Adding more insight to the open floodgates of 2014 digital and mobile marketing predictions for the new year is Elizabeth Harz, Chegg Vice President of Business Development.
This week, Ms. Harz connected with MMW to talk about Millennials, marketing, and much, much more as the arrival of 2014 looms large.
1. Millennials customize their world, brands need to continue to let them modify
“Millenials are used to customizing the universe to suit their worldview vs. altering their style or consumption habits to fit existing rules,” Harz says. “Brands that have figured out how to offer customization or personalization at scale are already succeeding with this demo. Think Converse or custom burgers from The Counter. Appealing to the “Made to Order” generation doesn’t have to eat into margin, in fact, small tweaks with product offerings and great marketing can acquire new millennial customers and the friends, tweens, parents and neighbors they influence.”
2. Millennials take their TV to go
“While it’s not news that traditional TV habits have been dramatically changing,” the Chegg executive continues, “the prediction of consumers that never have a home landline phone or a cable subscription has come to fruition with this generation of young adults. We’ve been following millennial TV consumption closely at Chegg and college students’ cable subscriptions and traditional TV viewing have been steadily declining over the past three years in favor of services like Hulu and Netflix, often on mobile devices or through Roku. As millennials take their TV to go and are simultaneously engaging with Twitter or other social sites regarding the content they’re watching, it’s essential for brands to rethink how to break through when consumers are the programmers.”
3. Social networking is a state of mind, not a destination for Millennials
“While the majority of college students and young adults are on Facebook, there’s an increase in young adults turning to other platforms,” Harz asserts. “Instagram. Vine. Snapchat. The ways millennials connect and share is growing more diverse by the day. Social networking through technology is as natural to this generation as marathon telephone calls and paper note writing were to the previous one. As new options arise monthly for students, they will explore and adopt them in order to have new ways to connect with their networks and express themselves. As brands devise marketing communications strategies, it’s essential to plan for platform agnostic digital activity. Students will take great products, services, and creative and share them regardless of platform. When planning for 2014, ask yourself how an offer or campaign can be shared via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Vine, etc. Or ask a student and they will show you.”