How Would I Market to Myself: Marketing to Gen Y Consumers

Recently, I’ve found myself wondering if social media marketers (myself included) are missing a massive opportunity when it comes to marketing to Millennial consumers. With the availability of numerous digital tools and our social media culture, it’s become much easier to interact with the 18-24 year-old demographic. Easier, however, does not mean more effective.

This morning Marc Meyer put out this Tweet:

Since I had just read two articles from the Wall Street Journal and MediaPost stating that only 22% of Millenials use Twitter, and of those, only 29% follow companies, I agreed with him.

Then, Marc asked me a thought-provoking question: How would you market to you?

Good question – one that forced me to separate myself from my day job as a marketing professional so I could think like the 23-year-old kid I am.

Below, I’ve listed several ways I’d like to see companies marketing to me.

1. Rely on Word-of-Mouth. With social networking sites, what you say and do can spread rapidly among my peers. If 10 of my friends become a fan of your page on Facebook, it shows up on my homepage and I’m intrigued, and more likely to click through to your page. Facebook makes this easy with its advertising, but if you can find ways to do this on Twitter and other sites, you’ll certainly be helping out your brand.

2. Add value by being relevant. However, don’t expect everything you say to cause a cascade effect on social media platforms. Focus on adding value rather than overloading on content. People my age are really, really good at tuning out what we don’t want to hear. (Just ask our parents.) The best way to ensure we’re listening to your messages is to make them relevant to us. Learn why we’re in a given community, whether it’s Facebook or Twitter or an iPhone app, and speak to us without severely interrupting what we’re doing.

3. Be conversational. When you’re trying to build awareness about your brand to gain customers, don’t use social media as a billboard but as a telephone. Social media should be an interactive tool, and when your consumers speak, listen and respond. In my experience, the most successful Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages are those that go beyond simple @replies and wall posts. Ask questions, get our feedback, and implement changes. Everyone likes to have their ego stroked, right? Brand consumers, especially Gen Y ones, are no different. What feels better than having a company listen to reasonable, quality recommendations we’ve made?

4. Offer free stuff. We’re just out of college.  Loan payments are becoming a harsh reality.  If you want us to try out your brand, give us some free samples or coupon codes.  Reward us for being loyal customers by launching programs like all those restaurants do. Imagine if your favorite sunscreen or deodorant had Buy 10, The Eleventh Is On Us cards? I know I’d be much more inclined to consistently buy my favorite brand rather than whatever is on sale, which is what I do now.  Plus, if a company could build an entire online community based on the loyalty rewards system, I’d probably check it out to see what other users are saying about new products/sales/coupons/etc.

5. Give back. Millennials are do-gooders, and we pride ourselves on supporting companies that are good, too. If you can leverage a social responsibility campaign into your marketing plan, make sure the right Gen Y demographics are aware of it. Kind actions certainly make advertising words stick better in my mind.

What else can be added to this list? What companies do you think are already doing a great job marketing to Gen Y through social media? What other ideas are there beyond social networking sites?

Why Online Marketers Might Be Wrong About Collegiate Consumers: Twitter is for Fun, Not Business!

I recently received this press release from the PRSSA chapter at my alma mater, and found the results interesting enough that I wanted to share with you.  Basically, a research team found out that social media marketing might not be as hard-hitting in the college crowd as we thought.  Granted, the sample size is a bit on the small side, but I do think the concept behind the research is worth noting: many college students only use these sites to interact with their friends, not with companies and brands.  It’s hard for me to imagine this since it’s what I spend the majority of my day doing, but I’m really interested to see what you all have to say after reading the press release:

A recent survey conducted by a research team from the Walter E. Griscti chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America at the University of South Florida reveals that this generation does not understand the business applications of new social media sites like Twitter.

Of the 250 Florida college students surveyed, 99 percent use social networking sites. However, only 15 percent have an account with Twitter and 34 percent have never even heard of the site.Some 58 percent of the students who have Twitter accounts never use the service or rarely log-on.

