Running head: BEST PRACTICES FOR ENGAGING WITH MILLENIALS 1

Best Practices for Engaging with Millennials

Tanya M. Wunderlich

Seattle University
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Introduction

Once just a platform used to post funny videos and connect with long lost acquaintances,

social media has been transformed into an integral part of how society connects, communicates,

and gathers intelligence about the world (Cocorocchina, 2016). Whether one is part of a small

company or a large political campaign, social media has become a necessity when it comes to

connecting with one of the largest generation of Americans; millennials (Sago, 2010). Also

known as, “Generation Y, the Net Generation, Net Natives…or the Millennial Generation,” this

population was born between the years of 1982 and 2001 and represents 27 percent of the U.S.

population” (Dodd & Campbell, 2011, p. 4). Being approximately 81.1 million people strong,

companies have recognized the need to shift their marketing strategies to attract this population,

as it is the first that has been, “born into a society with an accessible Internet system that

permeates both business and social spheres of American life…(where) social media is woven

into the very fabric of their life” (Dodd & Campbell, 2011, p. 3). According to research done by

Pew Internet & American Life Project, “73% of wired American teens (millennials) now use

social networking websites, a significant increase from previous surveys. Just over half of online

teens (55%) used social networking sites in November 2006 and 65% did so in February 2008”

(Lenhart et al., 2010, p. 2). Millennials have integrated social media into their everyday life as

they use it for entertainment, connecting with family and friends, understanding social trends,

and getting and information, with a survey from the American Press Institute stating, “fully 88

percent of those surveyed get news from Facebook at least occasionally, 83 percent from

Youtube, and 50 percent from Instagram” (How Millennials, 2015). However, as this generation

is the first to fully incorporate social media into every facet of their life, corporations are still

trying to figure out how to successfully utilize social media to advertise and connect with the
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millennial population. In this research, several scholarly articles have been reviewed to reveal

some of the best practices for engaging the millennial population through social media: 1) have

options for the users to engage with the company and the brand community, 2) understand and

respect the values of the millennial generation, and 3) produce content that is visual, fast, and

relevant. Through incorporating these practices into future campaigns, companies will be able to

successfully target and engage with the millennial population.

Literature Review

Building Relationships

Gone are the days where companies can aggressively insert their messages into

consumer’s lives via commercials and expect the consumers to positively respond. Research

shows that the millennial generation wants to be engaged with the companies they are purchasing

products from, and scholars have started to take note and provide strategies for companies who

are looking to target the millennial generation. In a study on brand engagement of millennial

students, scholar Aggozzino (2012) found through a survey taken by 1,500 millennial students

that using the two-way symmetric model of communication is the most effective with millennials

(2012). The two-way symmetric model of communication supports communication between the

organization and its stakeholders, which adjusts the imbalance of power present in the one-way

model of communication that is common in old methods of advertising like commercials and

product releases (Aggozzino, 2012). By having open and continuous dialogue with the millennial

consumers, a company can foster mutually beneficial relationships that provide millennials with

the ability to share their thoughts and feel connected with the company, and companies the
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ability to alter their marketing techniques based on the comments and criticism coming directly

from their desired target audience (Aggozzino, 2012).

Through the use of social media, companies can create this two-way symmetric model of

communication by monitoring comments on social media, responding when consumers have

concerns, and letting their consumers know that their voice is heard. This idea is expanded

further by Buchdahl (2018) in his work published in journal Law Practice: The Business of

Practicing Law when he realized he didn’t have the tools in his arsenal to successfully market to

millennial clients. Diving into what it takes to attract and ultimately retain the millennial

consumer, Buchdahl’s findings support Aggozzino’s (2012) as he found that millennials like to

feel like they are part of the process. Buchdahl (2018) explains how millennials want a more

personalized experience, and how using social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat can

provide companies with the tools to create this personalized experience and two-way symmetric

model of communication that millennials so highly desire.

Researching further into how a company can use social media to create this personalized

experience, Serazio (2015) analyzed business discourses and conducted in-depth interviews with

industry professionals and uncovered a few techniques. He found that integrating viewer tweets

into on-air programming, having the opportunity to create personalized avatars in relation to

brand content, using trivia status updates and questions to start a dialogue with the brand

community, and commenting and using consumer names are four strategic ways to coax users

into sharing opinions and helps foster a sense of trust between them and the company (Serazio,

2015).

