How to Market to Student Millennials

This blog post is brought to you by the interns here at Pyxl. Recently, we spent some time getting to know exactly how our generation thinks and behaves, especially online. We looked at research and evaluated our own online habits to come up with what we think is the best approach for brands to take when looking to reach millennials.

Many people lump millennials into one group, but while we may be studied collectively as “the millennials” in 50 years in a high school history class, marketing-wise, “millennials” needs to be broken down into different groups. Overall, “millennials” can mean everyone from an 8th grader in economics class to a 35-year-old banker who’s married with two kids. We’re here to break it down and focus specifically on student millennials, or those who are college-aged. Brands, take note, because this is coming straight from the source.

There are countless social platforms online today, but student millennials are only using a few of these regularly. 93 percent of our generation uses YouTube to view, upload and comment on videos. We have constant access to a wide variety of information, so we expect to receive concise information quickly. We believe blogs, emails and voicemails have “too many words.” Student millennials relate to social media because it’s short, brief and straight to the point. 64 percent of us trust information we receive about brands from mobile apps, rather than word of mouth. So what does this mean for you? Here are four key tactics brands can utilize to better reach student millennials.

Instagram – Get the Picture

Student millennials are staying away from ad-heavy Facebook and moving towards the trendy, yet informative Instagram platform. Instagram is fast and photo-based – exactly what we are looking for. The app now offers the ability to share and post videos, increasing the opportunity for the brands to make their appearance on students’ feeds.

Snapchat – 10 Seconds or Bust

We are also visually engaging with each other through Snapchat, but brands have the ability to throw their names in there, as well. The Geofilter overlay offers users the opportunity to add graphics to, and share, their snaps based on their location. Our Story gives students in the same location the chance to share their snap to contribute to the same Story, such as the homecoming football game, and represent their school.

YouTube – A New Channel of Thinking

Our generation is captivated by videos. With already heavy workloads at school, watching a tutorial or review instead of reading seems like a lot less work. Instead of sending the hundredth email in our inbox that we may or may not read, create a sharable video on your YouTube channel and share across your social platforms to gain more exposure and increased trust in your brand.

Although student millennials are constantly receiving information online, we are still open-minded, respectful and tolerant of others_. This correlates with our relationship with our parents. Though collectively, we are extremely independent, we still seek parental opinion with decisions_. Unlike previous generations, we have more in common with our parents and tend to trust their opinions more_.

Where the Reps At?

Despite the fact that we seek advice from our parents, peer pressure is by no means dead. We still want the newest, coolest thing. So, how can brands break into the cool circle? College campuses are filled with students who can serve as brand representatives or ambassadors. Giving incentives or pay to these students will not only expose your brand to the college-aged crowd directly, but it’ll do so quickly. Your brand name will spread faster than the newest hashtag by hiring your very own brand ambassadors right at the source.

Brands need to start thinking out of the box right from the start when it comes to reaching this audience. Students in college, are looking for newer, faster forms of communication and no longer want text-heavy content. You only have a few seconds to capture their attention until it’s gone.

Looking for help with your digital marketing strategy? Let us know — we’d love to help you reach your audience!

Updated: Apr 13, 2022