For many businesses, the holy grail of marketing is managing to make your brand appeal to a younger audience. However, this is often easier said than done. This is largely down to the fact that many company executive teams are made up of older people who simply have no idea how to engage with younger people.
At the same time, technology is advancing at such a rapid rate that these barriers can appear even greater than they ever were before. So, here are a few ideas when it comes to making your brand appeal to a younger audience.
Create a Great Brand Personality
Younger people are more conscious about who they buy from – paying attention to ethical and environmental issues, for example. One of the best ways that you can communicate your credentials as a brand is with a brand personality.
Often, this comes in the form of an ambassador, so you can check out the ultimate guide to influencer marketing on TikTok to find yours. Obviously, the process of crafting a brand personality is one that should not be done overnight. You need to really think about what you are trying to achieve and what you want it to represent.
Give Your Brand Visual Appeal
Another major aspect of your brand to think about is its visual appeal. The younger consumers have been brought up in a world that is saturated with content. This means that you may have to work twice as hard to give your brand the right visual appeal.
Therefore, it is worth hiring in professionals to give your brand the best image. A graphic and web design can prove to be invaluable. At the same time, they should work closely alongside the written team to make sure that the copy and the visuals match up and go hand-in-hand.
Craft Effective Public Relations Campaigns
When you are attempting to appeal to a younger audience, it makes sense that you do not just focus on traditional advertising as many of them will have become immune from it. This is where effective public relations can make a big difference.
The whole point of PR is that it presents a strong image without being overt, which is what younger people can certainly respond to in a big way. Again, if you are not au fait in this area, it makes sense that you hire professionals who are experienced in crafting campaigns that really work well and deliver real and measurable results.
Stay Innovative
We have already mentioned just how important it is to keep younger people engaged on an ongoing basis. These are people whose attention spans have already been significantly shortened due to factors such as social media, etc. For this reason, it is especially important that you are innovative in your approach to marketing and communications.
This means keeping one eye continually on the latest trends and developments. Digital marketing is a field that changes at such a rapid rate these days. A big part of this means staying up to date with the latest platforms.
We already mentioned TikTok and its explosive take-off over the past months, but you can guarantee that it is not going to be long before the next big marketing trend comes along to blow it out of the water. With young people spending an increasing amount of time online, it is more important than ever that you stay on trend with them.
Sponsor the Right Events
As we already mentioned right at the start of the blog post, it is increasingly the case that younger people are interested in community action that makes a real difference. It should go without saying that businesses can play a central part in this.
Sponsoring events is another good way of getting your brand in front of younger eyes. Of course, you need to think carefully about the types of events that are going to be most beneficial to your company as a whole.
Engage in Charitable Acts
As a follow-up on the point above, the act of engaging in charitable acts can also be majorly beneficial when it comes to getting your business noticed by the younger generation, who are more aware of what companies are doing and how they are giving back to the world around them. There are several ways that you could do this.
First of all, you have the option of donating a certain percentage of your profits directly tocharity. Secondly, you have the option of setting up a charitable foundation that focuses heavily on the causes that you care about the most. A good image or corporate social responsibility can certainly go a long way in this regard.
Bring Younger People on Board
If you have a board membership that is exclusively made up of older people, it is certainly going to be tougher to make the kind of youth connection that you are looking for. Therefore, it is worth hiring younger people – whether this is as full-time employees, apprentices or even interns.
When it comes to generating ideas, job experience is not everything. Sometimes, just the experience of living in a younger body is what can end up making all the difference to your organization as a whole. Another possible option is that you could work with external agencies that are more heavily focused on attracting a younger demographic.
Ultimately, by attracting younger people to your brand or business at the earliest possible opportunity, you put yourself in a great position to retain their business for the longest possible time – and perhaps even for life. You do not necessarily have to exclude the other main part of your demographic.
One of the best factors about incorporating some of the above ideas into your business as a whole is that they do not have to cost you a great deal in monetary terms, but what they can bring to your business in terms of reputation can be invaluable.
