"The New Way Millinnials Buy That's Changing I.M: Are You Absorbing It or ... Ignoring it?"

I don't think there is anyone that has been born in 20000 yet.

You make some great points and those references were very good also. My markets have always been a little older but I will need to start paying more attention to the younger ones also as they age.

The Niche Man . . . I have to say, you make many of the most interesting, worthwhile posts on WF. In my opinion, at any rate. I'm reading this current one with my morning coffee (including the recommended links) and it's a great way to start the day. Entertaining. Thought-provoking. The only depressing thing is - being born in 1975, I now feel ancient. lol

Tom

fortunately my target age group were born 1955 to 1975

Hello. Bravo congratulations!

Fascinating stuff. Right away he talks about the "lifetime value of a client... Gen Y brings more value than any generation you are working with." Serious food for thought. I feel like I have been asleep at the wheel and need to wake myself up!

Thanks for posting this.

Thanks for the post. The video especially is super entertaining and thought-provoking. As a millennial myself, I actually haven't studied enough about my own generation and how to market to them. This is amazing food for thought!

I agree that learning how to market to Millennials is important.

As a Gen-Xer, here's what I find difficult about it:

The memes.

Learning the darn memes. It's as difficult and time-consuming as learning the "der die das" in the German I'm going through on Duolingo.

I'm talking about the tv shows they watched as kids.

The movies they grew into as teenagers.

The music and performers they loved.

All this and much more is piled into the Millennial Shared Experience van.

It means sometimes you have to watch a show like Powder Puff Girls to understand what the heck they are talking about.

Or watch the endless chases of Harry Potter movies.

Or listen to Justin Bieber.

Why? Because this stuff is built right in the marketing. It's the "understood without needing to talk about it" stuff. Gen-X has it, too (*wookie roar*).

If you don't get the memes, you just aren't cool, man...which is true of every generation. Without the ability connect and develop rapport with Millennials, it's going to be tough to sell to them.

Very timely information, thank you. This opened my eyes a bit for my upcoming project. There's a few things I will now change in my marketing plan, but I am excited about it. It sounds like they would make one of the best target demographic for my project.

Very helpful indeed, thanks!

I am Gen X but close to millennial (according to GS study). The numbers are an interesting read but the conclusions are a bit off (IMO). While the gist of what they say is true, it has always been that way for the technology business (and yes IM, is part of the tech business) of making things easier, quicker, or more convenient. That is usually the way the tech business gets ahead.

What the numbers fail to realize or broach, are disturbing trends in millennials which means you will have to really segment and figure out what millennials you actually want to sell to. These of course are my own observations from my nieces and nephews, kids I have looked at hiring or working with and friends kids I see.

Millennials are lazy. Millennials are cheap. Millennials have little intellectual curiosity.

That being said, millennials like no other group are more than willing to pay subscription fees for everything.

Lazy. They rely on social because they are to lazy to do the research themselves. Case in point, my niece posted on Facebook the question, "Who would be cheaper for my car insurance, Geico, or Progressive?" Everyone piped up with their opinions until I finally said, "Why not call five insurance companies and ask them how much it will cost, and then go with the cheapest." But that would mean communicating.

GS report shows they are not buying cars. Several reasons. One, half of them don't have jobs for multiple reasons. But the disturbing trend I have seen... "No I don't want my license, my Mom/Dad can drive me where I want to go." I have heard this multiple times. Lazy...

GS report shows Millennials care about price more than quality. It is a throw away economy.

So, knowing this, how would I market to millennials?
No large up front fees but slow drip of monthly fees. The hard part here is they will lose interest by month 2 so keep it cheap because they will be to lazy to go through the process of canceling service.
Target ambitious millennials and immigrants that are looking to get ahead so they are not stuck like their friends living at home.
Teaching communication or in person skills to either get a job or get laid.
Teaching at home business opportunities since they aren't willing to put the time in at traditional jobs to learn skills.