I recently read this article about Snapchat advertising. I found it to be an interesting take on how to reach millennials and younger. Reading this article got me thinking about how to reach others around my age and I completely agree with the article. I get my news from online sources and usually from smaller news companies (like the hustle). I watch mainly Youtube and Netflix if I am watching tv. I have popup blockers, Adblock, and overlay extensions installed on my browser to get rid of overlays. So how could advertisers reach someone around my age group or younger?
"Junk Mail" Becomes Email marketing
If you have their email and they actually read it, this can be effective due to how automated you can make the system. It is also very cost effective due how cheaply you can find good automated email marketing software like Mailchimp. These systems can be set to automatically send out emails to match your various strategies. If someone orders from you, you can setup your system to send a survey to them to ask how they are enjoying your project or recommend other products they might like. These systems can also be setup to send emails at various other conditions like time of year. For example, if you have a gift company you can setup your emails to be sent a few weeks before holidays, birthdays (that the customer adds), and any other conditions you set. The system can then be setup to remind them the next year what they ordered and other recommendations the customer or the person they are buying for might enjoy.
"Product Spokesperson" becomes Instagram/Snapchat/Twitter Stars
This is where things get more interesting. As shown in the article companies are paying people on Instagram and Snapchat to support/advertise their products. This is essentially like paying a popular musician to wear Beats headphones. Tam Pham the author seems hesitant at first to the idea of paying large amounts of money for an ad that might only has one day to be seen, but looking from my perspective I disagree. Most millennials following people on Snapchat and Instagram look pretty regularly at their accounts. This means you have a target group (hiking, sports, cooking, etc.) that have a higher potential conversion rate that are looking at your ads from people they actually want to follow. They have already identified your target market and have their attention. $10,000-$30,000 for a 2-minute ad doesn't sound so bad anymore does it?
TV Ads become Youtube/Google/Facebook/Linkedin/Amazon (SEM)
The new broad market advertising strategy for millennials has become SEM based ads. Through the use of keyword based ads and SEO marketers now have the ability to have worldwide impressions with a lower cost basis than traditional TV advertising when using a CPC strategy. The majority of people are aware of Youtube/Google/Facebook/Linkedin/Amazon advertisements, which give a lot of flexibility for keywords and target groups. If someone is searching for something on google it integrates into the rest of the websites they visit. This allows companies to target people looking for keywords tied to their products. For example, someone searching for a new tent will see a screen like this in google:
As you continue to search for your item (this case a tent) you will slowly start to notice other websites using google advertising displaying links to REI, Cabela's, and other camping equipment websites. This gives tremendous target exposure for such a broad market strategy. Using such setups as google adwords you can control your budget for each click and also control how much you are willing to spend on advertising. It also gives feedback on where you are currently appearing in search results and how well you are competing with other advertisers for your keyword. This is a great strategy for those looking to get a lot of impressions. As mentioned before with the advent of adblock it makes advertising on sites other than google ads tricky (as of creation of this article adblocks was not programmed to block google ads).
Small Business Solutions
There are new up and coming ad groups like Yodle give the ability for advertisers to easily target local audiences. These more sophisticated and user friendly tools give non-tech small business owners affordable and easy access to all-in one advertising solutions. They can help you with your email marketing, build your websites, facebook page...the complete package.
All in all the marketing and advertising world is changing along with the rest of the world. New strategies are being developed everyday and it is a fast paced ever moving target to reach your customers, but with innovative strategies like using Snapchat and Instagram there are ways to stay one step ahead and gain access to millennials. The question is: what strategy will come on top next?
