Cassie Roberts, partnership & marketing director, Saffire.
REPORTING FROM RENO, NEV. — Millennials spend 18 hours a day consuming media, said Cassie Roberts, partnership & marketing director, Saffire, speaking about marketing to millennials at Western Fairs Association’s ‘Reconnect’ Conference & Trade Show, held at Grand Sierra Resort and Casino, Jan. 17.
How do they do that? Easy if you are watching TV, working on a laptop and holding your mobile or iPad at the same time. “It’s pretty typical of millennials,” she said. “When you spend three hours on one device, then five hours on another device and another three on a third device, and maybe the TV is on as well, 18 hours can add up pretty quickly.”
What do millennials want? According to Roberts, it’s happiness, passion, diversity, sharing and discovery. “If you want to appeal to the millennials, you need to address what they care about,” she said. “Without these challenges, millennials can seem apathetic and bored.”
Millennials are heavy researchers and natural skeptics and the most educated generation the world has ever known. “With the influx of Google, everyone is a heavier researcher,” said Roberts.
They can also be reached where they are - on social media, she said.
Her three big tips: Make the message authentic, mobile and on-the-go, and experience-based.
Outbound marketing is display ads, newspaper ads, commercials and billboards. Inbound marketing is word-of-mouth, viral marketing, search engine optimization, and sponsoring and supporting events.
The more you can appeal to the inbound side, the more you can reach millennials, she said. “Most people get 200 outbound messages a day,” said Roberts. “We’re infiltrated with it. Our natural response as millennials is to block them.” Caller ID, spam-filtering and zapping through commercials are all examples of blocking.
What are the alternatives? Things like ‘Brand Ambassadors,’,which is user-generated content. “We suggest engaging moms to post about your event in their Facebook feeds or Instagram accounts; getting people to post about your fair food in their eater blogs or posting ‘how- to’ videos. Roberts suggested doing this six weeks before your event and putting up a post once a week.
“Mac makeup has videos of girls putting on their makeup. Taco Bell has ‘word of the day’ and fairs can employ this by posting ‘how to raise your animals’ or ‘how to quilt.' It’s not pushing your brand or event; it’s about getting eyeballs, starting conversations and goodwill,” said Roberts.
Roberts said that 85 percent of millennials own smartphones, and that marketers should focus on those devices. “Mobile usage has surpassed desktop. It’s vital that you look at your website on a mobile device and see what the experience actually looks like.”
“Millennials say Facebook is the most addictive and authentic social media site. “But Facebook isn’t great for stories,” she said. “For that, look to Instgram and Snapchat, which are both mobile only.”
Roberts said that when it comes to Instagram vs. Snapchat, Instagram is the winner. Instagram has 450-million posts a day, she said, while Snapchat has 100 million (and according to a Snapchat insider, that number is inflated). Surprisingly, what matters most to kids (8-18) is YouTube. If you haven’t done any Instagram ads, Roberts said do it now. “This is where you hit most of the millennial market.”
You can now make your Instagram account a business account and Roberts suggested everyone get on board. “You have to have a business account to post directly to Instagram,” she explained. “Anything cute, timely and fun gets great traction. Contests and giveaways work, too.”
“Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube are all starting to morph into each other,” she said. “If one has a feature that’s popular, the others follow.”
Roberts said it was important not to post everything at once. “Spread it out, don’t try to cram everything into one post.” She’s also a big fan of emojis. “They are effective and the way millennials communicate,” she said.
Ecommerce must be easy, she said. “Make sure the entirety of the mobile experience is fun and friendly. It has to be simple. If a customer gets frustrated, you will lose buyers.” Roberts said in China and Japan, mobile commerce has surpassed desktop commerce, and it will surpass it in the States any day now.
“Millennials love discounts," she advised. “Make your ticket a little more expensive and then give a discount or promo code.”
Roberts also discussed ‘boomeranging,' which is where a poster posts a video of someone doing the same thing over and over such as a guy eating a hot dog or a girl falling into a pool. “Millennials love boomerangs.”
“Millennials love experiences more than anything,” she said. “They want to be seen doing cool and unique things and, to a millennial, it’s better to have an experience than to get stuff. They want to post about a cool experience; they don’t want a T-shirt.”
Posting about a cool experience is often cooler than the experience itself. “Think of what your event will look like on social media,” Roberts advised.
Roberts pointed to a simple wooden frame that Austin (Texas) City Limits uses. “People line up from 8 a.m. to the end of the day to take a picture in the giant frame,” she said. “When you do something fun, you need to post in on all your accounts.”
Interviewed for this story: Cassie Roberts, (510) 430-1123