How to Market Online to Millennials

So, you’re looking to hook a millennial? Trying to tap into that fount of carefree Wild West of buying potential that is Generation Y? We don’t blame you. For many online businesses, those Gen Yers have become the market to target.

Here are some tips for targeting your Internet marketing to the treasure trove that is Generation Y:

Embrace all social media.

According to data from GlobalWebIndex, millennials are still enjoying their time on social media websites. Facebook remains number one, but YouTube, Google+, Twitter, and Instagram are all active players. This means that if you want to capture millennials’ attention, your best bet is to build your company a formidable social media presence. Make sure you covers all your social media bases (get them all—Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram), but at the same time, be careful not to be too overwhelming—millennials don’t appreciate being hounded.

Don’t forget about TV.

Despite their undeniable love for social media, millennials are not only into Twitter and YouTube. According to surveys conducted by the Urban Land Institute and Lachman Associates, Gen Yers haven’t given up on that old companion from their youth—TV. But TV is changing. Now, millennials have TV shows on their laptops, their tablets, even their cellphones and gaming consoles. And they love it. So, the secret? Find effective ways to leverage the millennials’ soft spot for TV, and you’ll find a way into their hearts.

Don’t be too in-your-face.

No one likes to be bombarded with aggressive advertising. The tech-savvy millennial (i.e., all of them) knows that he or she can get a product from your website just as easily as from someone else’s. If Gen Yers pops onto your site and are instantly bombarded with one of those non-pop-up-pop-ups, they won’t stick around long enough to locate the “No, Thanks” option—they’ll just close the window and go someplace else. Certainly marketing strategies can be aggressive, but companies also need to know where to draw the line.

Get creative.

Believe it or not, millennials have seen a lot. They didn’t just grow up with ads, they were practically raised by them. This means that if you want to catch millennials’ eyes, you have to do something noteworthy. A celebrity endorsement isn’t what it once was. Now, you’ll need an endorsement from the founder of Twitter, Siri herself, and a talking MacBook Pro. Or you could just come at them from an angle they haven’t seen before. (Remember Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches campaign? It went above and beyond advertising—it was a whole social awareness campaign. And it was effective.)

In addition to being tech-savvy and too hip to handle, millennials also tend to be eager consumers. Since their eyes are always open to new and innovative products, they make up an important market. When it comes to appealing to millennials, embracing technology and ingenuity will get you far.