Effective Instagram Marketing Tactics for Reaching Millennials

Instagram and Facebook

If you’re looking to expand your customer base and boost revenue and aren’t considering millennials, you’re doing your brand a big disservice. 

Why is that so? There are many reasons, but here are just a few:

  • Millennials (people born between 1981 and 1996) are especially important because their age concurs with the peak usage of most social platforms. 
  • Millennials are expected to be the biggest target group for ‘generational marketing’ in the future. 
  • From 2020 and beyond, millennials will be the largest generation in the US, outnumbering Gen X, Gen Z, and the baby boomers. 
  • What’s more, about 30% of the workforce in the States will consist of millennials. 

That’s right, this generation is definitely a significant market, and you should start thinking about how to reach them. 

Where Do You Find Millennials?

At the moment, over 4.5 billion people are using the internet, and more than 3.7 billion people are active social media users. 

And what about millennials? 

Well, some studies suggest that millennials interact more on social networks than they do in real life

And which social network is their all-time favorite? 

Millennials are using Instagram more than any other social media platform. Want some more numbers? Check these out:

  • Instagram reaches 1 billion users monthly, and about 60% are between the ages of 18 – 29. 
  • About 40% of these users visit the platform at least once a day, uploading over 100 million videos and pictures! 

This strongly implies that brands should try to leverage this social media platform for this particular audience. But what tactics do we use to appeal to millennials? Let’s take a look. 

Don’t Throw Your Products at Them.

Millennials can be quite a hard nut to crack. If you’re too salesy and promotional, they’ll roll their eyes and unfollow you. 

If you want them to listen, you need to find a way to attract their attention with grace and style. Telling a personal yet universal story will allow your brand to make a powerful impression while speaking softly. 

Share a beautiful picture with a fun caption. Consider sharing inspiring quotes, sea imagery, cute baby animals…In other words, sell an experience, a journey that speaks to millennials as people and not as customers. Maybe they won’t jump to buy your product right away, but they will definitely think of you when they’re ready to buy. 

Talk About Things That Millennials Care About

While it might be true that millennials are somewhat obsessed with tech and selfies (guilty as charged!), they are very capable of critical thinking and have certain key values that matter to them. 

One survey has shown that the top values millennials care about include:

  • Sustainability
  • Animal rights
  • Anti-racism
  • LGBT rights
  • Feminism and 
  • Inclusiveness

The same survey also found that nearly half of millennials prefer to buy from brands that support causes that this generation cares about. 

There are many ways to incorporate these topics into your Instagram content:

  • You can add your opinion on a certain topic in your ads 
  • Engage your audience by asking questions related to a topic
  • You can even turn a hot topic into a fun meme! 

But be careful; the point is to be engaging without crossing the line. If you have even the slightest inkling that a post might be viewed as offensive, don’t publish it!

Leverage Micro-Influencers

Traditionally, big companies have recruited celebrities to act as the face of their brands. In the world of social media, these famous personalities are known as mega- or macro-influencers and have the ability to attract the attention of millions of followers. 

But one big downside of these macro-influencers is that they don’t have the volition or time to engage with their followers or build relationships with them. For that reason, they might not be viewed as authentic among media-smart millennials.

Enter: micro-influencers

Micro-influencers (influencers with a follower base numbering between 1,000 and 100,000) are recognized as experts within their areas of interest. They offer a personalized response and attend to the unique requests and needs of each follower. Consumers tend to view micro-influencers as real people with insider expertise and knowledge who can help them with honest advice. 

But how do micro-influencers appeal to millennials? First, micro-influencers combine their personal narratives with the brands they endorse, so companies should take advantage of this storytelling ability as it resonates well with millennials. 

Second, the endorsement by micro-influencers is more of a subtle “nudge” than push marketing. 

And finally, creative young micro-influencers are great at creating interesting content that features the brands in a fun way, and They’re aware that their audience wants to be educated about new offerings while at the same time being entertained.

Create Amazing Videos

High-resolution, captivating pics usually attract the millennials’ attention, but when it comes to social media, video is king!

If you decide to create videos, be sure to make an impression in the first seven seconds. If you manage to keep your audience’s attention for seven seconds, they’re very likely to watch your content until the end. Please stay away from demonstrational videos and, instead, show them behind-the-scenes footage of your staff or how your products can be used in ways that appeal to them. 

Millennials especially enjoy Instagram Stories. In fact, 60% of millennials watch and publish Instagram Stories. Moreover, one in four millennials looks for Stories of the products and services they want to buy. 

The 24-hour time limit of IG Stories makes it easier for you to convey your message, and if you want to hold your audience’s attention longer, you can add unique hashtags, stickers, and filters. It would be best if you also considered posting live Q&A sessions with your personnel, running contests, and using live videos to introduce new products. 

Share User-Generated Content

If you’re following marketing trends, you might already know that 20%-50% of all buying decisions are made based on recommendations by other people. 

However, today, “word of mouth” doesn’t mean talking one-on-one. It is more of a communication between consumers (often via social media) without any economic incentives. 

And what better way to disseminate opinions than through visual imagery?

Millennials love the imagery, and, more importantly, they tend to trust user-generated content about 50% more than other media formats. 

Try to encourage your millennial audience to participate in the action by creating a contest where followers will submit an image while including a unique hashtag that you’ll provide solely for the contest. 

Besides getting your followers involved, user-generated content actually means that you’ll have a lesser amount of content to create yourself. 

Use Your Instagram Insights

Today, social platforms are smarter than ever before, providing business owners and marketers with data to support customer outreach strategies and brand content. 

You can analyze your followers and content to get a detailed picture of customer interactions with your brand. Simply put, social media insights enable you to understand better the people you’re communicating with. 

Armed with Instagram insights, you’ll be able to refine your targeting and content strategies for different components of your campaigns, reach the right audience (in this case – millennials), say the right thing, and even get brand advocates along the way!

Target your Audience

If you have a Millenials’ niche-related product or service, you must focus on your target audience. Facebook advertising agencies may help you connect with millennials in a targeted and efficient way.

Regardless of who you are trying to reach out to, read through our comprehensive guide 62 Proven Ways to Grow Followers on Instagram to start gaining followers like never before!

Final Words

If millennials are your most profitable audience segment, then Instagram is definitely the best way to reach them, engage with them, and turn them into loyal fans. 

Remember, this demographic seeks personalization, interactive relationship, and authenticity from products and brands. Considering millennials’ digital savviness and purchasing power, marketers should realize that tried-and-true strategies might not be enough anymore.

When it comes to targeting millennials on Instagram, these 6 strategies are a good place to start. However, if you want to be successful, picking only one won’t do the trick. You’ll need to take your time and create a complete Instagram marketing strategy where you will incorporate various tactics.