Why millennials are good at marketing

In the words of Aaliyah, age ain’t nothing but a number. This rings true of my experience working for startups, where people who own million dollar companies are barely into their thirties and entry level positions are fast-tracked to senior roles in mere months.

There are a few reasons why startups are oft made up of bright young things:

1. There’s nowhere else for us to go. The job market is no easy ride and the competition is hot. Grad schemes have so many applicants that, rumour has it, employees will put half their CVs in the bin without even looking at them. In order to make a living, we’ve been forced to go it alone.
2. We’re tech savvy. More on this later, but it’s easy for us to build a product or service, then leverage our networks to sell it.
3. The world of work is changing. Startups can offer perks like 100% remote roles from the get-go, whereas bigger corporations are still stuck in the stone age of ‘telecommuting’ one day a month. Bear in mind that half of millennials are likely to still be renting in their forties, and you can understand why we’d rather not spend all our earnings on commuting and an expensive office dress code.

This is all great news for startups, but if you’re a larger, more established company feeling the pressure to move with the times, you need to get millennials on your side. Especially in your marketing department.

Now, I certainly don’t want to come across as ageist here. There are plenty of marketers who have been doing their jobs for decades, keep their fingers firmly on the pulse, and are at the helm of the latest trends. But millennials do get a bad rap; we’re Instagram-obsessed, superficial airheads who don’t know the meaning of hard work.

I want to convince prospective employers that this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, if you’re deliberating between a highly experienced candidate with a traditional marketing skill set and a less experienced millennial, fresh out of studying, I’d urge you not to write off the latter. Why? Because there are 5 qualities that make millennials a potentially game-changing hire for your business.

6 reasons why you should hire millennials on your marketing team

1. We’ve grown up on social media.

OK, I’ll admit that most of us are a tad obsessed with Instagram. However, the fact that we’ve been glued to our phones since the age of eleven actually works in our favour, careerwise.

Most obviously, social media, which Gen Y lives and breathes, is now a major marketing channel. It’s not just about knowing what filter gets the most likes, though. We’re used to talking to people online all the time.

If you studied how older and younger people communicate digitally, I’m sure you’d notice a big difference in the style and tone of their messages. Texts from my mother, for example, can be pretty perfunctory. She grew up in an era where you gave someone a phone call or met them in person if you wanted to tell them something, and I think she still sees those as primary modes of communication.

With millennials, on the other hand, the opposite is true. For better or for worse, we are much more invested in the ‘phone world’, and won’t think twice about pouring our hearts out online (as long as it’s the right place for it — we flit between platforms and know what is appropriate behaviour for each one).

The best marketers know how to create content that elicits emotion from their audience, start genuine conversations and build authentic relationships, all of which millennials have been doing since the days of Myspace and Bebo.

2. We’re tech savvy.

Our technological upbringing extends far beyond social media. We’ve grown up relying on devices for all sorts of day-to-day activities and because of this, we intuitively know how to navigate a new piece of hardware or software.

When I think back to my childhood, I don’t remember anyone teaching me how to use technology, but because products were being developed at a faster and faster pace, I became used to confronting the novel and unfamiliar. My mother*, on the other hand, didn’t have a clue.

For example, when the iPhone came on the scene, my trusty hot pink nano was cast off to her. To this day, I still don’t think she knows how to put music on it from her laptop. This meant that she was forced to listen to T-Pain’s greatest hits of 2005 on loop for several years.

To be fair, ‘I’m Sprung’ is an absolute banger.

My point is, whatever systems you use in your business, millennials will take to them like ducks to water. This is particularly useful in marketing, where automation is on the rise. Chances are you’ll have several bits of software in your marketing stack, which can make onboarding a new hire a lengthier process. However, Gen Y-ers will allow you to take a much more hands-off approach, most likely being able to work things out for themselves without so much as a Slack message to Steve in IT.

*Sorry to keep dragging you into this, Mum.

3. We’re comfortable with change.

Not only does Apple release a new version of the iPhone approximately every 10.3 seconds, but we also live in an age where Donald Trump is president, Britain voted to leave the EU, and Kanye West is…well, Kanye West. Literally no one knows what’s round the corner and every day brings a new, potentially apocalyptic, situation to which we simply have no choice but to adapt.

