millenials Archives - Uno Deuce Multimedia

Guest Post: Facts about Social Media Habits of Each Generation

With gadgets advancing further and internet connection not getting any slower, it’s only a matter of time before more than half of the world’s population is plugged and logged in on their social media accounts.

The estimated number of social media users today is at 3.19 billion, encompassing the baby boomer generation to the younger Gen Z. Here are some nifty facts about each generation’s social media use:

93% of baby boomers open Facebook daily, spending 11+ hours a week on it
80% of Gen X have Facebook and Twitter accounts; they spend more time on social media than millennials
70% of millennials prefer Facebook over YouTube
Gen Z prefer Instagram over Facebook and Snapchat

Aside from being a tool for users in connecting with loved ones and being a platform where they can share their thoughts, social media can also be utilized by organizations to reach an audience. This infographic featuring crucial social media statistics can help businesses understand their target audience and leverage social media to communicate with them effectively.

Guest Post: 10 Marketing Tips to Win Over Millennials

The 21st century; what are a profitable market! The millennials represent a significant opportunity for marketers.

However, the millennial market is hard to connect with. As opposed to the traditional market, the millennial market is dominated by changed buying habits.

To sway up this difficult crowd, we have compiled some marketing tips essential to win over the millennials.

1. Make use of Instagram

Instagram is a marketing tool which has magically evolved in the 21st century. The millennials have embraced it as one of the greatest e-commerce platforms.

Recently, this platform has massively grown to offer big marketing force to current the generation.

For those companies who want to connect with this generation, media presence is the badge of acceptance. Instagram offers brand education, awareness and purchase options for the current market.

2. Optimize your social media content

Companies who want to win over millennials mostly connect with them via social media. This strategy is made more effective by the use of SEO. Optimizing your content is critical, as this will give it the opportunity to draw massive traffic. Short brief optimized pieces tend to well in attracting traffic.

3. Focus on customer reviews

The millennial is a crowd that would read up to ten reviews before settling on your brand. Online reviews not only influence buyers but also make your content rank high in Google search engines. If you want to convince the millennial, you have to get the best positive reviews-through offering best services.

To leverage this, you will have to solicit feedback. Ensure that you ask for reviews from your customers. Additionally, ensure that you respond to both positive and negative reviews. Even negative reviews? Yes. Simple follow-up or acknowledging the feedback helps you make the millennials feel heard, humanizing your brand and building trust for your business.

What about negative reviews?

Wow! As cynical as it sounds, a negative review offers a big selling opportunity. You know, people like negative comments. When they converge to react to the review, ensure that you humbly respond to the review, but focus on the catch- selling your brand.

4. Appeal to their values

Millennial purchasing habits come aligned with their social identity and their memorable experiences. This means that brands that appeal to their values will definitely go on top. Why? Well, it serves their appetite.

5. Use their insight to innovate the product

For marketers who want to connect with millennials, they have to investigate their lifestyle, interests, and passions. On determining what’s important to them, and probably their unmet need, the marketers should then try to use their findings into designing their products.

6. Don’t sell the product, but the purpose

The past generation looks into the features of a product. The current market space looks into the “WHY.” What’s your why? What difference does your product bring to the generation? Let your purpose be on the lead.

This trick gets hold of this generation real quick. You need just to spell out your purpose. Talk of solutions that you can offer as a marketer. (They can’t buy the solution without purchasing the product).

7. Make use of posters

Advertising through posters can easily provide the information required about the brand’s awareness. A poster features images, visual design, colors and the copy.

Posters come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. You may design your poster in different standard poster dimensions, according to your purpose.

Here are 3 tips for designing the right poster;

Ø Imagine your purpose for the product and design it with the right intent.

Ø Is your brand loud or understated? You should use the right mix of elements to reflect your brand.

Ø Find the right printer, the one who will allow you to design the poster on their platform. In case you’re design savvy, you can take your ready design to a printer.

8. Authenticity

To win the millennial market, you need a brand similar to a human face. The millennial market can distinguish between the real talk from mere Ads. You should, therefore, focus on giving practical, actionable tips. Make their shopping experience as personalized as it can be, and award yourself with a flourishing business.

9. Make use of social touch points

Millennials are mostly connected to one social platform at once. They are everywhere every minute, looking for useful stuff and enlightenment. No wonder marketing platforms are becoming not only means but ends as well. The development of platforms such as omnichannel marketing provides you with an increased capacity to connect with millennials anywhere anytime.

10. Make use of millennial social influencers

Social influencer marketing is among the popular strategy for marketing to millennials. It involves leveraging the follower base of a social influencer to sell your product.