“There is a stereotype that because students are always plugged in that they understand the strategic uses of social media sites,” said Kelli Burns, professor at the University of South Florida and author of the forthcoming Celeb 2.0: How Social Media Foster our Fascination with Popular Culture. “Businesses have a misconception that students know how to use Twitter; these findings prove otherwise.”

The research team survey results reveal two distinct findings. First, college students are not active Twitter users. More importantly, they are not interested in interacting with brands through social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

A common misconception is that sites like Twitter offer an innovative way for advertisers and companies to interact with the young demographic. However, 75 percent of students say they would be “not at all interested in” or “don’t care about” following brands, companies, or organizations on Twitter.

Many companies assume that social media enables college students to be smarter consumers. Sites like Twitter, social media analysts claim, act as a medium for the new two-way communication between brands and consumers. Given the media chatter about the importance of social networking for corporations, there is a disconnect between the promise of social media and reality.

Results reveal that a mere 6 percent of college students follow companies and only 4 percent follow brands on social media sites. These findings suggest that if corporations and communicators continue to bet on college students using social media sites effectively, they may come up empty handed.

The fact is that college students use social media sites primarily for keeping in touch with friends, not for networking or brand interaction. Until Millennials become less weary of this interaction, the gap between what business professionals expect and what college students actually know will continue to widen.

Do you think this report is accurate? Do brands communicating online miss the mark when attempting to engage with collegiate consumers?

Confessions of a Spendaholic: Why Creating (and sticking to) Budgets is Easier Than Ever Before

America’s economic situation is dismal. The headlines are depressing, the outlook isn’t good, and Americans are struggling in a sea of unemployment. Despite this, I somehow managed to let my spending spiral out of control. I have finally acknowledged my problem – I was a spendaholic – and thanks to a slew of easy-to-use online tools I have found ways to regain control of my habits.

Now, a slight disclaimer: I didn’t go crazy and accumulate tons of debt on credit cards. I am still relatively debt-free, but when I analyzed my spending habits, I realized that I wasn’t saving as much each month as I could have been. Money that should be going toward my professional and personal development was being spent on… well, that was the problem: I had no idea where my money was going.

It all started when I got my first full-time job. Receiving regular pay checks after being a broke college student for so long made it a little less painful to check my bank account. In fact, those checks made it so much easier that I stopped checking my accounts altogether. I became a spendaholic because I knew the money would be there.

In January, I checked my account and realized that after 4 months of having a job, my financial standing had not changed as much as I’d hoped it would. My savings had little growth and my checking had stayed the same every month.

Then, it hit me: I was living in the moment, and not thinking about my future. I realized that if I continued spending money at the rate I was, I would never save enough to go back to school or buy a car or purchase a home or travel as much as I wanted. Something had to change.

I decided I would sign up for a financial service that tracked and analyzed my spending habits. Many of my friends and co-workers recommended mint.com, and that’s the service I went with. (I’ve also heard great things about expensr.com.)

I’ve been using mint.com for a week, and I’m hooked. I can go back several months and see where the majority of my money went. It was a brutally honest wake up call – one I desperately needed. Like most young professionals trying to get settled in a new city, most of my money went toward my social life: concerts, movies, eating out, and happy hours.

Using mint.com, I adjusted my budget so I was cutting back on these things. Even with slight changes in each area, I will be saving thousands of dollars this year that can be put toward future investments. Mint.com also sends me alerts when I am getting close to a certain budget, or if large transactions occur in my accounts which helps me easily track my monthly spending.

In this era of economic uncertainty, I decided to reel in my inner spendaholic so I can practice financial responsibility skills that I hope will serve me well as I get further away from the collegiate lifestyle.

How Do You Stay Motivated?

Sometimes motivation hits me at the strangest times: late at night as I’m falling asleep or in the middle of an important client meeting. A sudden wave of determination strikes and my thoughts race as I mentally develop a plan of action that will help me achieve this new goal. Within minutes, I have it all figured out. But, lately, I’ve noticed that if my goals aren’t career-oriented, the motivation to achieve them disappears as quickly as it surfaced.

