A guide to millennial marketing

The millennial market is growing fast. Businesses must be switched on in terms of their marketing tactics to capitalise on the huge buying power of this generation.

A recent study by the University of Southern California showed that there are 87.5 million millennials in the USA alone (ages 18-29). In comparison, 83.7 million people are known as ‘Generation X’ (ages 30-49) and 66.4 million are ‘baby boomers’ (ages 50+).

The study, conducted by the university’s Online Master of Science in Applied Psychology programme looked at the psychology businesses must leverage in order to successfully market to this growing demographic.

The millennial marketing influence lies mainly through the internet and digital devices such as laptops and smartphones, as the below excerpt from USC’s infographic shows. With over a quarter of millennials are highly social and engaged online – in comparison to just 15% of the baby boomer generation – brands that are not prioritising their digital marketing efforts in order to target this generation definitely should.

In addition, 85% of millennials own a smartphone and 78% own a laptop and/or computer, showing that its the best way to reach them with marketing campaigns. Millennials also make up the smallest percentage of magazine and newspaper readers and spend the least amount of time watching television or listening to the radio in comparison to other generations.

With almost 90% of millennials using social media, savvy brands are rapidly adapting to take advantage of this opportunity to influence. With 82% of millennials using social media interact with brands or retailers and 38% using it to discover new ones, online brand engagement is reaching an all... Continue reading