Millennials spend on average 2 hours and 15 minutes on social media per day. For marketers, it is by far the top channel to reach them through – we know that. Millennials, as compared to any other generation, engage with brands the most on social media.
But the way millennials want to be marketed to on social media differs from other generations, and channel by channel.
That’s why we wrote this piece, to give you the tips and tools you need to resonate with millennials on each different social channel.
So, let’s dive in.
Seeing how popular each channel is to millennials can help you decide which ones your brand should focus on the most:
If you ever want to assess your brands social media accounts, Demand can give you that overview:
For example, if you worked for the brand Crocs, you could use Demand to analyze all your social accounts. What we are seeing is that the majority of Crocs audience on social is female age 18-24, and they currently see the most engagement on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. But the majority of their millennial audience is on Instagram – so when they are targeting their millennial audience, this is the platform to focus on.
Want to assess your social media audience? Just book a call and we can provide you with the same data you’re seeing above, but tailored to your brand.
Skip to the channel you’re interested in marketing to millennials on:
Millennials use Instagram for lifestyle content consumption. They ‘re on the app to creep what their peers are up to, as well as their fav influencers and celebrities, and 82% use it for shopping research.
This generation also uses it to post pictures to curtate their own online identity, of their luxe vacations or poised family photos. That’s why some people call IG the “highlight reel”, where people are showing off the best stuff that is happening in their life (even if it’s not the most realistic or holistic view of how life really is).
Above all, speak to their values and interests.
Using a tool like Soprism can help you zero in on what your millennial audience values and is interested in, so you can create content that resonates with what they care about most.
Sign up to run a Soprism report on your brand’s Instagram audience and know exactly the type of Instagram ads that are going to resonate.
Millennials head to TikTok for entertainment, lifestyle inspo, and personal development. They use it like a search engine to find product reviews, hacks, and how-to videos or to get the rundown on a current event.
They don’t post as much as Gen Z but they are heavy consumers, using it to scroll, learn and shop right from TikTok shop.
Lean on the data to show you what’s going to work best for your own audience.
Audiense Action allows you to segment your brand’s own millennial audience, and using real behavioural and interest data, can show you what content is going to resonate the most on TikTok:
Start your free trial of Audiense Action to find your brand’s top millennial segments, and data on how they want to be marketed to on TikTok.
Millennials use Facebook to stay connected with their friends and family. It’s where they get their news, research products, organize events, and join groups. This generation likes to engage with brands on Facebook specifically for customer care.
Create content that fits their Facebook feed.
A platform like Soprism makes it easy to understand the exact Facebook content your millennial audience wants to see from you:
Sign up for Soprism and get data backed content suggestions tailored to your audience.
YouTube is a place that millennials go to watch videos on the news, view product reviews, learn a new skill, watch fun, entertaining or fan fueled content, watch long form vlogs from their top influencers, dial in to niche interest, or focus on a type of personal development.
Know the types of videos your millennial audience wants to watch.
Audiense Insights takes the guesswork out of video creation, and shows you what your own millennial audience is already watching – so you know exactly what to create:
Get started with a free trial of Audiense Insights to see the top YouTube videos your own audience is watching – to help inspire content creation of your own.
X is the place millennials go to get their real-time news, learn about what’s trending in the tech, finance and political scene, give their opinions, join “events” and connect with others attending that event, and follow meme accounts.
Understand the types of posts on X that will get the highest engagement from your millennial audience.
Audiense Insights makes it easy to surface the top liked and shared posts by your millennial audience on X, so you can make posts by your own brand that fit right into their feed:
Discover what posts will resonate with your own audience on X using Audiense Insights.
Pinterest is a hotspot for millennials, specifically millennial women who love to use the app for inspiration. They go on to search for interior design, fashion, fitness, recipe and shopping inspo. It’s also a place to find inspirational quotes for whatever life stage they’re in or goal they are trying to achieve. Many millennials use it as a dream board, to curate what they want their life to look like, or which outfits to plan for an upcoming vacation.
Create pins that align with what your millennial audience cares about most.
Audiense Action is the perfect tool for narrowing down your top millennial audience segments, and then understanding which posts are going to resonate with them:
It doesn’t have to be hard creating a marketing strategy for Pinterest, the insights are all in Audiense Action – sign up to try it.
Millennials use LinkedIn to network, search for jobs, build their personal brand (career wise) and for career development.
They scroll on the app to keep up to date with industry news, and follow how their peers are doing professionally. They also seek out content related to helping them do their jobs.
Don’t just post whatever other business is posting on LinkedIn – find out what your millennial audience is most interested in (outside their jobs) by using a tool like Digital Intelligence for LinkedIn and speak to that too:
Book a demo to access LinkedIn insights like the ones in the video above.
Millennials aren’t hard to reach, but they are hard to fool. They want brands that get them: authentic, useful, entertaining, and aligned with their values. The secret isn’t showing up on every channel, it’s showing up right on the ones that matter most to your audience.
Whether that’s creating “how-to” reels on Instagram, relatable TikToks, or thought-leadership on LinkedIn - lead with value, not vanity. Know your audience, tailor your message, and meet millennials where they actually spend their time.
For more insights on millennials and how to target them on every channel, download our Millennials Targeting Pack.