This year, the millennial generation overtakes baby boomers as the largest adult population in the United States according to the Pew Research Center. It's no wonder why marketers are putting such a big focus (and budget) on millennial ad campaigns. The trick is reaching millennials where they are.
Reaching out to Millennials
Despite TV's long-standing ranking as the number one media platform, it was recently reported that in the next couple of years, millennials will spend more time with broadcast radio than television. "Given these trends, advertisers cannot rely on just television to reach the younger age demographics," says Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus/Westwood One.
Millennial television consumption might not be booming, but audio consumption sure is. In June, it was reported that millennials listen to more types of audio, at more times, and in more places than all other generations.
They Are Listening
The Ipsos-iHeartRadio survey found that radio reaches more consumers than any other audio channel as well as social media and television. But how do you know if they're reaching millennials specifically? That's easy. iHeart data shows that they reach 69 million millennials monthly. Yes, you read that right, 69 million.
"Radio has long been a trusted companion for people of all ages," said Gayle Troberman, iHeartMedia's Chief Marketing Officer. "The only difference now versus decades ago is that today people can enjoy that connection anywhere they are across a variety of platforms." Americans listen to an average of 17.2 hours of audio weekly, but millennials top the list at an average of 18.8 hours weekly. That's almost 19 hours that you can reach your audience without the normal ad distractions from social media, videos, etc.
Talk to Them
Here's the thing to note about millennials, they might be listening to radio but they won't hear you if you aren't talking to them. Millennials don't believe in one-size-fits-all advertising. You've got to get personal and talk to them. One easy way to do this with your radio ads is to create a separate ad campaign that speaks directly to your millennial audience. Plus, you can use audience segments (like iHeart's SmartAudio Millennials Segment) to ensure that the personal ads reach the right ears.
If you want to get inspired about audio advertising, take a look at this blog post about advertising in a screenless world.
The study was conducted by Ipsos in March 2019 and surveyed more than 6,000 consumers between the ages of 13 and 64 across the U.S. who listen to at least one audio platform weekly.
