Premise: No one in their right mind would intentionally ignore an important market segment!
So if your company does not have a millennial (Gen Y) marketing plan in place, perhaps you just haven’t seen the demographics. A recent article in The Economist cites an Ernst & Young study of workplace demographics in the United States. The figures are staggering and perhaps surprising: 62% are millennial! 29% Gen X. 9% baby boomers. Considering those numbers, one could logically conclude that two-thirds of your marketing plan should be geared toward millennial.
But perhaps you’re of the opinion that marketing is marketing, regardless of the demographics. In other words, a solid marketing plan, the kind that has always served you well, will continue to serve you well. Because people are people regardless of when they were born. Because the notion is that millennial buyers are not a different breed.
That’s flat out wrong.
Let’s take a look at a common sense example. Would an ad for cookware featuring a woman in a frilly apron beaming at her 3-piece suit husband appeal to any modern woman today, millennial or otherwise? No way! While women may not yet have achieved full equality in corporate America, it doesn’t mean that they would respond to that ad. In fact they would likely find it demeaning.
Understanding your audience is a basic tenet of marketing. Therefore, understanding the unique qualities and purchasing habits of millennial's is critical. This demographic has come of age. Because millennial's are “digital natives,” their skills have swiftly earned them promotions to managerial positions where they are making purchasing decisions, especially when it comes to technology.
What makes Gen Y tick?
What are the attributes of millennials?
What marketing platforms are they frequenting?
This insightful report, “Generational Look at Social Media,” contains the answers!
Our research also finds that Gen Xers hung out in malls. Millennial's hang out online. They’re incredibly active on (addicted to?) Facebook. They have an innate ability to express themselves in 140 characters or less. They’re social media junkies. Not only do they see direct mail as utterly passé , they also have a low tolerance for email. If they need your products and services, they’ll find you on the Web. They will evaluate you on the Web. And they’re more likely to be searching from their smartphones versus a laptop or a tablet.
“Millennial's Are Changing the Face of Marketing Forever” - 79% claim to have been introduced to a new brand or product through their mobile device. 37 percent of younger millennial's said that they feel as if they are “missing something” if they are not on Facebook or Twitter every day. They place a high value on product reviews from other consumers versus “experts.”
Take a leap of faith and trust me when I tell you that millennial's have no patience for filling out forms in order to access your eBooks or white papers.
Think about the repercussions of these qualities, facts and figures. Then create your marketing plans accordingly.