You’ll often hear that marketing to the “MySpace generation” is different. Today’s Generation Y, encompassing individuals born between 1980 and 1995, represents an era of teens and young adults who grew up with technology and are among the most avid users of social networking. Although young, this large segment of the population, alternatively referred to as Echo Boomers or Millennials, has huge spending power: $200 billion per year.
The fact that Generation Y represents a distinct category of consumers is clear. Industry analysts publish frequent reports on how best to reach this target demographic, and entire research firms are devoted to helping their customers access this coveted market. But it’s important to put things into perspective before creating a special campaign dedicated to a single target audience based solely on age.
The popular term “MySpace generation” is a major misconception. It’s actually a misnomer. More than half of MySpace’s audience is now over 35; two-thirds is over 25.[1] Thinking that social networking revolves only around those under 35 or 25 would be a huge marketing mistake. But Generation Y does use social networking differently than older users. Typical Gen Yers, particularly those from a background that’s middle class or above, tend to run their lives online. MySpace or Facebook are more than just a place to visit on occasion. They’re where they live their online lives.
This is in stark contrast to older users, who tend to focus on tasks when visiting social networking sites. Although they, too, may enjoy the social aspects of social networking, often their primary goal is to complete a task such as find a job, promote a cause, find an answer to a question, or market their business.
That said, there are several “truths” about the Generation Y market that can help ensure your campaigns targeted to them are as successful as possible. Because today’s youth audience uses social networking in a different way, the way you market to them online also needs to differ.
With Gen Y, you’re dealing with a wide age range and a generation of diversity. Although certain trends transcend this entire generation, there are also many niche segments based on sex, geographic location, ethnicity, personal interests, and further age segmentation. There is a big difference between the tastes and preferences of a 13-year-old girl in suburban Kansas and a 27-year-old Tokyo hipster. Although there are a lot of commonalities, Gen Y marketing is clearly not aimed at a one-size-fits-all audience. For example, if your target audience is under 18, you need to take into consideration certain legal requirements that aren’t an issue with an older Gen Y audience.
Growing up in a web-based world has made Gen Y more technically sophisticated than their predecessors. This is the generation that uses computers, digital cameras, iPods, text messaging, cell phones, instant messaging, and more as an integral part of daily life—and does so with ease. It’s no wonder that Gen Y recently named technology firm Apple its most trusted brand.[2] With technology so inherently a part of who they are, they “get” social networking, and so should you if you want to market to them successfully.
Most young adults today don’t remember when the Internet was a text-based medium. They grew up with the web. Interactive, multimedia content such as audio and video is how they’ve always defined their web experience, and they’re among the most frequent creators and consumers of multimedia online. To attract the youth market, you need to engage—and entertain—them with interactivity.
Gen Yers are big fans of cause marketing. Nearly 70 percent consider the social and environmental track record of a company when making shopping decisions. And almost 90 percent are likely or very likely to switch brands if a new brand is associated with a good cause.[3] A social networking campaign that merges marketing message with social responsibility is clearly one more likely to resonate with a young audience.
Virtual worlds, such as Second Life and There.com, which merge social networking with video gaming, are the latest trend among the young. By 2011, it’s predicted that 20 million U.S. teens will actively participate on virtual world sites.[4]