Millennials engage with advertising differently than any other generation, having grown up with traditional cable but ultimately wielding the scissors to first cut the cord. As this generation of both worlds ages up and their spending power increases (already over $2.5 trillion annually), the importance of their attention and engagement continues to increase for advertisers. We took a look at how millennials are watching TV and engaging with ads to help find ways to strategically reach them. 

Read on for five key takeaways from the two-sheeter and be sure to check out Samba TV’s audiences to find your millennial targets.

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1. With millennials all-in on live sports, use advanced targeting technologies to reach them during and after games on their digital devices

More millennials watch live sports on TV than any other generation. Why pay top dollar to reach these fans during pricey tentpole airtime, when you can target them on addressable digital devices during and after the broadcast? Samba TV’s identity graph determines which digital devices are associated with which TVs, allowing advertisers to reach millennial viewers of specific sports, tournaments, and games at any time. 

2. Ensure your campaigns incorporate OTT and digital to reach the elusive cord-cutter millennial 

Millennials were born to Netflix and chill, with 8 in 10 streaming TV and of those streamers, 84% using Netflix. As streaming becomes a way of life and more millennials cut the cord, advertisers looking to reach incremental millennial audiences need to reach beyond linear TV and develop a strategic approach to the entire content ecosystem that these viewers now consume.

3. Consider advertising during kids programming or on children’s networks in order to reach millennials watching TV with their families 

As millennials have aged up and taken on new roles as parents, their TVs are now dominated with top shows and advertisers oriented toward their kids. This programming can provide a perhaps unexpected place to reach millennial parents, with brands like Hot Wheels already leaning in. Additionally, advertisers that reach families early on have the potential to build brand loyalty among younger viewers as the ads they see early stick with them in years to come.  

4. Capitalize on millennials' engagement with OTT and FAST by including those platforms in omniscreen campaigns and syncing messaging across platforms to maximize ROAS

More than any other age group, millennials show willingness to make the switch from ad-free SVOD offerings to lower-priced options with ads, with 68% having a streaming subscription that shows ads. Even on historically ad-free Netflix, 21% of millennial users are now subscribed to the ad tier. To reach millennials where they are, advertisers should lean into new ad-supported streaming options like FAST and these SVOD ad-tiers.

5. Measure how your campaigns are reaching millennials to ensure you are driving incrementality rather than oversaturating your audiences

Millennials are sensitive to ad fatigue, with 71% saying that seeing an ad for a brand over and over again in a month would worsen their perception. Ensure that you aren’t repeatedly hitting the same millennial viewers by measuring true reach and frequency across your cross-platform campaigns. 

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