IRCE 2014: Selling to Millennials in a Noisy Social Economy

Selling to Millennials in a

Noisy Social Economy

IRCE 2014

@CarlosGil83 #RealTalk

Carlos Gil, Speaker

President/Founder

2008 – 2012

Social Media Manager

2012 - 2014

Head of Digital

2014 - Present

Multi-Channel StrategyIn today’s online driven world, brands are multi-media content producers and story-tellers – Content is often overlooked however

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Yelp, and Google+ can be compared to TV (Facebook), radio (Twitter), print (Pinterest), billboard (Instagram), and yellow pages (Yelp) – your content strategy should vary by platform!

In digital marketing, your “end game” should be to increase sales via engaging content and conversation

Through social media, build brand awareness and long-term loyalty – there’s no short term ROI

Opportunity for Brands!“Always On Consumers”

Millennial’s 101

Millennials (¼ of the U.S. population) are the most marketing-savvy and advertising-critical generation ever

Millennials rely mostly on their friends to make buying decisions

They don’t want to be sold to by brands -- make them feel empowered and valued!

By 2017, the Millennial generation is expected to outspend Baby Boomers (Study by Berglass + Associates and Women’s Wear Daily “What Happens When Millennials Get the Wallet”)

Understand Your Audience

In digital marketing, the audience varies by platform and so should your content strategy i.e. Millennials seek value and savings, Baby Boomers are all about lifestyle

Build content tailored to who you want to target i.e. Female shopper vs. Male shopper, etc.

Millennials are highly influential consumers, want to lose an influential customer for life? Ignore them! (See Examples…)

Millennials Are Influencers

Millennials Are Influencers

When I wanted to give someone my $, I was ignored by Priceline, Expedia, and Orbitz…

Missed Sales Opportunity

Turn Selfies Into Sales!

Content Drives Engagement

Be Timely and Relevant

Don’t Be Gatorade…

Speak to Your Customers

Don’t Advertise… And Expect Someone to Care

Taco Bell is Crushing It!

Taco Bell on Snapchat

Go Web-to-Store via Pinterest

Pinterest’s Popularity

As of September 2013, Pinterest has over 70 million users

According to a study by Shareaholic, Pinterest is driving more traffic to publishers than Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Google+ combined

Tell a Story with Pictures

Grow Fan Engagement on

Instagram

User Generated Content

Real-time Marketing

Remember AOL?

“Old school” rules of marketing still apply – content stimulates conversation, conversation leads to influencing sales behavior

If you want to keep a Millennial as a “customer for life” you need to speak back to them when they are speaking about you

Be personable and engage in one-on-one dialogue to build trust and loyalty

#RealTalk

“Social media IS NOT advertising, it’s relationship building.”

-- @CarlosGil83

Q & A

Email: carlos@carlosgil.biz

Twitter: @CarlosGil83

LinkedIn.com/in/CarlosGilOnline

Facebook.com/CarlosGilOnline

Coming Soon: “My Unemployed Life: Finding a Job in a Social Economy”