Chamber members get primer on marketing to millennia
Consumers that belong to the so-called “Millennial’ generation and who mostly grew up around the internet are vastly different, the owner of a millennial based marketing firm told the Los Alamitos Chamber Friday.
Speaker Ana Clara Otoni was introduced by Chamber Chairwoman Dawnette Palmore. Otoni is the founder and creative content strategist of Odara Digital and she gave Chamber members a marketing peek “Inside the Millennial Mind: The do’s, don’ts and best practices of marketing.”
Approximately 97 percent of millennials use social media, said Otoni, and this generation is predominately “experiential.” For millennials, she said they prefer doing business with companies that are authentic and those that “stand for something.”
Even if they perhaps disagree with a company’s stance, they will “respect” them for having the courage to exhibit who they really are. Millennials much prefer doing business with companies that work towards a “sustainable good.”
However, just being “on” social media is not enough to attract them, she said, adding “how” one engages will often determine the outcome.
For instance, during her “do’s” and “don’ts” of doing business with millennials, Otoni said do not make “repetitive” offers, especially those that do not offer value. The best approach, she said, is to create your own digital profile and find a way to get them interested in your service or product. “Let them come to you,” she said.
It is just a fact that millennials are married to their phones and thus, the internet, and the market is currently worth more than $600 billion nationwide. She said when they want to know something or find a product (or service), they will simply Google (search) for it. “They want it and they want it now,” she said.
It is then, she said, that “your business must show up,” giving business owners an idea of how to set up their digital profiles and search engine optimization to get themselves in front of millennial consumers.
Otoni called these incidences of internet searches as “micro moments,” adding that they were a “golden opportunity” for businesses to reach the millennial audience.
Likewise, she said, even millennial business owners will divorce their own customers if, for any reason they believe the relationship is not a good fit or inauthentic.
Otoni gave the business owners brief previews of how to create a target market and gave them social good project examples that could be used as a model in their own businesses.
Finally, she said, despite the digital reliance, retro analog items like vinyl records and “real, printed books” are making a popular comeback with millennials.
“Story telling is king,” she said, and then told the business owners to use the practices and engage with the millennial mind.
Courtesy photo
