Millennials are the largest generation in U.S. history. Boasting a population size of 76.6 million, it’s even larger than the Baby Boomer generation. This provides a tremendous opportunity for companies who market to college students using campus ambassador campaigns—but only for brands that understand what makes this generation unique.
A lot of content is written about the challenges and opportunities of marketing to Millennials. But is our collective knowledge about campus marketing real knowledge, or just myth? Here are the most common marketing mantras and how they really measure up on campus.
1) College Students Don’t Give Loyalty Easily
Mantra: Because college students are more skeptical and are constantly looking for information, questioning is the norm. They need proof and they want to be knowledgeable. If you want their loyalty, you’ll have to pass the sniff test first.
Fact! College students are constantly bombarded with marketing messages, and it takes time to separate what they think is important from what everyone else thinks should be important to them. It’s easier now to get in front of anybody, and it’s impossible to ignore. So Millennials put up their own version of a personal pop-up blocker.
College students are actually the most brand-loyal generation. But they aren’t in a rush to commit to any brand. They have the luxury of ingesting content and information, and taking time to evaluate what’s important to them.
One of our clients was having a difficult time getting students to take their brand ambassador assignments. We asked the students why they weren’t taking the jobs and they said the company didn’t have a website or a digital presence. They couldn’t verify that the brand was real, so they didn’t want to be associated with something they couldn’t get behind.
2) Connect with their values and lifestyles
Mantra: The Millennial lifestyle values happiness, passion, diversity, sharing, and discovery. This provides a terrific marketing opportunity. Connect with college students by providing experiences where they can express themselves through your brand.
Fact AND Fiction! This is a particularly important topic because there’s a lot of forced engagement when marketing on college campuses. Brands think if they’re going to have an experience on campus, it has to be relational. But they measure “relational” by setting artificial KPIs, such as getting X students to do Y amount of sharing on Facebook. At this point you’ve completely lost sight of the real purpose for campus marketing.
People share the brands they love because they want others to enjoy them too. It’s done out of joy, as a result. But it can’t be a measure of success. If you force sharing, it’s disingenuous, and students will know it. As a result, they’ll resent your brand and your ambassador program will backfire.
Your campus campaign goal shouldn’t be to get more shares, but to give college students a great experience with your brand. If you create an experience they love, there’s no telling what they’ll be willing to do for you.
Coca-Cola hit a home run with their “Share a Coke” campaign by placing names on their cans. Consumers both identified with the brand that carried their name, and shared the brand with friends. Fans created their own videos of personal expression that promoted the brand.
Here’s a video that even draws us into a couple’s life. How relational can you get?!
3) Have a cause
Mantra: Millennials care very much about authenticity and positively impacting the world. In fact, 87% of Millennials have donated money to an organization that supported a cause they were passionate about. They don’t hesitate to identify with brands that share their passions for making a difference in the world.
To win brand loyalty from Millennials, show you care about making a difference—and actually care!
Fact…ish. Students don’t say, “I want to support a cause, I’m only going to support a brand that aligns with my cause priorities.”
Instead, because college students get so many marketing messages thrown at them, they subconsciously start to look for things that set one brand apart from other identical brands. Millennials are attracted to companies that take responsibility to care for the world and make it a better place—not because having a cause is on their checklist of must-haves in a brand, but simply because it’s attractive.
Millennials are one of the most interesting generations in history, and these three marketing mantras aren’t nearly enough to capture how to successfully market to college students. So stay tuned for our next post, where we test three more marketing mantras!
Next Steps
- Discover more great marketing content—subscribe to our blog
- Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn
- Got questions about marketing to college students? Contact us!
