Millennials’ Reliance on Social Disrupts All Areas of Business
If you’re a professional doubting the importance of having a strong online presence then you may not be in sync with your future clients. Here’s some advice:
“Take time to engage with us. Don’t just push your message, but listen as well. Social media networks make this very easy for you but they’re often misused or underused by [firms] like yours. Prompt a response, a discussion and relate your [firm] to someone’s life. Don’t be afraid to step outside your specific [service offering] and go for the bigger message to which we can relate and participate.”
According to Bazaarvoice, Millennials represent 34% of the population compared to Boomers at 42% and GenX at 24%. Here’s what you need to know about those 18-34 year old Millennials (GenY):
- By 2017, Millennials will have more spending power than any generation
- 84% of Millennials say user-generated content influences what they buy (compared to 70% of Boomers)
- Over half of Millennials trust the opinions of strangers online over those of friends and family
“Millennials’ reliance on social will disrupt all areas of business.”
In Scott Pollack’s Forbes article delving into the true meaning of business development, he talks about customers LIVING “…in markets that are defined by their demographics, lifestyles, and buying mindset.” Your takeaway?
Your future clients — the Millennials — live online so you need to be online.
That’s how the digital natives will discover you. If you hope to capture long-term value from your business development efforts you need to be driving a narrative and demonstrating expertise online. That gives you credibility in the right way at the right time on the right venue. If you’re not cultivating a strong online presence then your business development strategy is flawed. You’ll have trouble building the momentum necessary to push the Millennials’ immense spending power your way. Your ability to influence will wain. Your efforts to grow your business will stall.
Being online helps you stay relevant and for a professional that’s a good thing.
Having an online presence enables you to demonstrate your passion and authority among amplifiers, influencers and thought-leaders. Over time, that engagement drives word-of-mouth referrals. After you get your wind back from that gut punch about Millennials — get yourself online — in the right way. How are you creating and capturing long-term value? What is your gateway for understanding client needs, relationships and markets? Click on the Infographic on the top right for more information about Millennial clients (or click here). This data was sourced from Edelman/StrategyOne.
By the way, glance right to see what blogging Millennials look like — not as scary as you might imagine — unless you know ’em like I do.