Putting this theory to the test, Hendrickson (2013) examined magazines’ engagement

with their audiences to see if the type of engagement affected how popular the magazines were.
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In his study he found that the magazine Game Informer had a large audience because they

engaged with their audience via Twitter and their website, had polls, user blogs where visitors

could join a community and have comment and blogging privileges, and had the email addresses

and Twitter names of all the staff members listed on their website so their audience could

interface with them easily (Hendrickson, 2013). Out of these several types of engagement, it

seemed that the USG opportunities on the blog were highly popular, and this concept is

supported in the research done by Serazio (2015) as well. He found that USG helps build the

relationships mentioned earlier in the two-way symmetric communication model because it gives

the audience a sense of ownership in the company (Serazio, 2015). Through his research he

found that companies can provide consumers with opportunities to create UGC by having

contests where consumers can have a small shot at fame by creating content for the company that

will be used on their social media accounts, website, or in a commercial (Serazio, 2015). His

research also found that USC is especially important because it encourages individuals to

incorporate the brand into their lives and use it as a way to define who they are to their friends

and acquaintances (Serazio, 2015). By using a two-way symmetric model of communication,

creating relationships with consumers and encouraging UGC, companies can draw millennials in

by making them a part of their brand, and giving them a sense of ownership that will keep them

invested in the company and its products.

Demonstrating Values

Something that is vital in any relationship is the concept of values, and this is true for the

relationships between consumers and the companies they engage with as well. When marketing

to the millennial generation it is very important to take into consideration the values that they

hold, and to incorporate these into the social media campaigns that are targeting millennials. In a
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study done on how to target Generation Y via social media, Dodd and Campbell (2011) look at

the values that are imperative for a company to portray when trying to draw in the millennial

population. In their research they found that one of the values that Generation Y treasures the

most is honesty (Dodd & Campbell, 2011). Looking at the environment that this generation has

grown up in, they noted how the climate of corruption, cover-ups and fake news have resulted in

the instillation of this value into Generation Y’s personality (Dodd & Campbell, 2011).

Especially because this generation lives in a time where they can quickly use the Internet and

social networking sites to validate whether a piece of information is true, it is important for

companies to be honest to their consumers at the beginning of the relationship instead of

displaying a false face of honesty and having consumers find out in the future that it has been a

façade (Dodd & Campbell, 2011).

Another important value of the millennial generation is authenticity. Dodd and Campbell

(2011) note that because this generation has been bombarded by marketing and technology in

their whole lives, almost to a saturation point, they are more likely to be skeptical of marketing

messages. As a result of this, the millennial generation highly values the opinions of their family,

friends, and “a regular person like them” over marketers (Dodd & Campbell, 2011). Millennial’s

emphasis on authenticity may also contribute to the positive effect of UGC on building

relationships with millennials through giving them a sense of ownership in the company

(Serazio, 2015). As UGC is produced by the users and not the marketers, it produces a message

that is more trustworthy for millennials on top of engaging the consumers, making the impact of

user-generated content twofold, and an efficient way for marketers to kill two birds with one

stone. Dodd and Campbell’s (2011) research also found that millennials view online information

as highly authentic, with, “nineteen percent also indicated(ing) that social networking sites were
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more credible than corporate or product advertising” (p. 7). This works in favor for companies

trying to target the millennial generation because as mentioned earlier, social media is integrated

into every facet of their lives (Dodd & Campbell, 2011).

Another value that is important to millennials and supported through several studies is

helping others and giving back to the community. In a study presenting seven ways small

business can succeed, Tancock and McDiarmid (2015) found that millennials value civic

engagement, with their analysis showing that 70% of millennials rank contributing to society as

their highest priority. While this contradicts the finding by Dodd and Campbell (2011) that the

millennial generation finds honesty to be the most important value, companies can easily

incorporate both of these values into their social media communication to double their success of

drawing in millennial consumers.

