Who Are Millennials?

Millennials were born between the years 1981 to 1996. That makes them, respectively, those ages 24-39. Millennials grew up in the digital era. They utilize technology for everything—grocery shopping, GPS, remote controls, communicating, working. That’s why it’s so important to know what social media platform they use and prefer (because they are indeed using it).

Research shows that traditional marketing efforts don’t have the same effect on millennials as they do on other generations. Before millennials purchase something, they do the work. They conduct research, ask their peers, test the products in stores, or through free trials. They want assurance that what they’re spending their hard-earned money on is worth it.

As a food brand, your content needs to be visual. Images or videos help you connect with your audience. Telling your brand’s story through appropriate and consistent imagery will have a powerful and lasting impact on millennials.

Facebook

87% of millennials use Facebook at least once a week. This number is much higher than other generations—for example, only about 36% of Gen Z use Facebook once a week. Facebook is still the leader of social media when it comes to the millennial generation. Facebook’s main strength for food brands is its ability to post a wide range of content options along with the ability to geo-target consumers who live in and around their retail partners stores. Facebook is excellent for building brand and product awareness and putting a personality to your brand.

YouTube

86% of millennials use YouTube at least once a week. This number is enormous, especially when considering that video marketing was the most effective marketing technique in the last few years. In fact, if your website features video content, it’s 53 times more likely to show up on Google’s first page of search engine results.

YouTube is a fun, visual, and impactful platform for food brands giving them the ability to demonstrate the ease of use of their products, providing a deeper look into your brand and in some cases showing them where their food comes from.

Instagram

71% of millennials use Instagram at least once a week. Many millennials love Instagram for its lack of content and text. They get all the good visuals with none of the annoying rants or long-winded arguments. 80% of users follow at least one brand on Instagram. Two hundred million users actively visit brand profiles at least once a day. And over half of their users use the app to discover new products or services.

Instagram is a bonanza for food brands! Instagram is the ideal platform for food brands to showcase the artistry of their products and to draw consumers directly to your products.

Snapchat, Twitter, and Pinterest

52% of millennials use Snapchat at least once a week. 42% of millennials use both Twitter and Pinterest at least once a week. Millennials love these apps for the same reason they enjoy Instagram—all of the visuals with none of the ‘boring’ stuff. Also, it’s relatively short-lived, appealing to their instant gratification.

Snapchat provides a fantastic outlet for food brands that wish to use selfies as part of a digital push, to use in a competition or giveaway campaign. By sending out carefully scheduled pictures, Snapchat can also inform other parts of a marketing campaign, alerting users to other events taking place online, which may form a part of the brand’s campaign activity. Snapchat allows food brands to offer sneak previews of their products in an engaging playful way.

75% of millennials saved pins on Pinterest from branded sites. Two million people pin products every single day! Pinterest is great for exposing new potential customers to your brand.

Twitter is a great way for food brands to engage with countless potential customers through simple messages and is an easy-to-use platform for creating brand and product awareness.

TikTok

68% of millennials use TikTok at least once a week. TikTok now has over 80 million active users in the United States. TikTok provides food brands with a platform to push their creative boundaries by creating short, engaging content that drives.