley.
When sent a snap on Snapchat, Inkbox snaps back — making their brand feel more personal to their consumers.
Montgomery and his company have seen a similar trend among millennials and the Chubbies brand. The company is able to talk to their fans in a personal way using social media channels, such as Snapchat and Instagram. In turn, they are able to better show the company’s personality and what they value. Montgomery spoke on how Snapchat and other social media built his company’s following. By using Snapchat, fans are able to view the office in an organic way without feeling like they are a part of a marketer’s agenda.
According to Khan, marketers need to deliver their content and message in a way that is similar to how consumers are already communicating. Over 100 million people in Canada and the United States are on Snapchat, and daily, people visit the app more than 20 times— sharing videos and photos with friends. He has found that businesses that put themselves on the app are more successful. If a target audience is spending all of its free time on an app, then the businesses targeting these consumers should too.
All of the speakers agreed that older forms of communication, such as email, are not dead — yet. While it does not have the personal element of other popular social media sites, it is still a crucial way for businesses to get important information out to the public.
The informal nature of Snapchat and other social media alike, though, have the potential to reach global audiences and connect with the next greatest generation of consumers.
The modern world of social media has allowed marketers and millennials to meet in a way that feels personal and authentic. If businesses engage in social media as their target audiences do, Snapchat and other social media sites will become the regular place where millennials and marketers come together.