Diving deeper into this value of civic engagement, Reedus (2017) conducted a study on

why companies should highlight the good they do for their patients and the community. Reedus

(2017) found that when companies share their community service participation with millennials

over social media, they usually receive high engagement as a result. Noting that millennials are,

“concerned with social justice and the belief that we are all connected and need to care for one

another,” Reedus (2017) also suggests that companies take a step further and provide

opportunities for millennials to take part in the community service the company is engaged with

so they can be a part of making a difference in a tangible way (p. 7).

Highlighting the prominence of this value, this idea is also supported in a third study that

provided a comprehensive secondary-based synthesis of previous studies on Generation Y

(Leask, Fyall & Barron, 2014). In this study the authors once again found that millennials
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demonstrate positive views on cultural diversity and social issues, suggesting from the repetition

of this finding that it might be the most important value to millennials.

Staying Current and Tech Savvy

After establishing a relationship with the millennial audience, taking into consideration

their values, it is important for companies to look at the technical practices that millennials are

accustomed to. Aggozzino (2012) found that videos are popular with millennials, “Although on

52% of online adults reported having watched a video online, Jones and Fox (2009) reported that

72% of online Millennials say they have done so” (p. 185). In a study on helping advertisers

understand new generations Lafayette (2018) found that millennials also have high engagement

with pictures and emojis, suggesting a trend in the research that millennials are visual learners

and respond positively to visual stimulation. Lafayette explained that this is because millennials

view conversations with emojis, Graphics Interchange Format (gif), and memes as more

personable, and more similar to as if they were talking to the responder in person.

In the research done by Dodd and Campbell (2011) they also found that millennials

expect speed as they have grown up with social media platforms that provide companies with the

ability to respond in real time to their brand community. According to their findings,

“corporations that are quick to respond to inquiries are praised and viewed as trustworthy…when

they email a company, 80 percent expect and answer back quickly” (Dodd & Campbell, 2011, p.

8). In a study that looked at the expectations millennials have for brand platforms when shopping

for their products, Eddy’s (2015) findings further support this point, revealing that 81% of

millennials who own a smartphone or tablet would terminate a transaction and get their products

somewhere else if a brand’s mobile site or app lags or does not function correctly. While

companies may be tempted to be present on all social media platforms available in order to have
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the largest reach and increase the likelihood that a user would be responded to, research by

Micíck and Micudová (2018) looking at how to attract millennials as employees found that when

companies had more social media platforms user satisfaction was not increased. They stressed

the importance of companies only having a presence on social media platforms that they can

have employees devote significant time and resources to, as this will allow the companies to

provide the speedy responses and interaction that millennials desire (Micíck & Micudová, 2018).

Expanding this point, Serazio (2015) found that for each platform that a company is devoted to,

it is a good idea to produce shorter content at a more constant rate than to produce longer content

less often. This is a result of millennials gathering information and interacting with brands

through social media on their phones, which demands for shorter content to fit on the mobile

screens, and higher frequency to keep their attention (Serazio, 2015).

Another technique that was found to influence marketing to millennials is the usage of

celebrity influencers. Lafayette (2018) about marketing to millennials he found that featuring

celebrities who have high influence in the millennial community increases engagement, as he

found in the success of a Beat’s commercial that featured Mette Towley dancing while wearing

Beats. Mette Towley is relevant in the millennial community because she has been in one of

Rihanna’s music videos and has been hired by songwriter/ music producer Pharrell Williams as a

backup dancer (Lafayette, 2018). This idea is supported in a study looking at the best marketing

practices for luxury and indie brands to use when marketing to millennials (Sharma & Albus,

2018). Sharma and Albus (2018) found that using influencers who have a significant following

on social media raises engagement with millennials. In their study they cited some examples,

looking at how Maybelline New York has partnered with beauty vloggers Manny Gutierrez and

Shayla Mitchell, and Estée Lauder has partnered with “instagirl” Kendall Jenner who has 50
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million followers (Sharma & Albus, 2018). In both cases it was noted that the collaborations

were so successful because they made sure to use a celebrity influencer who was either directly a

part of the same brand community as the company, such as the beauty vloggers for makeup

brands, or had the same credibility and vibe as the brand, such as Estée Lauder and millionaire

