THE NOTEBOOK By Chris Paradiso

Marketing to Millenials

I n general, it is said that M illennial dis­play a great deal of confidence. This is a result of a combination of a few dif­

ferent things. The focus they receive from their parents and high expectations placed upon them, not to mention their new-found independence along with the advent of cell phones, the internet, social media and other electronic forms of communication all play a role in the making of this confidence. This is truly the first generation to grow up com­pletely online (in the Google world) and, as

Chris Paradisoa result, the m arketing

mix used to target them needs to evolve.As you might expect, this group is tech­

nically savvy like no other generation.Socially, Millennials are different as well.

They are typically team-oriented, banding together to date and socialize rather than pairing off. They do work well in groups, preferring this to individual endeavors. They are also very good at multi-tasking and are the ones studying while listening to the radio, texting or watching television or Netflix. This all gives you more reason to ensure that you utilize cross-media market­ing and ensure consistency among your communications.

Let’s look at their academic approach. From an academic perspective, they are the group that was able to play a sport, attend school, and engage in social endeavors. Millennials believe in going green and sup­porting endeavors that are good for the environment. They simply love the envi­ronment and feel that it’s their duty to take great care of mother earth.

When it comes to entering the work­force, Millennials seem to want structure in their work environment. They acknowledge and respect positions and titles, and want a

20 July 27,2015 / INSURANCE ADVOCATE

relationship with their boss. If you have Millennials in your agency, you can see that this is true. I see it take place in my own agency. Millennials are in need of mentor­ing and they respond well to the personal attention. They thrive with and from that personal attention and without it they will fail in your agency’s environment. When considering the management of Millennials, be mindful that they appreciate structure and stability. Mentoring Millennials should be more formal than other generations, with

set meetings and a more authoritative atti­tude on the mentor’s part. You should be sitting down with them on a quarterly basis to find out how you can help them grow w ithin your agency. You should also be reviewing their work and providing them with constructive feedback. In other words, Millennials will take more effort and energy from you and your agency, so be prepared.

Now, let’s look at how to m arket to them.

Howto Market to MillennialsNow that you understand a little more

about the target you and your agency are seeking to attract, consider the places they go for information (the internet world) and the way they behave. Millennials are logging into their Facebook and Instagram accounts fifty to a hundred times each day, sending text messages to friends, and uploading their videos to YouTube. Are you and your agency there? If not, you should think about being there.

Here are the five keys to successfully market to Millennials:

1. Listen to the conversation. Where many businesses and agencies are failing today is that they are not lis­tening to the conversations that the Millennials are having about their work environments and/or co-work­ers, friends in the social world and/or the lack of technology. Listening to the conversation is a major key to your success. In the social world you

should be listening to what others have to say along with what conver­sations are going on around you. A great way to keep up with that is by signing up for Google Alerts. We need to be in tune and pay attention and Google Alerts can help make this easier on you and your agency. You can also visit Technorati and see what individuals are saying along with what others are blogging about.

I This is truly the first generation to grow up j U completely online (in the Google world) and,

as a result, the marketing mix used to target them needs to evolve.

2. Create accounts in Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and other Social Media Platforms. Put you and your agency’s name out there. Make sure that your agency has a space among these social media outlets. One thing to keep in mind though is to not be overly commercial and corporate. Millennials can see right through it. They like to be outside of the box, where they can be very creative. In your social media, be genuine, be real, and let your prospective market understand what you’re really about and what you stand for. Millennials want you to be transparent and YES they want you and your agency to stand for something.

3. They want you to communicate on a personal level. Create a two-way dialogue with your audience. Give them an opportunity to speak to you and don’t talk over them. Make sure to LISTEN to them! Whether you let them share comments or share their experience with family and friends, providing a forum to social­ize is essential.

