How Advisors Can Target Millennials Using Social Media

If you find it hard to target your millennial customers , don’t worry. Millennials are one of the most challenging demographics to target, especially in today’s digital age. With so much information out there, capturing that millennial mind seems almost impossible. However, I am here to show you that with the right strategies, millennial marketing isn’t all that bad!A large majority of advisors target and work with the millennial demographic, making this a hot topic. When you think of millennials, what comes to mind? I bet you imagined a couple of young adults laying in bed and scrolling through Instagram or Twitter, or Facebook. That’s right – when it comes to targeting millennials, social media is going to be the KEY. In fact, according to The McCarthy Group ‘s Engaging Millennials: Trust and Attention survey , 84% of millennials do not trust traditional advertising. So, with this demographic, it’s important to think outside the box when it comes to your digital marketing efforts in order to captivate them. Below I will outline seven tips to help you bring those millennials in!

Tip #1: Be quick

Think of your social media channels as a customer service channel for your advisor business. When someone asks a question or voices their concerns on your social media pages, it’s important to quickly and accurately respond. Millennials want information quickly, and they definitely do not like to wait. Chances are that if you take too long to respond, they will move on to the next financial advisor, and won’t even look back.Not only do they want information quickly, but millennials also like to feel like they are seen and heard, another reason why this social media interaction is key. Not only does this help improve customer satisfaction, but it shows other millennial consumers on social media that your brand puts its customers first."62% of millennials surveyed said that they were more likely to become a customer if a company engaged with them personally on their social media channels" - Forbes

Tip #2: Collaborate

Millennials want to be a part of the process and the action – they want to advocate for you and your brand! They hate to be on the sidelines and according to Forbes, 42% of millennial consumers state that they want to help companies develop future products and services. You can create these opportunities for collaboration and post about them on social media.

Tip #3: Create user-generated content

There are two primary reasons why user-generated content is so important to attract millennials:1. The first reason user-generated content is so important is because it creates authenticity. Stackla recently conducted their 2017 Consumer Content Report which revealed that 90% of millennials value authenticity and 60% believe that user-generated content is the most authentic. Millennials want to see content from people just like them rather than content from the actual company. It’s hard to fool people, especially millennials. They can quite easily figure out what content is customer created and what content is consumer created. According to this same report, 30% of millennials have unfollowed a brand on social media because they thought the content was inauthentic.2. A second reason that user-generated content is so important is because it creates social proof. Perhaps what is most important to millennials is fitting in. They like to know that other people are doing what they are doing too. A good example of user-generated content that could create this social proof would be to could consider starting a “Summer Fridays” series where you ask your clients to submit pictures of vacations they’re on throughout the summer. You can re-post this picture on your social channels to credit to your client. Inadvertently, this helps tell the message that due to your financial assistance, your clients are able to live their lives fully by taking fun vacations and enjoying life.Related: 10 Blogging Mistakes Financial Advisors Make

Tip #4: Simplicity is key

The more simple it is, the better. Millennials are used to managing multiple forms of sensory inputs at once- they can be talking on the phone, scrolling through Instagram, and carrying on a conversation all at once. However, this also creates an even stronger need for simplicity in your marketing messages. People don’t read every social media post in their feed in entirety- they SCAN. So you must grab their attention to convince them to keep reading. Using visual elements like emojis is also a great way to communicate with less text. In the example below, Jeanne Fisher, CFP uses emojis in her Twitter posts.

Tip #5: Consider Paid

While it is important to engage in posting organically to your social media channels it’s not a bad idea to engage in social media advertising. Especially since millennials can be a more difficult demographic to target, social media advertising can be extremely beneficial. You can get very specific with your targeting, which allows you to reach your specific target demographic of millennials so you know exactly who you’re reaching out to. Social media advertising also enables you to reach an audience beyond just your followers and COI. However, with this being said, it is important to create a balance between organic and paid posts.In a recent study conducted by Adobe Digital Insights, they found that the ads millennials and Gen Z see on social media are more relevant to them than on any other channel. 42% of millennials identified social media as the most relevant channel whereas Gen Xers, Boomers, those who are older overwhelmingly prefer TV. It’s clear that different generations prefer to consume their content in various ways but today’s generations are going digital.

Tip #6: Embrace video

Trust me when I say this, millennials do not want to spend their time reading. According to a survey by clearvoice, when a video is available along with an article or blog post, and the information is identical, nearly four times as many millennials said they would prefer to watch the video rather than read the article.Furthermore, 100 million hours of video are watched each day on Facebook. From this, you can see why it is crucial to integrate videos into your digital marketing strategy. Watching videos is simply a millennial habit, and now that you know, you can piggyback off of this habit to attract your millennial customers.

Tip #7: Choose the proper channels

Unfortunately, you won’t attract millennials on social media if don’t have a presence on the right channels. Believe it or not, millennials don’t love ALL social media platforms! Today, Facebook is ranked as the most used social media platform by millennials – 88% are on Facebook. Instagram is also popular, as nearly 60 percent of Instagram users are between the ages of 18 and 29, and around one-half of Instagram users visit the platform at least once per day. In contrast, only 37 percent of Twitter’s users are between the ages of 18 and 29, and 42 percent of its users visit the site at least once per day.