Marketing to Millennials

The Millennial generation, born in the general timeframe of 1977 and 1998, is just beginning to enter the workforce—which means you need to start paying attention to them as potential young producers at your agency. Members of this 75 million person group are being raised at the most child-centric time in our history, and the impact to marketers is undeniable.

In general, it is said that this group displays a great deal of confidence. This could be the result of focus they receive from parents and high expectations placed upon them—not to mention their newfound independence with the advent of cell phones, the Internet and other electronic forms of communication. This is truly the first generation to grow up completely online, and as a result, the marketing mix used to target them needs to evolve. As you might expect, this group is technically literate like none other.

Socially, Millennials are different as well. They are typically team-oriented, banding together to date and socialize rather than pairing off. They work well in groups, preferring this to individual endeavors. They are also good at multitasking and were the ones studying while listening to the radio or watching television—all the more reason to ensure that you utilize cross-media marketing and ensure consistency among your communications.

From an academic perspective, they are the group that was able to play a sport, attend school and engage in social endeavors all at once. Millennials believe in going green and supporting endeavors that are good for the environment.

When it comes to work, Millennials seem to expect structure. They acknowledge and respect positions and titles, and want a relationship with their boss. Millennials are in need of mentoring, and they’ll respond well to the personal attention. When considering the management of Millennials, be mindful that they appreciate structure and stability.

Mentoring Millennials should be more formal, with set meetings and a more authoritative attitude on the mentor’s part.

Now that you understand a little more about the target you are seeking to attract, consider the places they go for information and the way they behave. Millennials are logging into their Twitter and Facebook accounts three to four times each day, sending instant messages to friends and uploading their videos to YouTube. Are you there?

Improving the effectiveness of your marketing to Millennials is no small undertaking. To be truly successful, you need to understand the social dependence these individuals have when communicating and the value they place on the opinion of others. Although much of Millennial marketing needs to happen online, don’t lose track of some traditional media like direct mail. As much as marketing has changed, traditional media can still be effective—just make sure it has a social component.