4. Focus on a consistent message.Regardless of which media type you use (text, social media, email mar­keting, direct mail, adwords, etc.), keep your messaging consistent. If you say one thing and do another or change your messaging frequently, you will not be building the trust necessary to ensure that they will be a lifetime customer. The consistent message matters in a big way when it comes to Millenials.

5. Be CREATIVE. When your market­ing is creative, whether it’s traditional or in the social media world, it can very quickly gain momentum and help you gain followers. Without the creative side you will quickly lose that momentum along with those followers. With great social market­ing tools like YouTube and Flickr, messages are quickly shared and dis­tributed. Don’t force the issue; rather create something meaningful, excit­ing, fun and creative. Create some­thing worth sharing. Before you know it, the Millennials will be shar­ing and distributing your agency’s content about you and your brand,

[THE SOCIAL NOTEBOOK]

Although much of Millennial marketing needs to happen online and in the world of Google, don’t lose track of some traditional marketing tactics, like direct mail and print.

and that is powerful.Let’s face the facts. The independent

insurance agency has ignored the Millennials and it’s time to take them seri­ously. Let’s start by marketing to them in the way they want. Improving the effec­tiveness of your marketing to Millennials is no small undertaking. To be truly suc­cessful, you need to understand them and the social dependence these individuals have when communicating and the value they place on the opinion of others. Although much of Millennial marketing needs to happen online and in the world of Google, don’t lose track of some tradi­tional marketing tactics, like direct mail and print. As much as marketing has changed, traditional marketing can still be effective. Just make sure it has a social component. There is a lot of money to be made from marketing to the Millennials but we can only have success if you meet them where they are - online. Happy Millennial Marketing!/A

Christopher Paradiso, CPIA, is Presi­dent of Paradiso Financial & Insurance Service. He has been acknowledged by several insurance publications as a leader in the industry for his use of dig­ital marketing and social media to help brand his agency and promote other small businesses within his community. Chris has also been recognized for his charity work with The Connecticut Chil­dren’s Medical Center.In 2011, Chris introduced “Paradiso Presents LLC,” a social media program aimed at teaching small agencies to not only survive, but compete in today’s complex online marketing world.Chris resides in Stafford Springs, CT with his wife and two children, Mia and Gianni.

[FEATURE]

j continued from page 17

tions are moving towards online education, it is far from clear that it offers equal knowledge retention and learning to in­classroom education.

There is no opportunity to interact with an instructor, and we all know the infinite amount of distractions the internet puts at our fingertips. Sure, I-PIRP partic­ipants watch videos, read text and answer quiz questions. But this is nothing more than a glorified textbook. If you told your history professor that you read the text­book, would he give you credit for the course based on that alone?

Online education is certainly conven­ient, nobody is arguing that point. But what are we to sacrifice in the name of convenience? Major universities have hes­itated to fully embrace online education. While some have been experimenting, the vast m ajority of college students are required to earn their degrees in a class­room. When public safety is on the line, shouldn’t New York State have equal or more rigid standards?

As a program that has direct impact on public safety, the New York state legis­lature has a duty to provide more oversight for the I-PIRP. Organizations such as the DMV are only effective if they can be properly controlled by legislative authori­ties. In this case, evidence suggests that a conflict of interest has slanted the assess­m ent process. I t’s tim e for the State Legislature to step in and fix this issue by repealing the I-PIRP pilot until it can be studied properly. There have been no con­

crete statements or plans from the DMV or the Commissioner about plans for a more extensive study of the effectiveness, so it will be up to the public to supply pres­sure on their State Legislators and the DMV itself.[/A]

F. Joseph Wertz is a freelance writer from Yonkers, New York, covering pub­lic policy, transportation and politics. Having years of experience as a univer­sity transportation manager, as well as experience in public policy research, he is enthusiastic about shaping the public discussion surrounding New York State transportation legislation.

I N S U R A N C E A D V O C A TE / July 27,2015 2 1

Copyright of Insurance Advocate is the property of CINN Worldwide Inc. and its content maynot be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder'sexpress written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles forindividual use.