Millennial Marketing Opportunities for Your Business or Organization

Published July 21, 2011 | By Elaine Fogel

The Millennial Generation - those born between 1984 and 2002 - is growing up during a confounding time rife with technological advances and unprecedented sharing and collaboration against an omnipresent backdrop of political tension, international conflict and economic uncertainty. At the center sits Millennials, controlling their world via cell phones, laptops, iPods, and iPads. But, what are these elusive and complex creatures thinking? What do they care about? How strong is their purchasing power? And who will actually earn their discerning dollars, and why?

That was the beginning of a press release I received about Tina Wells’ new book, Chasing Youth Culture and Getting it Right: How Your Business Can Profit by Tapping Today’s Most Powerful Trendsetters and Tastemakers. What I find interesting are the stats that indicate the huge buying power and future potential of this generation.

Millennials are more involved than any generation before them in the purchasing decisions of their parents.
Millennials have grown up with a greater degree of affluence than any generation before them, leading to very high spending expectations throughout their life.
Millennial spending habits are projected to increasingly heighten as this generation ages and becomes even more affluent.
Millennial spending shot up 13% from $270 billion in 2009 to $306 billion this year. More significantly, discretionary spending increased 10%, accounting for about 22.5% of all spending. Within this figure, discretionary spending is set to increase 10% from $62.7 billion to $69 billion, making college consumers an even more desirable demographic for marketers. (Source: CampusAuction.com)
Tweens spend $43 billion annually, which translates to about $2,047 per tween. (Source: Research and Markets)
Young people in droves are using the Internet for shopping: a whopping 84% of respondents in our survey claim to shop online regularly. (Source: Buzz Marketing Group survey)
61% of teens hear about new products online, while 15% still hear about them from friends. (Source: Buzz Marketing Group annual Teen Study)
99% percent of teens have a Facebook page. (Buzz Marketing Group Study “What Teens Want”)
36% of high school students claim that they would delay or forego college due to costs. (Source: TD Ameritrade Study ‘2010 Teens % Money Survey”)