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Millennial Consumers: Using YouTube to Reach a Generation's Buying Power

YouTube is known for its never-ending collection of comical cats and hilarious post-anesthesia meltdowns. But move over, Keyboard Cat and make room for branded content! YouTube has quickly become millennials’

Millennial Consumers: Using YouTube to Reach a Generation's Buying Power

By: Catey Condit, Executive Assistant

 

How Big is YouTube for Millennials?

YouTube is known for its never-ending collection of comical cats and hilarious post-anesthesia meltdowns. But move over, Keyboard Cat and make room for branded content! YouTube has quickly become millennials’ go-to source for entertainment and information. The video hosting and sharing site reaches more millennials than any cable network in the U.S. With millennials making up more than one-third of the population, it’s easy to see why advertisers should be looking to YouTube to build brand awareness in front of a millennial audience.

Millennials are hungry for videos about brands and products they’re interested in. According to Google, millennials consider YouTube “the best place to learn about a product or service that interests them.” Not surprisingly, millennials are also responsible for spending the most time watching videos hosted on YouTube, compared to all other consumer demographics. For advertisers, this means that YouTube is the place to harness millennials’ buying power. This is crucial, as roughly 80% of 18- to 34-year-olds are using video clips to help them decide on which products to purchase.

How to Optimize YouTube Videos to Advertise to Millennial Consumers

Provide Valuable Video Content

YouTube is where valuable content meets advertising, and boy, do they get along! Add in entertaining content and you’ll have targeted advertising gold! Content-rich YouTube videos offer brands the unique opportunity to connect to consumers and their buying power.  Lowe’s had tremendous success with their YouTube channel featuring DIY home projects. By capitalizing on the millennial trend of DIY—62% of millennial smartphone buyers were influenced by how-to videos—Lowe’s was able to offer the informative content that millennials want, while also advertising their own products. The most popular video racked up an impressive 1.3 million views!

Don’t Push Too Hard

Millennials hate advertising, so leave it to them to contest traditional ads. That being said, millennial advertising should be approached with more entertainment value, and less sales pitches. Instead of pushing information, make your brand more accessible by telling relatable stories with a gentle push in the brand's direction. According to millennial marketing trends, two-in-three millennials lose interest in a video if it is too promotional. Moral of the story: Push too hard for the sale and you’ll be pushing away your largest demographic.

Be Authentic

Branded content offers a unique opportunity to tell a story to your millennial audience. Instead of traditional, run-of-the-mill advertising, millennials want authentic stories with a relatable message. Dove has capitalized on this with their truth-filled Dove Choose Beautiful campaign. Real women were asked to choose to walk through a door labeled “Beautiful” or a door labeled “Average.” Cue the tears! Dove proved that authentic stories can strike a chord with viewers’ emotions, as well as make them open their wallets. Read more analysis of how healthcare marketing trends are reaching millennials.

Connect with Digital Video Advertising

Advertising on YouTube offers your brand a unique opportunity to connect with millennials. Through entertaining, authentic, and valuable content, your brand will connect with millennials and positively affect their purchasing decision in a crucial moment. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship with digial video advertising!

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