Infographic: Millennials will change the way you sell

Ian Greenleigh

(@be3d) —  Senior Manager, Content and Social Strategy

Millennials are talking to strangers

The “kids” who invented Facebook, never call when they can text, and don’t go out without their smartphones – they’re growing up. And soon, your business will depend on them.

It’s true. By 2017, Millennials – those consumers now in their mid-teens to mid-30s – will have more spending power than any other generation. This generation, sometimes called “Generation Y,” shops differently than their predecessors. Millennials are hyper-social, constantly connected to social and endlessly curious about what others are doing, buying, and enjoying – strangers as well as friends. They’re marketing savvy and ad averse, having been marketed to more than any other generation. And at the same time, they’re still interested in engaging with brands – most feel companies should offer more ways for customers to share their opinions online.

The bottom line is, Millennials shop and interact with brands differently. As they start to control spending, their habits will inevitably change the way businesses sell – and with it, the way all consumers buy.

The infographic below shares just a few of the stats Millennials expert Jason Dorsey will cover in our upcoming webinar. Register for the webinar to see how Millennials shop, and how brands can win their loyalties now.

Note: For a high-quality PDF version of this infographic, click here.

Millennials Infographic

 

  • http://blog.bazaarvoice.com Ian Greenleigh

    As you suggest, it’s unlikely that we’ll see a wholesale shift. 

  • http://blog.bazaarvoice.com Ian Greenleigh

    Hi, Stephan-

    I see this as a possibility, but not a methodological flaw. In fact, I think it’s likely that we’ll see the reverse of what you suggest (Millennials becoming more like Boomers with age). Familiarity with these tools, and pick up in adoption by people of all ages, will bring their related attitudes and behaviors closer to those of the “native adopters”–the Millennials. That’s my prediction, at least. 

  • Katie Lackey

    I am not an expert in this field by any stretch, but do know the final part of the body to fully develop is the decision making function in our brains.  This happens by the age of 25-27 years old.  How we gather information, process and decide by this age won’t change much the duration of our lives.  It is different for everyone but what I think this information is telling us is the majority of Millennials will have a different path of making decisions than that of Boomers or Traditionalist.  Not that Boomers and Traditionalist can’t adopt some of the same ways to better educate themselves on a brand or company, but that this will be a Millennials default method.  My hunch would be that the older generations may use this in addition to their already intrinsic decision/buying methods, but they won’t shift entirely to the Millennials perspective.

  • Stephan Wissel

    Solid stats with a potential methodological flaw. What if the differences found are not based on “a new generation” but the mere age difference? Then the behavior of the millenias would more resemble the behavior of the boomers once they reach the boomers age.
    What *is* different are the channels available. I’ve trained seniors (>70) in using the new stuff. Once they got comfortable with the technology they exhibited exact the online behavior that is attributed to millenias.

  • http://blog.bazaarvoice.com Ian Greenleigh

    It’s exciting to see this unfold- it won’t be long until other generations share the UGC preferences of Millennials. 

  • Ryan Jenkins

    solid stats!

    huge culture shift and an even bigger shift in consumers having the power to influence the brands they love.

  • http://blog.bazaarvoice.com Ian Greenleigh

    Exactly, and their loyalty over time will be worth far more than a fleeting customer with a higher initial account balance. 

  • Kent White

    Yet another good reason for Financial institutions to court Millennials: they influence all other demographics with their online opinion and advocacy.  The value of this group goes far beyond the account balance.

  • http://blog.bazaarvoice.com Ian Greenleigh

    Thanks, Ranjana. You’re right–this is a generation today’s marketers didn’t learn about in business school. It’s important that we know how to reach them!

  • http://twitter.com/ebusinesstalk Ranjana

    We all see it happening around us yet very few retailers are proactively planning social strategy.  Great infographic.