Reaching the elusive digitally-driven millennial consumer

Nielsen describes the millennial generation as today’s “most coveted consumer demographic from a marketer engagement perspective,” and brands and agencies are investing millions in digital advertising to reach them. Not only are millennials on pace to become the nation’s largest living adult generation in 2019, but according to the latest projections they are also wielding enormous buying power. Research shows that by this time next year, millennials may spend as much as $1.4 trillion annually. These digital natives are using a wider range of devices in their daily lives and consuming digital content via an ever-expanding array of fragmented channels, presenting a significant challenge for marketers. What’s more, traditional mass market digital strategies are falling by the wayside as millennials continue to demand more authentic advertising experiences. As brand marketers seek to tap into the explosive spending power of this ascending generation there are several key challenges that must be overcome to better unify the fractured digital landscape they live in and gain a deeper understanding of how to reach, engage and ultimately convert millennials in the right way. Understanding the channels that matter: There’s no question that millennials spend a lot of their time on their mobile devices. Eight out of 10 spend at least three hours on their devices daily, and one out of five spend six hours or more per day — that’s one out of every four hours in the day, or one-third of their waking hours spent consuming mobile content. In a recent survey conducted by the Harris Poll, millennials were found to spend nearly 5x more time on a mobile device than watching live TV, which isn’t as surprising knowing that 40 percent of millennials don’t spend any time watching live TV at all. Let that sink in.  More than a third of all members of this rapidly growing and valuable demographic watch zero, as in not one minute, of live broadcast television.