How Content Marketing Works in Selling to Millennials

Jean Ginzburg
4 min readJan 16, 2019

Millennials are part of the reason — if not the main reason — why the marketing game has completely changed. They don’t respond to traditional marketing tactics the way Baby Boomers and Generation X do.

Therefore, many businesses are at a loss when it comes to getting on their radar. After all, millennials bring in trends like no one else, which in turn brings about many changes in the marketing industry.

Your approach may have to be fresh and different, but it doesn’t mean you have to spend more or make things more difficult. Appealing to them will open up opportunities for your business to have a better process not only for this generation, but for the next. So where do you start?

Provide Help Instead of a Sales Pitch

The Buy Now sales pitch belongs in the past. Millennials are used to seeing these kinds of ads, from TV commercials in their childhood to billboards scattered down the highway, and they’re sick of it. Nobody wants to be sold to.

They have easy access to everything before making a purchase decision: search engines, your social media pages, blogs, reviews, and even price comparison between competitors. So how do you grasp their attention, as well as their loyalty? Make your brand a helpful resource.

Telling them your product or service is “the best” or “the cheapest” simply won’t cut it. Also, if what you’re offering really isn’t the cheapest, they will certainly find out through a quick Google search. What you should do is educate them on why your product is the best for them.

Appeal to their ego. Let them know that you understand their unique problems and how your business can help them solve it. This can be done for any kind of product or service you may have. For instance:

  • What to wear for prom? Show them what their peers are considering.
  • How do they buy a house? Make a comprehensive guide on what they need to do first.
  • Want a new TV set? Inform them of the specs to look out for.

Deliver valuable content. It’s all about content marketing. Once your content is shared, you have the potential to gain a second customer. These are the people who have not yet tried your products, but might become loyal to your brand and follow you on social media because they find value in your content.

Learn how Millennials Communicate

Forget radio and TV. Millennials are more tuned into their phones and other devices and can spend hours browsing the Internet. They grew up in the era of social networking and websites, from AOL and MySpace to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

A catchy slogan and use of emoticons won’t make you a sale. Social proof from their peers, friends or family is often the decisive factor in a purchase. Take note that they generally use texting apps, emails, and social media to communicate.

Keep your marketing methods diverse, one may work for a certain market, while another may be more effective in a different market. When outlining your marketing funnel and developing customer support, don’t forget these channels to reach them effectively.

Create Short Sales Pitches

Millennials may spend several hours on the Internet each day, but you need to catch their attention quickly and get your information across while you can. Try to tell them what value you can add in your first line or you could lose your chance.

Great marketing slogans are still important, but even this aspect of marketing has changed to suit the taste of millennials. Instead of telling them how great your product or service is, you should focus on conveying your values and trying to get them to spend a minute or two reading about your mission.

They can watch several seasons of a TV show in a few days, so they can make time to listen to you if what you’re saying is relevant to them. Your objective is to convince them why they need your service or product in the least amount of time possible.

You don’t want to waste your time, or theirs. Keep it short and sweet, yet at the same time captivating. Something to keep in mind is that if you don’t want to read or listen to your own content, they probably won’t want to either.

Selling to millennials is achievable through content marketing. The advertising age is gradually coming to an end, so now is the time to embrace putting in more effort when it comes to your sales funnel. Now get out there and win yourself some loyal customers!

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Jean Ginzburg

#1 best-selling author, serial entrepreneur, digital marketing expert, founder of Alpenglo.Digital