Media Channels

Instagram is one of the most popular social media platforms, with 18-24 year-olds making up 30.2% of users28. 58% of users say they are more interested in a brand after seeing it on an Instagram story28, and another 83% of users discover new products and services on the platform29 .

TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform with 43% of their 138 million active users in the US being between the ages of 18 and 2430. Nearly half of Gen Z is using TikTok to search rather than Google31, making TikTok a perfect platform to build brand awareness and knowledge. It is quite possible that TikTok will be outlawed in the US by the time of our campaign and if this happens, we will make appropriate changes to our media spend32. In that case, we will focus more on Instagram Reels which are the equivalent of TikTok videos on Instagram’s platform. If TikTok gets banned, it is predicted that most TikTok users would also transition their main attention to Reels.

Facebook is currently the social media market leader as it has more than 243 million monthly active users in the US33. Because Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, we can run the same ad campaign across both social media platforms34 , thus making it easier to track. With 23.8%, or 57.8 million, of its users falling between 18 and 24 years old35, Facebook is a valuable platform to achieve our campaign goals.

YouTube is the world’s second-most used social media platform, with 95% of 18-29 year-olds in the US using the platform36, making it an essential part of our campaign. Using an algorithm, YouTube displays ads based on the content users watch 30 so that the ads that play on videos are geared toward the users’ interests37. This is ideal for Indeed’s campaign because we can tailor the type of users we want our ads to be exposed to.

In recent years, Reddit has grown in popularity, bringing it to the 7th most visited site and 8th most used social media platform in the US. With 82% of Gen Z visitors trusting companies and products reviewed on the site37 Indeed should capitalize on this platform. Additionally, because of its millions of active subreddits, Indeed can specifically target its ads toward ideal users within the target market39. Also, compared to other social media platforms, Reddit’s CPMs and CPCs are considerably lower39, making it a cost-effective option for Indeed.

On the live streaming service Twitch, A18-24 has a 67% market share of content watched and 90% of content shared40. Our target range makes up 36.36% of their constant 2.65 million average viewers41. Twitch ads can be particularly effective because viewers must watch an unskippable “pre-roll” ad before watching a stream42 and may watch another unskippable “mid-roll” ad during the stream42. We will start with video ads as an introduction to the Twitch community, and later integrate with streamers for a natural progression.

Out-of-home marketing creates massive buzz among younger audiences, with 85% of Gen Z engaging with OOH ads43. In fact, 72% of Gen Z reports that they prefer OOH ads over ads on the internet or on social media44. Moreover, this generation is the most likely of all contemporary generations to skip, block, or avoid advertisements than any other generation, making ‘unskippable’ OOH ads that much more effective. Additionally, 91% of Gen Z reportedly reshare OOH ads on social media43, which will extend our campaign’s reach even further.

Budget

Our $6.9 million budget will generate over 720 million impressions. Our research shows that the peak months for all job listings are SeptemberOctober, January-February for internships, and April for full-time positions. We will maximize our budget with social media ads, out-of-home ads, partnerships, and experiential events. Because 18-24 year-olds are heavy users of social media, we will dedicate a large portion of our budget to these platforms in order to maximize this point. Doubling up on social media ads with social media content to promote experiential events will garner more impressions from organic content and paid advertisements.