Millennial Marketing: A #Bufferchat Recap

This week on #bufferchat, we talked all about millennial marketing: the habits, values and mindset of this generation. The community discussed how they incorporate this mindset into their marketing, shared advice for improving engagement with millennials, revealed the brands doing this work well, and much more!

Read on to discover all of the awesome insights that were shared during the chat!

Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and to meet hundreds of other smart marketers and social media enthusiasts. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join in to whichever chat time works best for you!

For our community in Asia and Australia (or anyone else!): 4 pm AEST (Sydney time)

For our community in North/South America, Europe and Africa (or others!): 9 am PT (San Francisco time)

This week’s stats:
1st Bufferchat: 33 participants; 189 tweets; reach of 988,973
2nd Bufferchat: 118 participants; 769 tweets; reach of 1,308,300

Q1: How would you define the “millennial generational mindset”?

From the community:

• “Adaptive, resourceful, sometimes impatient but driven to find the ever elusive ‘meaning/purpose of life’.” @keeganlanier
• “The Millennial mindset is about taking part and contributing actively. Solving problems, being about bigger picture.” @MediaBytesLive
• “They are driven by innovation, forge non-traditional paths & thrive on connection and creating life on their terms.” @KymWrites
• “Umbrella answer: Motivated and eager — but can also translate to impatient, they want information/things instantaneously.” @kathrynelainewh
• “This generation is about reinvention and flipping paradigms on their head. Balking traditions and enjoying life.” @flaviacat03

See all the great answers to question 1 here!

Q2: How do millennial’s habits differ from other generations?

From the community:

• “Aside from the obvious tech savvy, millennials are super collaborative. More of a “we” generation than they get credit for.” @substratestudio
• “Millennial’s I would say bond work life and social life together. Where there is a smartphone there is access to work…” @JasonBDenny
• “Digital dependent versus savvy. Gen X is savvy; but millennials have woven digital, mobile into all aspects of their life.” @krishadley

See all the great answers to question 2 here!

Q3: What general millennial values can you incorporate into your brand strategy?

From the community:

• “Millennials value experiences over tangible things. Give them a good reason to participate in your brand story.” @blorentz38
• “Be an advocate of something. Millennials are more drawn to brands who fight for what they believe in.” @AMBAcomms
• “Trying new things, openness, acceptance. I love the inclusivity and thoughtfulness that millennials have made more popular.” @MadFishDigital

See all the great answers to question 3 here!

Q4: What’s one specific example of a brand optimizing for the millennial generation in their marketing?

From the community:

• “That new Heineken spot. Millennials love discussion, social change, &opposing viewpoints. Heineken nailed that.” @JuiceboxCA
• “I LIVE for @theDrybar. They are so good about regramming + retweeting customers having great hair experiences!” @howveryheather
• “The NFL realizes that Millennials are on the go, so last year their Thurs. night games were on Twitter; next year on Amazon.” @SanabriaJav

See all the great answers to question 4 here!

Q5: In your opinion, which brands seem to understand millennial marketing really well, and why?

From the community:

• “@theskimm does a great job, @redbull & @starbucks do a great job of passion and experience marketing!” @laura_bauman
• “@Airbnb @lyft – they sell convenience, are transparent, & take a strong stance in world values.” @sagekbeard
• “Netflix, Toms & Uber. They speak to the millennial share economy, penchant for causes & need for convenience, respectively.” @Officite

See all the great answers to question 5 here!

Q6: What is your top tip for engaging with millennials through digital channels?

From the community:

• “Examine the world and what’s happening and how people are reacting. You don’t wanna come off as tone deaf or insincere.” @Tyrophant
• “Be human, be real and be relevant. BUT don’t pretend to be something your not, be transparent.” @pjervis
• “Top tip to engage millennials: truly understand them, aim to solve their problems and inspire them.” @thinkdesignvis
• “Platform-specific content. Repurpose material thoughtfully. Focus on engagement, not views. Don’t fear humor. Tell a story.” @ARoberts021
• “What’s in it for the #millennial customer… Focus on: Community — Engagement — Storytelling — Authenticity #ThinkLikeAFan.” @iSocialFanz

See all the great answers to question 6 here!

Q7: How do you see millennial marketing shifting over the next few years?

From the community:

• “Brands are going to become more involved in communities and more outspoken, just like the millennial’s they want to buy in.” @etakappadiamond
• “As millennials get older, their habits will change. For ex: Didn’t used to use email. Now they have jobs and they do.” @martinlieberman
• “More user generated content where individual voices resonate more powerfully than big business oriented ads & campaigns.” @SipBlackdotNET

See all the great answers to question 7 here!

Thank you so much to our awesome community for sharing such great insights in this chat!

Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!

Image sources: UnSplash