Marketing to Generation Y
Generation Y is the cohort of people born between 1980 and 2000. They are also known as Millennials and make up about 30% of the United States population. And like it or not, this generation has a greater impact than any other one on our society today.
Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201304/marketing-generation-y
This generation is going to change marketing forever because they are tech focused, image oriented, want a customized experience for every purchase, consuming content constantly with various devices at their fingertips, and have had unprecedented access to information since birth leading them to be addicted to immediate feedback through likes and shares.
Most of the generations before them were taught how to survive, how to drive a car, get a job, buy a house and raise children. They were also told what was important. Now Generation Y is being taught that personal expression is more powerful than money, that meaning is more important than money, and that personal relationships are more important than things.
But getting back to marketing specifically, Generation Y has been told for years that professional video is not for them because it's something you did on your home computer with videocams supplied by your parents and it's not "cool". But the reality is that Generation Y wants to be cool and they consume video content on the internet even more than print or other forms.
So what are you doing to reach them? If you are seeing a lot of traffic on your YouTube channel but not seeing much growth, if you have a presence on another social network but no results, if you don't have any marketing videos yet but really want to step up your game, or if you're stuck in the rut of using TV ads to market your business then you should definitely read this article. The only way to get a true glimpse into who they are is by watching some of their videos where they discuss their thoughts and feelings in front of the camera.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s0VpvRIS-k
There is a really disturbing video that I encourage you to watch that is from the documentary "Generation Like" by Douglas Rushkoff. In this section of the video, Generation Y is being questioned about their feelings on the recession to which they respond in unison saying "It's not my fault". They are also asked what they think about their parents' generation and again they respond in unison "They're all out of work". These kids have never had a real job or known what a wage was, let alone ever having to worry about paying bills or getting enough money for groceries.
They are the generation that was told that they could be whatever they wanted and that they would never have to worry about paying their own bills. They are taught at a young age to brush off failures as something you can always bounce back from and not let it get you down. But because of this, many of them have never experienced any real failure or adversity in their careers or in life. If you ever meet one of them and you say "Well, if I were in your shoes I would.." then the first words out of their mouth will be "Well, what do you know?"
But Generation Y is also a very connected group and one that tends to share a lot of stuff with each other. If you share a really likeable video, then when someone else on Facebook or Twitter sees it they are more likely to share it. So what you need to do is create content that makes them feel good about themselves.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IYU6l2DyBM
One of the ways that this generation is so connected with each other is via their smartphones and iPads, which are their constant companions 24/7. They are constantly going online and consuming different media, be it online or offline formats and in both cases they want authentic human-to-human interactions. They also want to be a part of communities and can feel lost if they aren't.
Gen Y is all about following their passions and finding jobs that are aligned with their values. They also place a high degree of value on workplace happiness, as in going to work every day knowing that they will enjoy it and having a boss that they respect. Not only do they want friends at work, but they want to be friends with the people their bosses are friends with as well.
Dribbble is the perfect example of this behavior because it's a community where designers share their sketches, mockups, and other work in progress artwork while getting feedback from other designers in a very supportive format. It's been called the Facebook for designers and given how popular it is with the professional community I think we can safely assume that this is an accurate description.
Source: https://dribbble.com/shots/905594-Fashion-Show
Most people assume that Generation Y is all about technology but they are also very into other media. They love to be inspired by books, films, and music just like anyone else in any other generation would. One of their favorite things to do is stay home and watch movies while having breakfast or sitting on a beach somewhere reading a book with white noise in the background disrupted only by the occasional text message or phone call.
Conclusion
As you can see, Generation Y is an enormous generation that is redefining the world of marketing and online media. They are very connected and share a lot of content on social networks, which in turn means that the amount of reach any given piece of content has is much greater than you would typically see for older generations.
There are more unique users on Dribbble, Facebook and Twitter than there are TV viewers in the U.S. So don't think about them like teenagers when designing your marketing campaigns because that is probably not what they're thinking.