The followers of a social influencer are always willing and eager to view their content. They believe the content shared by an influencer is not spammy or pushy.

If you make use of the influencers in marketing your product, you are likely to rank high in capturing the millennial market. Instagram and YouTube is the place!

Grabbing the millennial market can be difficult, but possible. When you earn their trust through millennial-friendly advertising and marketing strategies, you can be sure that they will use their social media and iPhone to sing your song.

Susan Ranford is an expert on career coaching, business advice, and workplace rights. She has written for New York Jobs, IAmWire, and ZipJob. In her blogging and writing, she seeks to shed light on issues related to employment, business, and finance to help others understand different industries and find the right job fit for them – Strategics360.com

Guest Post: 5 Things You Need To Let Go Of To Start a Business

There’s currently a boom in new businesses all over the globe. Global Entrepreneurship Center’s research reveals that approximately 50 million new businesses become operational every year around the world.

Many say that this is partly due to the paradigm shift created by the global economic recession a decade ago. People have learned the harsh reality that being a loyal and high performing employee is no assurance of stability or longevity in the company they work for. So, instead of placing their professional lives at the mercy of an organization that has its personal interest to think about all the time, they need to be their own boss.

Most of today’s new businesses were started by millennials – young people at just 20 to 35 years of age. They are called “Millenipreneurs” and they’re bringing great innovations to the business realm. This only goes to show that aside from the paradigm shift caused by the recession, there are other factors driving people to start their own business.

This is why a large percentage of millennials are deliberately forgoing the life of an employee to start a business. Not only that, many individuals are choosing to work for corporations for just a few years. They only want to gain experience and generate income to build their capital.

The Path to a Successful New Business

The road to becoming a business owner is not easy. Don’t let the statistics fool you into thinking that it’s a breeze to launch a business. It’s not just about having a vision for a good business, a flawless business plan, and a generous capital to work with.

It’s also about understanding the kind of person you are. You have to know your strengths and weaknesses, as well as how to harness and optimize them so you can become successful with the undertaking.

Letting go of certain things is one of the solutions you must work with to prepare yourself for the fulfilling life of a business owner.

What are the most important things you need to let go of to start a business?

1. The idea that only you know what’s best for the business.

Although it’s true that you know the business best because it’s your brainchild and you have the best ideas for it, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have the best understanding of how it works.

There are many requirements to meet just to make the business legally recognized. If you’re starting a business in Dubai, for example, you need to take care of certain UAE trade license activities details, special bank regulations, and corporate tax requirements, to cite a few. On top of those, there are industry variables to consider and principles to learn.

It won’t be easy to identify and execute smart business strategies as a greenhorn. As such, you can use the expert guidance of specialists in company formation. In DMCC, business set-up companies provide education for new business owners so they can put their beautiful plans effectively into action.

You’ll be a better business owner if you recognize that you can benefit and learn from others in order to do what’s best for your new enterprise.

2. Sense of entitlement

You may have graduated summa cum laude from a top business school, but when you’re starting a business, that doesn’t matter much if you are unable to effectively execute your plans. You need to get rid of whatever sense of entitlement you have and get things done yourself.

When you’re starting a business, sacrifice and commitment are crucial. This means you must be able to sacrifice your personal comfort as well as social and physical pleasures if need be to work toward achieving your goal.

3. The need to be perfect.

There’s no doubt that you will experience different bumps along the way, but you have to learn to get over them to ensure the progress of the business that you’re trying to get off the ground.

Instead of aiming for perfection, aim to get better. This is a much healthier approach to starting a business.

Likewise, don’t look at failures as signs to stop. Consider them as lessons. After all, success is the product of “learned failures.”

4. The tendency to burn bridges.

In the world of business, connections are integral to success. Disagreements and disputes should be considered as temporary. In the amazing world of business, it’s not far-fetched for your competitors to serve as your strong allies in the future.

5. The propensity to choose shortcuts.

Most people prefer the quick way of doing things, but this often turns into a setback for those starting new businesses. Avoid choosing the short route because there’s not much value in it.

Long processes are better, particularly if you’re learning the ropes, because they provide more lessons and a better understanding of fundamental principles to uphold.

These are the most important things you need to let go of when you’re starting a business. When you rid yourself of these, you open your life as a new business owner to great things. Likewise, you can look toward less challenging years as a start-up enterprise.

Serial Entrepreneur and Business Strategist Henri Hazougi is the managing Director/Partner of Business Setup Consultants DMCC. The company offers a broad range of expertise in corporate services assisting companies and entrepreneurs in setting up and expanding their business in the UAE.