B2B marketers should quit treating millennials like previous generations

In recent years, business-to-consumer marketers have been rightly obsessed with millennials because they are increasingly becoming household decision-makers. At the same time, they are becoming decision-makers for corporations and small businesses as well. In fact, 73 percent of millennials who work in business are involved in the technology-purchasing process for their companies.
It’s time for B2B players to wake up to that reality and start appealing to this generation in a new way. Millennials, who are between 22 and 37 years old, have different mindsets and different media consumption patterns than Generation X or Baby Boomers. What’s particularly important to know: 84 percent of millennials simply don’t trust traditional advertising. Digital media – particularly social media and video – is a great way to reach them. With that in mind, here are three ways B2B brands can gain new customers from millennial decision-makers. Lean into video and values: These young adults are visually minded, and most of them have grown up with mobile video as part of their daily lives. In fact, 29 percent of millennial B2B buyers prefer video content over text or voice-based messaging, besting case studies (19 percent), white papers (16 percent), brochures (15 percent), webinars (11 percent) and infographics (11 percent). Like with B2C efforts, it’s important to make your videos rich, informative and shareable.