For many Millennials’s the downturn of the economy hit just as they were graduating high school and college. A time that for previous generations was filled with an enthusiasm to go out and get a job and begin their lives as an adult. For millennial’s with no to little experience, jobs were scarce. In response large, the percentage of Millennials took the route of becoming self-employed instead. Now as much as 15% of Millenials who are still under the age of35 are self-employed. As any small business owner knows there is often not much leftover in terms of energy or budget to advertise and gain new clients. But contrary to the generations of the past, Millennial business owners are slightly more advantaged than some of the past generations at being able to utilize skills that they grew up with to help their business succeed.
What type of Advertising does Millennial Business Owners Choose?
“68% of millennials say running their own business has been more profitable than they expected and 50% say their profits have increased over the past 3 to 5 years. A third of all self-employed millennials are running start-ups, compared to just 9% of self-employed Baby Boomers. A quarter of self-employed millennials say their businesses rely on technology that did not exist 20 years ago.”
Social networking
Digital forums and Social networks are not just a place to post selfies. Millennial business owners are skilled online advertisers who have years of experience in the digital world. Forums like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook have changed the way the world works and advertisers and the millennial generation have to lead the way. Millennials have been networking online for much of their life so it comes very naturally to them. Most Millenials are very aware of how to take pictures and create posts that are both informative and visually appealing which is a huge plus when there is a lack of budget for additional expenses like advertising.
Multi-Media Advertising
In most cases, it is beneficial for any size of business to incorporate several different types of media into their campaign. Cross channel campaigns typically perform better and reach a broader audience than just focusing on one thing. For thrifty advertisers can be just the media to help add legitimacy to a brand but also not use up an entire budget.
Informative content
Ideally, it is a good idea for any business owner to consider adding informative content to their websites that show their audience that they are an expert in their field. While Millennials like to think of themselves as especially tech-y, Boomers and Gen Exer are quite adept at online researching and vetting. Let’s be honest, everyone thinks they are an expert these days, and they expect you to be one too. Millennial Business Owners will be happy with the SEO benefits that come from that added website content. Keywords help search engines find you, and once a post is up there is no additional work, just clicks. For someone with more of a lofty budget, paid promotion for published content from tools like Outbrain can be a great resource.
As a young generation that was dealt a bad hand in the economy, they were, however, fortunate to reap the benefits of a childhood that primed them to understand the basics of advertising and marketing their own brands with today’s modern technology. Consistency and selecting a few focuses that will provide long-lasting results is a great way to manage this lofty project.