Marketing Millenials

Marketers call the segment of the population born in the ‘80s and ‘90s the millenials or Generation Y. Being a millenial, I have heard a lot of serotypes that I would have to agree with. However, I also found that I personally didn’t fit into any of the common Generation Y stereotypes. I always wondered if marketers had our generation completely wrong by focusing on our preconceptions instead of the various subsets of youth.

As I read an article in Mashable, I learned that my theory might be correct. Bryan Melmed from Exponential believes that marketers are paying too much attention on the stereotypes and missing the key aspects of the demographic. According to Exponential’s research, there are three forces that shape my demographics’ experiences, which include: the economy, globalization, and social media.

As Melmed explains, a few people in our generation do fall into the stereotypes, but there are also subsets of people who live differently than what is expected. One example includes the millenials who are living in their parents’ homes paying off college debt and looking for employment. There is also a subset of people who prefer to travel the world instead of invest time in a career.

Not all of us use social media the same way either. There is a large trend of exuberants, who constantly post information about their life to the web. There are also the collectors, who seek others experiences on the web instead of creating the messages themselves.

My generation shouldn’t all be seen as social media fanatics, but rather we all experience the web differently. In order to be successful, marketers must understand the differences within our generation and target their message more effectively.