Marketing to the Millennials: Connect & Engage the Younger Generation

Marketing to the Millennials

Connect & Engage the Younger Generation

Lynn Morton

Manager, Marketing Technologies

American Academy of Physician Assistants

Agenda

• A little bit about Gen Y• Social Media• Listening• Case Studies• Questions

If there is time…• SIGMA Members

Who are the Millennials?

• aka “Generation Y”• Born late 70’s/early 80’s – late 90’s• About 75 million strong• Strong-willed, passionate & optimistic

What’s different about them?

• Grew up on technology• Work well in teams• Showered with

attention and had parents with high expectations

• Multi-taskers that appreciate structure

• Civically minded• Exposed to heavy

license based toy marketing as children

How do you speak to them?

• Keep their attention• Technology• Allow them to work in

teams• Benefit the world they

live in

Potential Ways to Reach Them

• Email• Committees• Focus Groups• Text Messaging• Volunteering• Social Media

Social Media• What is it?

Social media is media [or content] designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many)

into social media dialogues (many to many). • POST – People, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics• The “Why” must come before the “How”

Tools There are so many different kinds..

Micro-BloggingTwitter/Yammer/Tumblr

Time Management ToolsFriendFeed/Ping.fm/HootSuite

Video SharingVimeo/YouTube/Blip.TV

Content AggregatorGoogle Reader/Netvibes/Bloglines

Social NetworksFacebook/Myspace/LinkedIn

Live StreamingUstream/Qik/Justin.TV

And many, many more are out there!

Objectives over Tools

You can find the tools to meet your objective, but you have to know why you’re doing it first.

So how do I figure that out?

Listening

• What is listening online?

• How do I listen?• What is the purpose of

listening?• What tools do I use to

listen?

Listening Tools

• Google Alertsset-up for keywords, your brand & competitors

• Technorati• Twitter Searches

Tweetbeeps or Twilerts

• socialmention*can set alerts as well

• Facebook Searches• LinkedIn Searches• Social Bookmarking• Pay Services

Radian 6, Techrigy, BuzzGain, Crimson Hexagon

Case Studies

• The Good - Comcast

Goal: Responding to customer complaints to change the image of the brand.

Secondary Goal: “After listening and talking to our customers online, we have decided to create a place where we

can exchange ideas about what’s important to you.”Source: Comcast Voices BlogSource: Comcast Voices Blog

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

How they’re doing it…• Multiple Platforms

Twitter/Forums/Blog

• Multiple Contributors All Hands on Deck

Most importantly… It’s about the customer!

Case Studies

• The Bad – 3M & The Post-It Note Jaguar


So Why Did It Fail?

• They rejected their customer’s needs• They tried to copy the viral success • Negative backlash when they got caught

“post-it note car steal”

1,320,000 results

Case Studies

• The Ugly – “Motrin Moms”


Why Did It Get Ugly?

• They didn’t think about their customer• They offended a very vocal group

Negative Comments

• Respond & Engage• Correct or Inform• Apologize if needed• An opportunity• What is a rager/troll?• Customer Service

Questions?

SIGMA Members• Carter Energy

- Blog- Facebook-Twitter

• NOCO Express- FacebookFillup T. Frog-Twitter

• NOCO Express cont.- MascotFillup T. Frog- Flair & Personalization

Contact

Lynn MortonEmail: [email protected]: @MissLynn13LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnmortonFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/lynn.morton Blog: http://snapblogger.wordpress.com

Supplemental information for this presentation at: http://delicious.com/misslynn13/sigma09http://delicious.com/misslynn13/sigma09