Who are the Millenials?

Recently, a ‘new’ customer group has emerged in the market and it seems they are all the rage.  Born between 1982 and 2002, Millenials are the demographic cohort that follows Generation X.  Among their main characteristics is that they are social and sociable.  They stay single longer, focusing on education first; they shop strategically and value exercise and healthy eating.

They also support causes that they believe in and more likely to spend more to support these causes. 

Coupled with their social consciousness, Millenials are connected, meaning that they are very much into the internet, particularly social media.  Instagram and Facebook, two of the most popular social media outlets records one hundred million and one billion users monthly, respectively.   Eighty-eight percent of registered users on Facebook are Millenials with 51% being the most active users, according to the GlobalWebIndex.

Millenials also outpaces every other demographic grouping in the use of other social media platforms such as YouTube, Google+ and Twitter.

Millenials are also extremely tech-savvy.  Entrepreneurs and Marketers today must make a concerted effort to ensure that their products and marketing campaigns are technologically up to scratch or they run the risk of missing this very important group all together.  Websites must be mobile optimized as this is a group that is constantly connected but always on the move.

Millenials have become an increasingly attractive group to the market.  The reason they are so attractive is that they are basically the ideal customer group.  All the principles of ‘now’ marketing apply to this group particularly if your business is online.

This group is very much into instant gratification meaning that they want what they want when they want it, and how they want it.  So if your business is ‘open’ at midnight and they can make a purchase, you are likely to benefit from their patronage.  In fact, according to www.shopify.com 60% of millenials admitted that they would try a product just because it was suggested by a YouTuber and one-third consider blogs to be a top media source when researching a purchase.

Millenials are also more likely to embrace the healthy lifestyle.  They are fashion-forward, adventurers who have myriad interests.

Image courtesy of www.jeffbullas.com

The following are some notable marketing statistics, retrieved from www.millenialmarketing.com:

-          Millenials make up 21% of consumer discretionary purchases, which is estimated to be over one trillion in direct buying power and a huge influence on older generations. – Translation: Millenials have purchasing power and they are influencers for older persons within their families as well as other older persons they interact with daily.

-          53% of millenial households already have children – Translation: There is another generation being influenced by these influencers who will start their life’s journey craving your products, but who will develop discerning tastes as they grow older.  This gives your business and opportunity to develop newer products along the product line and move the business from one generation to the next.

-          Almost 50% of millenials would be more willing to make a purchase from a company if their purchase supports a cause.  Translation: Millienials are just a concerned about the social ills and other issues affecting society; and if their purchase supports the needs of a local, national or international disaster, they will not only make the purchase but encourage others to do so as well.

Tomorrow, we will take a look at how to market to Millenials.