In the work place, I am ambitious. I hold myself accountable. Every morning, I create a task list and I don’t leave until every last “to-do” has a check mark next to it. But being as motivated about my personal life as I am my professional one is something I’ve been struggling with recently. To-do lists and writing down my goals just aren’t enough.

I understand the importance of achieving work-life balance; I wish I could transfer some of the drive I have at work over to my other goals.

Take the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, for instance. Ever since I moved to D.C., I’ve been determined to finish this race. A week ago, I got the sudden urge to start a training program. So far, I’ve stuck to it, but in the back of my mind I’m wondering how long it will be before I lose the motivation.

It’s not just running. It’s starting a book club or finding an organization to volunteer with; it’s writing a novel or going on architecture tours once a month. When these ideas first occur to me, I am elated and passionate. But the momentum wanes as soon as I walk through my front door after a long, stressful day at work. Even though I know I’ll feel better after a late-night run or a morning spent volunteering, it’s maintaining the motivation to keep going for more than a couple weeks at a time.

For me, finding a work-life balance isn’t only about making sure I don’t overwork myself so that I have time for friends, family, and a social life. It’s having the motivation to achieve personal goals as well as professional ones. And, unfortunately, I’m not quite sure how to do ride the wave when it hits.

What do you do to keep yourself motivated after leaving the office?

Photo cred: treehugger.com

New Gen Y Community: 2Sense Online

A couple of weeks ago, Michael Eisenstadt contacted me to see if I would let him interview me for his new Web site, 2Sense Online. After browsing the site, I agreed. The up-and-coming site caters to Gen Y through articles that analyze and discuss a variety of topics, from politics to economics to career advancement.

It’s community of experts and contributers who write about issues affecting young professionals. The articles that I have read are informative and engaging, so I’ll be very excited to see how this site grows in the next few months.

As I learned from being a part of Brazen Careerist, Gen Y communities foster dynamic conversations that have opened my eyes to new perspectives and taught me that my peers are incredibly intelligent.

Even if you aren’t a Gen Y-er, I encourage you to check out both these sites. Oh, and you can find my interview here.

A Different Kind of Undecided Voter

My absentee ballot came three weeks ago and I haven’t mailed it in yet. In fact, I haven’t even been looking for it; I found it last night by accident, carelessly stuffed between a bill and my bank statement. The reason my ballot hasn’t been shipped off to Florida yet is because I’m still undecided. Not about a candidate – I’m undecided whether I even want to vote this year.

Before everyone jumps on a soapbox and preaches about how important voting is–I’m writing this post out of frustration with the campaigns, today’s election process, and my own shifting ideals. I already know voting is important and a privilege. I don’t take it lightly, which makes it even more difficult for me, since neither candidate evokes the excitement that many in my generation are feeling.

I grew up admiring the U.S. political process. I thought moving to D.C. during this historic election year would make me even more passionate about voting. I hoped for a candidate who would inspire me to attend rallies and volunteer at campaign offices. Our country is in desperate need of a change in direction, and I wanted to find a champion who would lead us.

“Change we can believe in?” “Country first?”

Those are slogans I’d love to vote for, only both candidates seem to have forgotten them along the campaign trail.

When I first realized it would be an Obama/McCain election, I was elated because I thought both were exceptional choices. I was proud of the U.S. and the major parties for nominating the first black candidate and a former POW who had been a powerful force in the Senate. Both senators are inspirational for very different reasons, and while I still admire them, I find myself disagreeing with too much of their platforms and campaigns to aggressively align myself with either.

Campaign advertising from both candidates has gone overboard. I am so sick of the ads telling me how liberal/conservative one candidate is or how much money I’ll lose in a given administration. Don’t tell me what the other person is doing wrong or push sound bites taken out of context. Tell me what you are going to do. Tell me how American life will improve under your administration.