Millennials are used to uncertainty and, to a certain extent, have had to become unflappable in the face of change. In marketing, this is a good thing. Firstly, social media platforms switch up their algorithms and mess with your strategy faster than you can say turmeric latte.

Secondly, successful marketing should always embrace and proactively introduce change. Millennials operate at a higher speed, and are creatively, intellectually and socially stimulated from all directions, 24/7. We aren’t afraid of change, placing high value on ideas that are fresh and relevant. And, as a generation that is increasingly questioning the beliefs and prejudices that have controlled societies for centuries, we know more than anyone that just because something has worked in the past, it doesn’t mean it will keep working.

4. We speak the lingo.

We’ve established that millennials excel at online communication, but there’s one thing that really sets us apart: we speak a different language.

It started with catchy acronyms, the spawn of MSN culture: ‘lol’, ‘omg’, ‘idk’, etc. Our digital lexicon soon transcended words and letters altogether, giving way to little symbols that could convey our thoughts and feelings at the tap of a finger: emojis.

In more recent years, our mode of expression has become increasingly visual. Now, we might praise a teammate by messaging them an animated video of a DJ Khaled spraying champagne into a swimming pool.

Or maintain the illusion of friendship by tagging people in captioned pop culture images on Facebook.

The advent of digital media, from email to Snapchat, has broken down barriers between brands and their customers. Companies are now trying to market to their target audience in spaces that were originally designed for friends to hang out in. So, if they want to connect with that audience, they need to start acting less like a faceless corporation, and more like a real person.

Emojis, GIFs and memes have now become widespread in marketing communications across all sorts of industries, where companies are using them to make their brand voice informal, familiar and authentic. Millennials understand how to use them appropriately and naturally, and are therefore better equipped to build an online presence that feels genuine and relatable to your audience.

5. We know who’s cool.

Businesses may be getting better at connecting with their audience on a more personal level, but living in the age of information means consumers are savvier than ever, and can spot an untrustworthy brand a mile off.

That’s why influencer marketing has become so popular. Influencer marketing relies on the premise that people are more likely to pay for products or services that their friends and role models have recommended to them. It’s no longer just another digital trend, but has become a huge, profitable industry in its own right.

Influencer campaigns are part of most successful marketing strategies, but they can be tricky to get right. Ultimately, it all comes down to choosing the right influencer: someone your audience already knows, admires and — crucially — trusts.

Millennials are at an advantage here. Once again, the amount of time we spend online means we’ve got our fingers on the pulse of who’s cool — and who isn’t.

It’s also second nature to us to scout out the freshest talent. Whether we’re looking for style inspiration on Instagram, or even swiping through Tinder, we’re constantly making judgments as to who we feel most drawn to. That may sound superficial, but it’s not really about looks; it comes back to who we feel an affinity with and, again, who we trust.

Possessing this ability to make snappy and perceptive judgments of character based on someone’s online presence stands us in good stead for identifying influencers that will win over your audience.

6. We’re sensitive to social issues.

A major advantage of growing up with Google at our fingertips is that we have had access to information and knowledge of which our great-grandparents could only dream. And because of that, we’re switched on.

As I alluded to earlier, younger generations are challenging issues around race, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, and more, in exciting and revolutionary ways. We have online publications, social accounts and discussion forums dedicated to educating ourselves and others, and having a positive impact on the world.

Because of this, we’re less likely to do a Pepsi and run a shockingly tone deaf ad that offends and alienates a large proportion of our audience. Millennials have unparalleled awareness and sensitivity around important social issues. We’ll help you develop a strategy that values diversity and inclusion, doing away with marketing that relies on neatly packaged demographics and stereotypes, instead building a brand that truly represents your customer.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Millennials are a chameleonic species native to social media, who can teach themselves anything, speak without words, and hopefully change the world! You’d be a fool not to hire us 😉

Are there any other qualities or skills you think make millennials excellent (or even bad!) marketers? I’d love to hear them!