Millennial Marketers Pick Social, Online Video For Advertising

According to data from a new survey by Magisto, marketing trends for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are shifting from traditional channels, (print, radio and television advertising, and classic word-of-mouth marketing) as millennials implement new, more viral digital practices, like social media and particularly online video, reports MediaPost.

Social is the new mass media, says the report. 92% of millennials at SMBs lead with social media in their marketing strategy (as important as word-of-mouth marketing), while 79% of baby boomers lead with traditional WOM in their marketing strategy. Social media is the new word of mouth for SMB millennial marketers, according to the survey.

The report says that traditional marketing goals have not changed, showing that three out of four SMBs want to generate new customers, and more than half want to build customer loyalty and grow brand awareness. But, says the report, the way SMB marketers reach these goals is shifting from traditional methods, such as print and TV advertising, to strategies using social media and video, driven mostly by the millennial generation.

The survey reports that millennial marketers are 84% more likely to use social media to promote their small businesses than invest in print advertising, according to the data, and millennials are 136% more likely than baby boomers to create videos for social media, while virtually no millennials marketing SMBs would invest in television advertising. By contrast, one out of three SMB baby boomer marketers employ TV ads and other legacy marketing options.