There are over 80 million millennials in the U.S. alone, and they are responsible for a huge chunk of spending done by the overall population. That sentence alone should motivate you to do your best to engage them. From educational establishments to businesses, millennials are everywhere. The following 5 simple methods can help engage millennials through digital signage with your content.
Technology is the lifeblood of modern society
One could say millennials were born with a keyboard to their hands: they have been comfortable with technology from a very early age. This is a fact that shouldn’t be ignored if your goal is to attract as many millennials as possible to your content.
Technology is something millennials are used to, thus it stands to reason why sleek and engaging technology catches their attention more than anything. Although not all millennials cling to the stereotype of liking “cool” things, it is undeniable that modern technology is attractive.
Engage Millennials Method #1: Upgrade static signage
One of the environments where millennials have the most demands is the college campus. Campus digital signage is a great way to engage millennials, as opposed to your boring billboards. Bulletin boards are great for announcements and results, sure. But they are a powerless tool to attract attention to something new in this day and age.
You can probably already see many uses in campus settings: wayfinding, billboard replacement, announcements for local events or campus information, etc. The key is to keep it modern and well organized.
Digital signage is an engaging tool, if executed well. And it attracts attention. Keep in mind the aforementioned aspect of technology, though: It needs to be sleek in order to be attractive. That’s where the next method ties up.
Engage Millennials Method #2: Sleek and modern content
You can slap a PowerPoint presentation on a loop and consider yourself to be modern and perhaps, by technical standards, you are indeed modern. But the millennial eye will see you as archaic. This is only one of the reasons digital signage software is available.
Digital signage software takes the task of creating sleek content off your hands by having countless templates, applications and interactive capabilities you’d ordinarily take ages to set up neatly. Plus, it can help you keep content fresh: a now-mandatory requirement from any millennial.
Engage Millennials Method #3: Let their voices be heard
Millennials are easy to influence in both positive and negative directions. Digital signage can aid in your positive influence attempts by providing quick ways to enhance efficiency and also to allow employees’ voices to be heard: something all millennials want.
Certain email updates can be adapted and shared via digital signage is an efficient way to keep all your employees in the loop. Digital signage can act as an extension of any communication networks you’ve established within your company’s infrastructure.
Allowing millennials’ voices to be heard is a great contribution as it not only aids in informing you about the current status of your employees, but also increases the drive your employees ought to have. This use can diverge from industry to industry, but in general, digital signage can be used to display social media communication and employee opinions.
A common character trait millennials tend to display is certain sense of entitlement that their voices matter just as much as any other employee, regardless of their experience and skill. This trait can be influenced positively in this fashion, as opposed to the alternative of simply shutting them up.
Engage Millennials Method #4: Personalize the experience
Millennials will always lean toward the personalized approach. To them, a choice between a generic and personalized service is a no-brainer. Digital signage can provide the freedom for users to personalize their own experience via interactivity, but also even without it.
Displaying specific content based on time of the day, environment, current weather, targeted demographic or other similar components can go a long way when used with digital signage that isn’t interactive.
Digital signage can take personalization a step further, especially with features like facial and audio recognition becoming frequent within digital signage.
Engage Millennials Method #5: Use calls-to-action to inspire social positive opinions
Social medial has a web connecting the vast majority — if not all — millennials together. Regardless of how far marketing and technology has come, a positive word-of-mouth is still an as valuable asset to have as ever.
People share opinions on social media constantly, and encouraging people to share positive experience with your brand can take you a long way. Opinions are appreciated and people immediately see drops of personalization and comfort once they see someone they know suggesting something.
A call-to-action should be an integral part of any brand that uses digital signage. Aside from the obvious “make a purchase” calls-to-action, be sure to encourage the use of social media. Digital signage makes this easier than ever as a call-to-action can easily be crafted into your campaigns.
Engage Millennials Method #6: Don’t fake to fit in
In conclusion, this last method is one you should NOT do.
Do not try to take the “millennial approach” too literally, i.e. trying to act as a millennial. Such an approach can make people cringe and leave a bad taste in their mouths. Content built by someone who is not entirely in the loop of the millennial generation can seriously backfire.
