Today millennials (or those born from the early 1980's until about 2000) occupy an increasingly large amount of the consumer market. In fact, the millennial purchasing power is expected to grow to more than $200 billion annually by just next year. This is why in order to garner these profits,companies must begin investing in ways to engage this demographic of buyers. Time and time again, studies have shown that the millennial consumer engages with companies and brands through social media.Millenials utilize various forms of social media in order to learn about new brands and further engage with brands that they already love. Here are just three innovative social media marketing strategies that companies are using in order to increase brand exposure and sales with millennial buyers.
Utilize Social Media Contests
Giveaways and contests are excellent ways to gain new followers and engage existing fans on social media. Depending on what you want to accomplish, there are many ways to go about holding a contest. In order to gain new fans and potential customers, you can ask people to follow your company on a variety of social media accounts and then share a Facebook post, retweet something on Twitter, or like a photo on Instagram. Then you can randomly choose someone who has completed one or more of these tasks as a winner. You can also ask those entering to post photos of themselves using your product or to make a post using a particular hashtag. All of these methods help to increase your brand and exposure through the networks of people who already follow you. It also gets your products into the hands of people who may not have used it or heard about it before, creating a new clientele base.
Engage Bloggers
A 2015 study by Forbes and Elite Daily showed that 33% of millennials get information about products primarily from blog reviews. To utilize this resource, research bloggers who appeal to your customer base and send them samples of your product in exchange for a review posted to social media. This sort of strategy allows you to gain instant credibility and trust with customers.Create Viral Photos and Videos Social media is heavily populated by photos and videos, as opposed to text-rich campaigns. For that reason, many companies benefit from creating photo and video content for social media to promote their products. The aim here is to educate consumers about your product in a fun way. This can include things like photos with quotes that relate to your product with your company logo at the bottom. Users will want to share the photo for its visual appeal and message. When they do this, your company is also, inadvertently being promoted. The same is true with funny videos which promote your product or are sponsored by your company.If any of these strategies seem intimidating, you may consider hiring a communications specialist to help with your company and social media optimization. Companies such as Solid Cactus help companies develop relevant strategies that will engage potential customers and increase sales.
This is particularly helpful if you want to engage the ever-growing millennial consumers.