Mark Zuckerberg was only 23 years old when he stated that “young people are just smarter.” What else would you expect from a millennial? Isn’t it only natural for millennials to be highly goal-oriented and over-confident?
Zuckerberg is now 36 years old and relies heavily on 50-year-old Sheryl Sandberg. Now, they exemplify millennials and old-schoolers working together for the continued success of Facebook. The same holds true for old school and millennial marketing strategies.
According to Lexington Law, millennials have a purchasing power of $600 billion each year. They’re also likely to take action on highly essential advertisements. After all, they make up 50% of all online purchases.
As a digital marketer, you can’t ignore millennials in your marketing strategy. Nearly all millennials use the internet in the United States.
Understanding millennials
For your strategy to work, you need to invest time and resources to understand their needs, pain points and interests. Using the right marketing tactic can help you get a higher conversion rate. It doesn’t matter if you alert your audience to create social media marketing, or use your brand as a cause for social good.
Old school marketing is not obsolete, and it’s not going to be anytime soon. It provides essential ways to connect with your audience and grow your business. You’ll see a high boost in your marketing campaign in 2020 if you complement old strategies with millennial strategies.
So how do you effectively combine the old with the new to have a successful marketing campaign with a natural conversion rate?
In this article you’ll learn how:
- The old school methods that are still being used
- What the new techniques are
- How to combine the two methods to generate sales and traffic
What old school methods are still being used
If you focus your entire effort on digital marketing, you will miss a lot of opportunities to drive sales and traffic. Despite the fact that we spend a lot of time in the online world, we still need to interact with actual people. Customers still prefer engaging with real people rather than artificial intelligence bots.
That’s why the following four traditional methods are still relevant in digital marketing.
Cold calling
Back in the 2000s, the conversion rate reduced from 10% to 3% after making over 200 calls. You don’t need an expert to tell you that the technique used back then was decreasing. But that’s where content marketing steps in.
Content marketing introduces your company to your potential customers before any cold calls. That way, when you call the customer, the conversation will feel natural and not seem like a stranger on the phone.
In case you’re not aware, people don’t like strangers calling them.
Referrals
One of the best ways to build a reputation is through referrals, that is, if done correctly. Most marketers’ issue with the referral is its unreliability. They are unpredictable. So, if you’re not able to get customers in a month or two, your business will be at risk of collapse. So what’s the solution? Referral programs.
Referral programs are ways to encourage customers to invite their colleagues, friends, and family. In return, they get a discount, voucher, or a unique offer. It’s a natural way to generate more sales and traffic to your business.
What are the new methods used?
There are many new marketing strategies circulating, some more successful than others. If you plan to remain in the competition, you need to adapt to the fast-paced millennial style of marketing rapidly.
Let’s not make a mistake: customer’s behaviors and interests are difficult to predict. That’s why you need to use these new methods currently being used. Using these techniques alone will guarantee a level of success. But combined with the old school marketing strategies, you’ll be ahead of your competitors.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is gradually becoming the center of the global industry and business.
Very soon, AI will be the main force behind:
- Content creation
- Product recommendations
- Basic communication
- Email personalization
Lead generation through social media
If you want to move above brand engagement and brand awareness, lead generation via social media is the natural step forward. Social media is the ideal place to find customers interested in your business and services.
The leads will help you keep your relationship with them, whether it’s through sharing news or special offers. When done correctly, you can increase your sales through social media.
How to combine these methods to generate sales and traffic
The natural way to increase sales and generate traffic is to combine the points explained above. The trick is knowing how, when, and where to combine them. If you want to be one of the leading e-commerce markets, follow these marketing strategies.
Here’s how the two marketing strategies can help your business grow rapidly.
Word-of-mouth and content marketing
At first glance, the thought of word-of-mouth seems outdated compared to the rise of artificial intelligence. But, word-of-mouth and influencing a conversation about your products and services play a crucial role in millennial marketing.
Millennials will jump on any topic if it intrigues them. They can make your brand trend with just word-of-mouth. Content marketing helps to distribute high-quality and engaging content through different outlets. Examples of the outlets are social media, forums, emails, etc.
Through that, you can introduce referral programs so that they can encourage their friends to join the community or email list. The possibilities are endless!
Cold calling and artificial intelligence
More people rely on their smart devices to make inquiries about products and services, thanks to AI. That’s why there are click-to-call ads, and why Google started call-only campaigns in 2018.
You should not eliminate phone calls due to AI’s. Instead, they should work together so that you can increase natural sales.
Conclusion
There are many ways to combine old school strategies and millennial marketing strategies. Both of them will produce excellent results to generate more sales and traffic.
If you are in digital marketing, change is a crucial part of the job. You should be looking out for new technologies, tools, and techniques to improve your marketing campaign. However, do not ignore old school techniques. Together, you can generate more natural leads and traffic to boost your business.
Erin Merrill is an editor at OnCourse, an innovative sales CRM tool for smart businesses. Specializing in relationship management, she enjoys helping sales teams develop a personalized, sniper-targeted approach to close qualified leads.
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