Visual contents are enticing, grab our attention faster than any other media and quick to share. And these are the fundamental aspects that make the visual language so popular amongst the millennials. Millennials or Gen Y represent the largest age demographic across the globe and also make a big chunk of the workforce. And since they are the most potential customers, it’s profitable for any business to target this demographic.
As per a survey done by Techsmith amongst office workers, most of the younger workers prefer visual forms of communication instead of text. This is in stark contrast to the Baby Boomers and the Gen X, who are still happy with the more traditional mode of communication.
60% of millennials will say they can grasp information faster when it is represented through visuals and tend to remember it longer.
So if your current clientele encompasses this particular demographic, then it’s high time you adopt the visual language in all your marketing tactics. Otherwise, you are missing a substantial chunk of prospects out there.
Millennials are Difficult to Satisfy
This unique demographic is hard to crack even by marketing veterans. Their internet and tech-savviness have made them more like an enigma to the brands. At the same time, they are the most sought-after prospects for brand marketing.
So, if a brand fails to understand this generation, it is a slow death for their business. But if a marketer delves deep into the inert traits of the millennials and target their needs in the language they understand better, that business is definitely here to stay. As these breathtaking stats say:
- By 2020, 50% of the global workforce will be millennials
- They have an annual purchasing power of $1.3 Trillion
- In 2014, this age group launched almost 160,000 startups and made up nearly one-third of all entrepreneurs in the U.S.
- 30% of millennials do their grocery shopping online.
Given these stats, your marketing maneuvers must include visual content more than ever. Don’t forget that these groups of individuals were the earliest adopters of the most successful visual platforms we know. They respond to visually stimulating websites just like a food connoisseur tastes and critiques a delicacy – unbiased, unadulterated and free from inhibitions. They give value to diversity, information sharing, ideas exchange, passion for living like no other demographic.
It is of no question that this generation is the most wholesome to be targeted and engaged. Keep your arsenal stored with more and more graphics, data visualizations and informative images. That’s the secret of tapping onto this quirky generation.
The Secret Sauce of Targeting the Millennials
They have grown up in a digital age and tend to skip any kind of direct advertising attempts.
Thus, to target them, the marketing pitches and ads should be presented appealingly. What more than visuals can make something appealing and enticing! That’s the reason images and videos are shared so much amongst this age group. Their content sharing preferences revolve wholly around pictures and videos.
Stats say that millennials share memes 55% more than the generation above them. Now, if your company creates something worthwhile, be sure it would get shared. You have to have share-worthy graphics in your visual marketing strategies, which can expand your outreach over social media and other online channels.
In the online world, which is over-saturated with Big Data, establish yourself as an influencer and industry expert through a bouquet of visually stimulating content, to communicate with the millennials effectively.
1. Understanding the Visual Language
While you start creating designs for your millennial prospects, don’t concentrate the idea within a central image. Instead, spread it across evenly in multiple image pieces. Your information must be complemented with apt visuals and distributed across various social channels.
2. Dynamic Contents makes them Participate more
Interactive contents, motion graphics, innovative illustrations grow a sense of curiosity and participation in the millennials. These dynamic media sources grab their attention and hold it for long. And if your content can keep their attention, you are doing brand marketing right! Urge them to participate in your content and share more. You might also think of conducting a webinar to increase the engagement level.
3. Uniqueness is the Key
Millennials have seen it all. They have experienced Orkut to Instagram, from cassettes to CDs, DVDs, to memory cards and pen drives. This makes their knowledge hemisphere too broad to be tapped on. It’s all the more difficult to align with their language owing to their shifting concentration.
This situation boils down to one solution – unique visuals and interactive web design. Such a design is bound to keep them intrigued because such are the things that keep their vibes on. While your website has this impact on your audience, you are not just augmenting your brand value, but also forming a relationship with them.
4. Grasp their Nature of Content Consumption
One thing that the millennials are mostly fond of is, shareability. Shareable media contents are their prime choice and make a crucial asset in their daily lifestyle. The variety of these contents can be broad in terms of Vlogs, Blogs, How-To videos, Lifehacks, DIYs and much more. And you will find a perfect mix of these contents on the social media channels navigated by the millennial population.
5 out of 6 millennials check out a company’s social presence. This clearly brings out their tech-savvy nature, which you must consider. Be their friend on social media and share your content there. And most importantly, keep in mind that 1 in 5 millennials access the internet through their Smartphones. So ensure your contents are well optimized.
Optimization secures their loyalty towards your brand as well as creates a seamless mobile experience. This way, you can influence potential buyers and make them your brand advocates with time.
5. Your Visual Content must have a wholesome Story in it
With 65% of people in the world being visual learners, you can well imagine how vital it is to convey your brand message through visuals. At the same time, the contents must resonate with an entertainment quotient, because this generation prefers information in the package of entertainment, culminating to the concept of “Infotainment”.
Let your visuals tell a story, story of your brand, the brand value, the USPs and UVPs, the mission and vision, and much more. This storytelling approach wins over the millennial crowd. When there’s a story, they feel the urge to click “share”.
6. Make the Graphics and Visuals look Beautiful and Aesthetic
Ensuring the contents are aesthetically pleasing is a significant factor that you would want to consider while targeting the millennials. Unconventional, out-of-the-box ideas work for sure – but if it doesn’t look presentable, the idea won’t create the desired impact on your millennial audience. Headache inducing website or visual imagery that makes no sense, severely backfires and makes you lose your audience’s trust.
The only feasible way to build online trust is through a straightforward layout with beautiful images arranged in a balance. That’s the way you can keep your online reputation intact within your target group. One more rule of thumb is never to deviate from your brand identity.
While you make your design aesthetic, try to do that while remaining within the confinements of your brand color, fonts and brand elements. That way, you can bring consistency in your designs, which is another factor that forms brand credibility.
Final Words
To conclude, millennials are much like all the other people around, but with a subtle uniqueness and singularity. One cannot sell them anything and everything they want to, without being logical and creative. This majority of the audience loves everything that shows and doesn’t tell. If your brand is innovative and slightly discrete than your peers, you need not write it on your website.
Instead, show your uniqueness and what makes you different than the herd. Let your visual language do the talking and help your prospects comprehend your brand’s specialty.
Brands and companies must move more into leveraging visual elements and must not shy away from experimenting. Some professionals and experts can create data visualizations and other graphic designs better suited to this selected group of audience. Taking their help is instrumental in the sustenance of a brand at present. Because millennials will continue to influence buying decisions, brand loyalty and B2C relationships.
So the only way of keeping this generation on the hook, is to communicate brand values through original visual imageries. Because that’s the language, they understand!