Also, the media has played a huge role in my disillusionment and apathy. For weeks, I couldn’t read the Washington Post or New York Times without seeing countless negative articles that delved into personal issues rather than policy. The media made my stomach turn, and it frustrated me as a citizen and a student of mass communications. It looked as though all major papers had turned into gossip rags instead of asking tough questions and examining complex issues. With an economic crisis and the situation in the Middle East, do I really care about Obama’s 1983 thesis or Palin’s college transcripts?

Despite watching all the debates and studying both candidate’s platforms, I still don’t think I’m educated enough on all the issues to make a sound judgment about who can lead this country best.

I’m jealous that so many other people think they know who the best choice for our country is. I eavesdrop on the political discourse taking place around D.C., and everyone seems to be ecstatic about this year’s election. But when I ask them how they really feel, almost all of my friends say, “Well, the candidate I was pulling for didn’t make it, so I’m settling.” And that’s what I really want to know: why should we have to settle?

My absentee ballot shows 13 presidential tickets. There are twenty-two people I have never seen before campaigning for the highest office in our country. Why weren’t these candidates represented throughout the political process, especially at the debates? Obviously it has a lot to do with funding and the debate access laws, but these seem like poor excuses in a country that stresses equal opportunity for all.

Another reason why this election is difficult for me is because I have grown into a new set of ideals and beliefs over the past few years. I was raised by devout Catholics who taught me the importance of community service and generosity. And those values stick with me. I value the freedom that provides people with opportunities to do what is best for them so long as their actions do not infringe on the rights of others. That’s where I split with my family on issues such as gay marriage and women’s healthcare.

So, socially, I’m liberal. And fiscally, I’m conservative. But for the most part, I’m moderate. But as a moderate, I feel like I’m sacrificing too many issues that are important to me by declaring an allegiance to either ticket. Until I can vote for a candidate I believe in, I don’t think I can settle for either Senator Obama or Senator McCain.

photo credit: Question! from -bast-

Life Post Graduation Part 2: Finding a Job in an Economic Crisis

I recently wrote about my internship and how positive that experience was in my transition from college life to corporate America. Now, I have completed my first week as a salaried employee in the real world. What’s even better? I’m pretty sure I’ve landed my dream job at New Media Strategies.

So how did I do it? Easy – I built up a personal and a digital network, discovered what I was passionate about, and did a lot of research to find a position that would challenge me and fit my criteria for workplace values.

Okay, so it wasn’t that easy. With our economy in its current state, it’s a difficult process to find a great entry-level job. No matter how many times I rewrote my cover letter and reviewed my résumé, getting interviews at companies was practically impossible without help from my friends and network.

For example, I read about New Media Strategies when I first got to D.C. Since I’m slightly obsessed with this new digital era I wanted to connect with others who shared this passion. I checked out the company’s site NOT to look for a job, but to find people. I discovered the blogs of Leslie Bradshaw and Andre Blackman, so I started following them and a few other NMSers on twitter. I reached out to Leslie telling her how I’d just moved here and was always looking for social media events to go to, and we ended up meeting in person at an event a couple of days later.

As my internship reached an end, I noticed that NMS was hiring. I sent a DM to Leslie saying that she had inspired me with some of her recent work and that I was thinking about applying. She quickly responded and told me to e-mail the head of HR, which I did, and here I am!

Yesterday, I was talking to a close friend of mine who is finishing up her CPA and trying to land a job at a big time accounting firm. She’s very smart, organized, experienced, and has a near perfect GPA. And, it doesn’t hurt that both of her parents are respected accountants. Then, she told me she wanted to get a job without using her parents’ networks. While I understand her desire to get a job on her own without any help, I told her that this was no time to be humble and that she should make use of the people she knows, especially with our the entry-level job market as fragile as it is right now.

What do you think? Did I give her the right advice? How did you get your first job after college?

By the way, be sure to check out my new blogroll with a list of my very talented co-workers’ blogs.