How Well Are Social Media Platforms Meeting the Expectations of Millennial's Today? In the US alone, the e-commerce business surpassed a total of $504 bn in terms of its net worth
By Sumit Mittal
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If you thought that millennials were the internet-obsessed ones - think again. There is another generation that is taking the phrase to a whole new level - Gen Z.
The millennial age group is from 21 to 34 and the Gen Z is from 16 to 20 years. This is the generation that has literally grown up with the internet around. It is as if their whole lives depend on it. So it is safe to say that there is no one else (read: no other generation) that knows its way around the World Wide Web.
While the older generations have come to criticize the amount of time and energy (physical and mental) millennials spend on the internet, one can also not ignore the fact that the internet, especially social media, that we know today is now a multi-billion-dollar industry. In the US alone, the e-commerce business surpassed a total of $504bn in terms of its net worth.
This only surfaces the power that social media holds over the internet. It is, in all its intricate simplicity, the modern age driving force of the internet.
There is no smartphone without these social media apps. You won't see anyone not spending at least an hour every day in their busy schedules scrolling through interesting news and feeds, liking pictures of what they want, what they have, what and who they want to be.
Facebook has over a billion reported users. If on average, all these users spend 40-50 minutes on the app each day and if your media game is strong and your CTA post comes in contact with these users at just the right time, that could be the jackpot moment for you. So, you see: there's a positive aspect to it,
Let's get a little deeper perspective of the business prospects on social media.
Building Your Brand
More than 50% of millennials and Gen Z combined prefer buying from a brand that has a strong online presence.
By a strong online presence, we mean:
Active Social Media Accounts - preferably YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. You can choose your social media platforms according to what audience you are targeting, your demographic analysis, your business model, etc.
Aggressive User Engagement - interact with your online audience, observe their needs and respond to them. The more active you are in the comments' section of your posts, the better the brand you build around your product.
Providing Value for Time - if your audience is giving you their time, they expect value in return. Top social media influencers say that users smell selfishness in an account from far off. This means that if you're a part of the game only for your benefit, your audience will not be happy.
Quality, not quantity - focus more on posting valuable content rather than just churning pictures with irrelevant captions. Understand your demographics and what problems your audience is facing and then answer them.
Slide in, don't force it - strategize the content that you are putting out. Be subtle with your advertisements but don't be vague.
Keep Up with The Trends
It is important that you keep up with what's new in the social media market. Whether it is about going minimalistic with your design and copy or even incorporating memes into your brand advertising.
Connect with your millennial audience by observing what resonates with them
Conduct surveys to see what works for your brand what does not
Review analytics to check which campaigns should be continued and which need modification
The younger generations are all about making and keeping up with new trends. They come with jokes that connect with their situations, make cinematic references that are directed towards the age they grew up in and so on.
Even social media has evolved keeping in mind the Gen Z needs.
Facebook came up with a platform to interact with people miles away
Instagram took "a picture speaks a thousand words' quite literally
Snapchat upped the game by introducing limited lifetime video stories
Evolution is what keeps the internet alive. We have come a long way since email marketing being THE THING to real-time consumer interaction on Instagram and Twitter.
This is the one thing that truly speaks with the millennial mindset - evolution.
Just Have Fun
After all, that is how social media began - with a few exceptions being solely business platforms like LinkedIn - so that people can interact with each other, share their experiences and just have fun.
Connecting with millennial and Gen Z generation, as a brand, is also about showing them how fun you are. The late 2010s decade has shifted the paradigm from advertising meaning all business to consumers looking for brands that actually care.
And if you have put so much work into working up your company, we are assuming that you do care about the problems that your product solves and, by extension, your audience that faces those problems.
The tried and tested marketing pitch first expects you to address the problem, the consumer who is facing it and then tell them that you have the solution.
It also helps to keep your social media profiles flexible. Include, not just your brand-related posts but also community concerns, public movements and other such topics. Even if those are irrelevant to you as a brand, those come to show that you care.
Really, it is all about caring. Millennials judge a brand value by how much compassion they show towards their community.
While we're moving forward with a tech-focused generation, it also happens to be really sensitive about public and community issues.
There is a lot of positivity that flows on the internet if you know where to look for it.
Millennials and Gen Z have sure found the online hives that they feel most comfortable in. These are corporate, entertainment, e-commerce and even just leisure.
What you think of the internet is how you want to see it. There are two sides to every coin. And while a lot of negativity is shed on the use of social media - which is also an unfortunate part of it - taking away the spotlight from the better part of it is equally unjust.
Consider incorporating social media into your business and everyday life to see what really is that interacts with the younger generations.
