2 min read

Generation Why

Picture of Tyler Wilcox Tyler Wilcox : June 21, 2019

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Generation Why

It’s been brand marketing holy writ for a while: Targeting millennial consumers is an absolute necessity. But is it actually a good idea? Adweek isn’t so sure. “[A] troublesome detail has been persistently overlooked over the last decade of wooing this crowd,” writes Robert Klara. “Millennials—many of them, anyway—are strapped for cash.” Rising housing costs and educational debt are the two main sources of these millennial financial woes. Less money equals less fun stuff. Being broke means that intense targeting may not result in meaningful return on investment for brands.

Instagram Luxury

So who should brands be targeting then? Luxury brands are going after consumers with much deeper pockets. And they’re doing so increasingly on Instagram, according to Reuters. “Big bucks are changing the game as cash rich luxury goods groups like LVMH and Kering hike their social media budgets, giving them vast means to drown out rivals on platforms once seen as a leveler for brands big and small,” writes Sarah White. The big spenders are muscling out smaller brands, however. As a result, those brands with smaller budgets are going to have to get creative to stand out on Instagram.

Organic Reach

But Instagram is growing into a tougher playing field in 2019. You may have noticed your analytics taking a hit in recent months. Less impressions, lower engagement levels. “It seems that the Instagram algorithm is going the same way the Facebook page algorithm did in 2014,” communications consultant Ste Davies told The Drum. “The golden age for engagement is over and they’ll be ramping up the monetization from now on.” But it’s not time to panic. The algorithm’s fluctuations should even out soon, according to experts.

Off-Platform Strategy

The key to online success? Knowing what your consumers want. And that requires thinking like consumers – going where they go, reading what they read. It’s time to go off-platform! “We use the term off-platform to mean all the places where readers could encounter our journalism outside the Times app and website,” says Anna Dubenko, the New York Times’ editor of off-platform strategy. “It’s a way of orienting ourselves to be empathetic to the way readers consume news and spend their time online. This means I spend my days thinking about how to make our journalism work on platforms like Apple News, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pocket. I try to put myself in readers’ shoes to figure out how best to make our stories match what they’re looking for.”