If your clients are eager to connect with millennials, they might assume their messaging should take place on digital formats. That’s true to some extent. But it’s not the whole story. Check out the latest findings from Marketing Charts.

In a consumer survey conducted in partnership with YouGov, Marketing Charts analysts delved into which media formats swayed purchases by millennials. Like all consumers, this demographic listens to what their friends and family members say about products (24%).

The Power of Email

The next highest influence on purchases for this group is opt-​in emails. At least 21% of millennials have purchased products promoted in email messages. The significant detail in this finding is that millennials have opted-​in to accepting messages from specific vendors. Remind your clients that they need to focus on building their in-​house mailing lists. They should collect this information at point of purchase and entice consumers to agree to receive messages, perhaps by offering a special discount.

TV Makes a Difference

Millennials are tethered to their phones most of the time. They also glance up once in a while to enjoy entertainment on a larger screen. During a regular week, 42% of millennials see TV ads. And at least 14% eventually purchase a product they’ve seen pitched on TV. So, your clients shouldn't be too hasty in cutting TV from their media mix.

All Things Social

Millennials don’t pay attention to celebrities in the traditional sense. They aren’t about to follow celebrities created by mainstream media. Instead, they create their own celebrities by discovering interesting people online. This trend dovetails nicely with social media which allows influencers to generate more revenue for marketers than many traditional media formats do. About 11% of millennials purchase products pitched by influencers. By comparison, newspaper ads influence about 7% of these consumers.

You can learn more about which media formats have influenced millennials in the past year by looking at the AudienceSCAN profiles on AdMall from SalesFuel. Share this data with your clients and encourage them to use a mix of digital and traditional media to connect with millennials.