I’ve been reading many articles on Millennials; what to expect from this group, what do they respond to and how they interact as consumers. Articles list this group size anywhere from 70 to 100 million with a purchasing power of over $200 billion. As companies, don’t we want a piece of that pie?

This is what I learned:

o They want to be engaged with and recognized as individuals. Since this group is extremely diverse in culture, religion and ethnicity—they recognize their uniqueness.
o They expect two-way communication. If there is no back and forth communication, they are not interested.
o They respond in real-time. Growing up in the socially centric world, they are not willing to wait.
o They have strong belief in philanthropy and expect companies to feel the same and give back.
o They want to feel involved and informed, not just marketed to. They enjoy rating products and rely on peer reviews to make decisions.
o Happiness, passion, diversity, sharing and discovery are extremely important to them.

So what does all this mean? Companies always need to continually make shifts to their business goals as things are constantly changing. If the Millennial generation is causing the push to change—great, but companies need to get there regardless. And since this group is approximately 25% of the U.S population and the buying power stated above, they shouldn’t be ignored.

What should you do?
o Stay current on trends
o Stay technologically up-to-date
o Interact with your customers (the Millennials require it)
o Listen and learn about your customers’ wants and needs
o Apply that knowledge by customizing your marketing and products/services
o Get out and meet them (check out this article on how to interact with them at events)

Not sure where to start? The number of articles written about this group is staggering, but check out a few. Type ‘Millennial’ in your favorite search engine and you’ll see articles upon articles, infographics, and statistics until your eyes blur. What else could you do? You could always hire one. They know the trends, the technology and as hyper-connected socially driven individuals, they just might help with reaching your audience from the inside.

Elation Digital develops a wide variety of interactive brand experiences and event technologies to draw crowds for mobile marketing tours, tradeshows, and events including photo & video activations, custom branded games, social media, data capture, tracking and reporting.