5 Strategies Streaming Services Can Market to Zillennials Utilizing Word of Mouth Tendencies:
1.
Acknowledge the Power of the Personal Recommendation List.
Zillennials are all about knowing what they want, even if it’s for later. By catering to a “watch for later” list, perhaps by saying this is what you want to watch when you’re feeling a certain mood, will help keep your content top of mind, even if it’s not being instantaneously watched.
2.
Take Inspiration from YouTube.
YouTube is the preferred choice of platform for a majority of Zillennials, because of how portable and personal it feels. Zillennials find it difficult to watch streaming content on their phones, so creating a vertical layout may bring more viewers to your streaming platform vs. YouTube. In addition, Zillennials stated the appeal of YouTube involves feeling unapologetically themselves, and watching content purely for their enjoyment, no matter how niche or not “mainstream” it may be. By pulling into these niche micro influencers, Zillennials will see a trusted online source with their similar, unique taste recommend a show or movie on a streaming platform.
3.
Nostalgia Marketing Never Gets Old.
A tried and true method, nostalgia marketing has been an effective method of pulling in Zillennials to indulge in all the good feelings that older shows gave them. Zillennials love to talk about old entertainment, as this is how they connect and share memories. We saw its success with the return of Steve on Blue’s Clues, and we can continue to see it with future campaigns.
4.
Embrace the Multitasker.
Sometimes, it’s okay to admit, and rather embrace, that Zillennials are watching your show simply because it’s great background noise. By marketing a show to serve this purpose, Zillennials will appreciate the self awareness and humor, and further encourage them to watch the shows perfect for doing chores or homework over podcasts or YouTube. If it helps get the work done, they’ll be sure to recommend it to their friends as well.
5.
Innovative Immersion.
We’ve seen that Zillennials are all about immersive experiences to attract their attention and keep them engaged. One key way to do this is with live tweeting during episode releases. One suggestion could be to have the brand tweet out hints, theories, or plot points only available on social media, relevant for the show they are watching simultaneously. Another innovative example was for the release of The Batman, and creating a website with clues that viewers needed to solve for exclusive hints and information.