Kendall Jenner (Sharma & Albus, 2018). They also credited the success to the number of

followers the influencers had, as using a celebrity influencer who has more followers on social

media, is in more movies/shows, and has a prominent presence in magazines will increase the

number of views the collaboration campaign will receive, and the likelihood that a random

viewer will recognize who the celebrity influencer is. If a company follows these techniques of

using lots of visuals, providing fast, consistent content, only using social media platforms they’re

committed to, and utilizing relevant celebrity influencers, they will have a higher chance of

attracting the millennial population, and guaranteeing that they will join the brand community.

Conclusion

With technology always changing, resulting from the constant output of new models of

existing technological devices and the creation of new ones with even more advanced technology

, it is important for companies to monitor these changes and notice how these changes are

impacting the way that people are receiving and interpreting information so they can capitalize

upon these changes through their marketing techniques. In this literature review, several

scholarly articles were compared and contrasted that grappled with the best ways to connect to

the millennial population using one of the most prominent technological advances of our time;

social media. These articles talked about how it is important to use social media to create two-

way symmetric models of communication to foster relationships with millennials so they feel

like they are a part of the company. Posting content that parallels the values of the millennial
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generation, the research shows that companies need to use visual content that is quick, timely

and relevant to the millennial population in order to peak their interest. While these are all great

techniques for attracting and engaging the millennial population, I was unable to find research

that specifically laid out techniques for engaging with the millennial generation for each social

media platform. I believe that this is an area that demands further research, as it will help

companies develop their marketing strategies in more depth, allowing them to target specific sub

groups within the millennial generation and overall have a more successful outcome when taking

on the task of engaging the millennial population.

References

Agozzino, A. (2012). Building a personal relationship through social media: A study of

millennial students’ brand engagement. Ohio Communication Journal, 50, 181–204.

American Press Institute (2015). How Millennials use and control social media.

Buchdahl, M. (2018). Marketing to and for Millennials. Law Practice: The Business of

Practicing Law, 44(2), 68–69.

Cocorocchia, C. (2016, 19 Jan). How we use digital media is changing our lives.

Dodd, M. D., & Campbell, S. B. (2011). A strategic framework for targeting Generation Y via

social media: Public relations results and implications. Conference Papers --

International Communication Association, 1–25.

Eddy, N. (2015). Millennials demand speedy mobile platforms when shopping. EWeek, 1.

Hendrickson, E. (2013). Learning to share: Magazines, millennials, and mobile. Journal of

Magazine & New Media Research, 14(2), 1–7.

BEST PRACTICES FOR ENGAGING WITH MILLENNIALS 12

Lafayette, J. (2018). Velocity helping advertisers understand new generations: Viacom’s branded

content unit works with Beats, Procter & Gamble. Broadcasting & Cable, 148(12), 30–

N.PAG.

Leask, A., Fyall, A., & Barron, P. (2014). Generation Y: An agenda for future visitor attraction

research. International Journal of Tourism Research, 16(5), 462–471.

Lenhart, A., Purcell, K., Kristen, S., Smith, A., Zickuhr, K. (2010, Feb 3). Social media & mobile

internet use among teens and young adults. Millennials.

Micík, M., & Micudová, K. (2018). Employer brand building: Using social media and career

websites to attract Generation Y. Economics & Sociology, 11(3), 171–189.

Reedus, K. (2017). Use social media to market LASIK to millennials: Be sure to highlight the

good you do for your patients and community. Optometry Times, 6–8.

Sago, B. (2010). The influence of social media messaging sources on millennial generation

consumers. International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, 2.

Serazio, M. (2015). Selling (digital) millennials. Television & New Media, 16(7), 599–615.

Sharma, S., & Albus, T. (2018). Influencer marketing strategies for Indie, Mass and Luxury

Brands: How to drive conversion among the frivolous millennials and tech savvy

boomers. Global Cosmetic Industry, 186(7), 11-14.

Tancock, K., & McDiarmid, J. (2015). 7 Things every small business needs to do. (Right.

Now.). Canadian Business, 88(13), 49–58.