Defy the Millennial Attention Span Stats with These Marketing Hacks

Combating the Millennial Attention Span, can be done with these marketing hacks. Learn how to gain the attention of Millennials when advertising.

The Times recently published that,

The average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but according to a new study from Microsoft Corp., people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the affects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.

Are your marketing campaigns failing to engage Millennials?

The first thing you need to take into consideration is the Millennial Attention Span!

Gaining Millennial Attention is Easy if you use the Right Marketing Hacks

Millennials have grown up in a time when the digital space has developed at an unprecedented rate.

If you’re an advertiser, this directly impacts you.

The Millennial Attention Span is directly associated the rate at which they consume information, and that rate is insane.

“The length of time of an episode or a viewing period is really important and has got to be short, otherwise you just won’t keep the attention of millennials,” comScore CEO Gian Fulgoni told CNBC’s “Squawk Alley.”

They have been a part the journey and have watched it unfold, experiencing each new movement, trend and innovation first-hand. Although most of today’s business leaders and CEOs are of an older generation, it is the Millennials who are clued up about the digital space; they don’t need the mentoring, they are the mentors.

This is an important distinction, because many of us who are older make the mistake that Millennials simply aren’t paying attention.

This could not be further from the truth — they have adapted to a new and faster way to take in information.

This shift in knowledge and understanding means the millennial generation (aged between 22 and 37) is perhaps the toughest audience to target.

Millennials aren’t receptive to traditional-style marketing, but respond only to marketing that is smart, exciting and dynamic.

This shapes the way we write, structure our pages for shorter bolder headlines, shorter sentences and bullet points that the eye can more easily skim.

The Millennial attention span gets a little shorter each year.

If you want to effectively gain the attention of the millennial generation, follow these easy 5 marketing hacks.

1. Speak their language

Each generation has been shaped by different world events, cultural phenomenon and lifestyle trends. Therefore, each generation connects with things differently, has contrasting opinions and a language of their own.

The key to connecting with any target audience is to speak in a way that resonates with them.

For millennials, this means adopting their lingo, their online behavior, their viewpoints and way of life.

Through access to the internet, Millennials have been able to source information and knowledge on anything and everything. They are inundated with news, stories and other people’s experiences. In some ways, they may appear more naive than previous generations, but as a result of growing up in the digital age, they are streetwise and more in-tune to the world around them.

2. Use their platforms

Do you know a Millennial who doesn’t have a smart phone and use social media religiously?

The curious generation jumps, without a hint of effort, between social media platforms and adapts to consume various forms of content.

They are constantly consuming – blogs, images, videos, podcasts, music, etc. – and it is all at their fingertips.

According to a study from American Press Institute,

69% of millennials get the news daily and 85% say that keeping up with the news is at least somewhat important to them.

According to Guardian, Millennials access news regularly via mobile and social media to keep up-to-date with new information.

Social Media is influencing how Millennials not only view your products, but how they vote and participate in conversations on a Global level.

If you want to reach a millennial audience, you must be present on all of these platforms, not just one.

Most millennials use more than one social media platform and have multiple accounts, so if you want to gain their trust as well as convince them that you are social media savvy and understand all sorts of media, you must do the same.

Having your business spread across the majority of the social media map will enhance your brand awareness and identity, and you can also easily direct the traffic from one platform to another.

3. Aim for authenticity

Millennials are wise to sales tactics and can spot an in genuine marketing campaign a mile off.

The Millennial attention span is finely tuned and quite adept at sifting out BS.

This is why they respond more positively to opinions, reviews and collaborative promotions from their peers and people they look up to. They comment, like and share content that they connect with, and if this content incorporates your brand message in some way, the sky’s the limit when it comes to the traction you’ll gain.

User-generated content empowers millennials, and online influencers have become instrumental in helping brands reach them. By collaborating with influencers and creating content that is both exciting and authentic, the brand message is worth so much more.

4. Harness inbound marketing

Outbound marketing like newspaper ads is outdated to Millennials.

Actually, it’s pretty outdated for all of us.

You should, therefore, ditch outbound marketing and move full steam ahead with inbound marketing.

Millennials are smart and full of curiosity.

If you want them to connect with your business it needs to feed their salacious appetite for new experiences, storytelling and thought leadership. So, rather than putting your efforts into traditional marketing, create something that adds value to them: an eBook, free content, videos, podcasts and more.

The main motive is to get the millennials to your website.

Let’s suppose your service is in the education industry and you are promoting diploma of quality auditing course – you can run an Email Marketing campaign to help readers understand the importance of the course in the practical world, and ultimately convince them to visit your website to enroll.

YouTube is the perfect platform for this, and most users are millennials and Gen-Zs.

Studies have shown that millennials are watching more YouTube on their mobile phones than they are watching television.

So, scrap the idea of TV ads as part of your marketing campaign, and head to the place your audience will see you.

5. Empower them and make it personal

Millennials, like everyone else, like to feel as if content has been created especially for them and is organic.

Steer clear from generic and “sales” marketing, and focus more on nurturing the relationship between consumer and brand.

This means you have to be unique, transparent and most importantly, give them something to believe in.

You can do this through tactics such as remarketing, providing interactivity and catering your landing page to them. If a millennial consumer feels like they are being listened to and understood, you will build a rapport with them.

Through effective marketing that empowers and is personal, you can easily collect their data and contact information. With their email address, you can send them valuable free content (see #4) and push them down the sales funnel until they convert.

Conclusion

The millennial generation represents a new age of marketing. To reach a millennial audience and earn their trust, you must create content that is authentic, empowering, exciting and valuable. You must also speak their digital language and increase your presence on the platforms where they are most prevalent. Additionally, collaboration with their trusted advisors is key and will propel your brand into their focus.

By following these easy marketing tips, you will have no problem connecting with the millennial generation – good luck!