• by Emmanuel Probst , Op-Ed Contributor, February 2, 2018

This year’s CES was full of innovations for the media and advertising industry. One finding: Millennials are redefining the media landscape so publishers and advertisers to need to adapt.

Here are some myth busters on millennial media consumption and guidelines on designing content that impresses this generation, as well as some best practices on measuring the success of these marketing efforts.

Mythbusters

We tend to assume Gen X,Y,Z have a short attention span. This is thanks to the numerous social-media platforms, apps and vlogs they use. In 2016, CES was all about creating short-form content and ads that make an impact in the first three seconds. 

This year, Miha Mikek from Celtra, noted that both millennials and Gen Z simply want to engage with content that is purposeful and meaningfu. YouTube vlogers and other social media personalities regularly publish 10, 12 and even 15 minutes videos that their followers watch until the last second.

People also engage with longer branded content, such as the how-to videos and documentaries produced by outdoor recreation retailer REI. Its short films, like “Brothers of Climbing,” “Adventure in Real Life” and “Within Reach” have received millions of views.

The key to providing relevant content is in knowing your audience.

That’s how Dot Dash launched five standalone web properties that include Verywell (a WebMD competitor) and The Spruce (a home and food domain). Dot Dash combines data, such as people’s cooking habits, with its content creation expertise. This allows it to create articles purposeful to its audience and help its advertiser clients tweak their creative accordingly. 

It is the content that must prevail, not the brand. While advertisers tend to focus on brand placement and impression volume, it’s best to focus on the audience first and determine what type of content the audience needs. Next, produce content that is useful and compelling for the audience and aligns with your brand purpose. Last, insert your brand organically in the content, so that it comes across as a means to achieve something (fix a leaky faucet, bake those gooey cookies, become an adventurer…) rather than an out-of-place, obnoxious ad.

Also, content matters more than the format or medium. Indeed, Meredith’s magazine Better Homes & Gardens boasts a surprisingly large (and growing) millennial readership. This extends to the book market, whereby the traditional print book remains the most popular format over e-books and audio books.

The best way to design impactful content form millennials: Let them do it.

Jessie Tarlov, senior director of research and consumer insights at Bustle, stresses the importance of involving millennials in the content-development process. Indeed, agencies and brands are often led by baby boomers that understand marketing fundamentals better than they understand millennials and millennial culture.

The intention of marketers is to sell their brand to millennials, a generation that does not want to be sold to. To succeed, marketers must co-author the brand with millennials. They must focus on creating stories that resonate with this generation rather than focusing on the ad itself.

Success is not only driven by content but also by context.

Lots of media dollars are going to waste because the ads reach the right audience with the right product — but at the wrong time. For example, a coffeehouse chain keeps targeting me with in-content ads at night and on weekends. That same ad would be a lot more impactful served early in the morning as I browse through the news and prepare for my day. 

One platform that succeeds at delivering content and ads in context is Pinterest. Advertisers can target their audience at the moment of intent. Indeed, brands can reach ‘pinners’ based on the interest they express in their interactions with content, search behavior, location and device. 

Measuring success

Conventional wisdom suggests online content and social-media platforms are the most effective ways to reach millennials. And now, as CES illustrated, the ability to serve purposeful and contextually relevant content to millennials will likely funnel additional media investments.

But with additional investment comes increased scrutiny and accountability. Brands must better measure and understand their ROI on ad spend. Brand marketers must embrace the creative tools and media partnerships they have at their disposal to achieve continuous improvement in both sales and brand outcome.