GlobalWebIndex recently did some research on Millennials, an audience segment that many companies are finding it difficult to connect with. The aim of their research was to examine “the attitudes and digital behaviour of internet users aged 21 to 34”. Now, we’ve had a read of this study, and we think that they found out some pretty interesting things, so in this article, we will summarise them for you to give you some insight into this segment of your audience.
Millennials are not a Uniform Group
Forget everything you have ever heard about millennials; it’s probably not true! If there is one key thing, this research shows it’s that Millennials, like any other audience group, are not uniform. This should come as no surprise, after all, we are all individuals! Let’s look at marriage amongst millennials, for example, in the 21-27 group 19% of those surveyed were married whereas in the 28 to 34 age group 59% of them were married. There are some ways that they are similar though, and this is shown in the fact that 62% of them like exercise. What does this mean for businesses though? Well, the next insight might answer that.
Millennials are Truly Mobile First
Even though Millennials are not a uniform group, there is one thing that unites them – their love for their mobile. 97% of those surveyed said that they owned a smartphone, and 68% of them said that their smartphone was their most important device (compared to their laptop or tablet). However, even though it is fair to say that smartphones are central to Millennials lives, this does not mean to say that you can disregard the other devices they may use. On average, they own 3.37 devices and go online via 2.8 of these, so they expect to be able to access your website on all of these devices at different points in the day.
Entertainment is Important to them.
It turns out that Millennials tend to see social media as entertainment rather than a place to share their personal news. They actually spend more time on social media per day than they do watching tv. Again, mobiles are important to them for entertainment purposes as they prefer to consume their entertainment on the move – which is shown in the fact that they access more content on their mobiles than they do their PCs.
They Like to Multi-Network
Millennials tend to spend just under 3 hours per day on social media, and they are not loyal to one platform – in fact, GlobalWebIndex’s research showed that on average Millennials have 9.39 social media accounts. This means that they will have a presence on all of the leading platforms – which are classed as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Pinterest, Skype, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Not all of the platforms are visited as often as some of the others, but the fact that this generation is mobile first means that it is easy for them to dip in and out of the platforms. One interesting insight to note is that although Millennials are visiting the major platforms on a regular basis, they may not actually post when they are there, rather they are just skimming their timelines to keep up to date with what is going on (also known as passive browsing). On a positive note, this means that it is still important for brands to have a presence on social media so that their adverts and content are delivered to this audience.
Ad Frustration is High Amongst this Group
49% of those surveyed for this report said that there were too many ads on the internet, and a similar amount said that ads were annoying and irrelevant. This is surprising when you consider that Millennials are known as the audience group that are the most adept at engaging with new media. Their dislike of ads could be something to do with the fact that they are spending the majority of their time on mobiles, and so it could be poor user experience which is causing the issue. Something for many brands to think about certainly, although 32% of respondents also said they had discovered brands through ads they had seen online, so perhaps a focus on entertainment might help with this.
Social Commerce Has Yet to Take Root
There is almost a 50/50 split on the channel that millennials prefer to use for product research with 49% saying search engines and 44% saying social networks – again demonstrating how important social networks are in the way that Millennials consume content. However, this doesn’t extend into transactions, as most this group are navigating away from social media and to the brand’s actual e-commerce site to complete the transaction still.
So, some interesting insights here definitely, and things that we all certainly need to think about moving forward. Nobody has all the answers on how best to target any audience group, least of all Millennials, but research like this certainly helps us to stay better informed and make smarter decisions.
To download your own copy of the report, and read all the interesting statistics, please head over to https://www.globalwebindex.net/reports/millennials
Six Things You Need to Know About the Millennial Market
Digital / Mar 21, 2018
GlobalWebIndex recently did some research on Millennials, an audience segment that many companies are finding it difficult to connect with. The aim of their research was to examine “the attitudes and digital behaviour of internet users aged 21 to 34”. Now, we’ve had a read of this study, and we think that they found out some pretty interesting things, so in this article, we will summarise them for you to give you some insight into this segment of your audience.
Millennials are not a Uniform Group
Forget everything you have ever heard about millennials; it’s probably not true! If there is one key thing, this research shows it’s that Millennials, like any other audience group, are not uniform. This should come as no surprise, after all, we are all individuals! Let’s look at marriage amongst millennials, for example, in the 21-27 group 19% of those surveyed were married whereas in the 28 to 34 age group 59% of them were married. There are some ways that they are similar though, and this is shown in the fact that 62% of them like exercise. What does this mean for businesses though? Well, the next insight might answer that.
Millennials are Truly Mobile First
Even though Millennials are not a uniform group, there is one thing that unites them – their love for their mobile. 97% of those surveyed said that they owned a smartphone, and 68% of them said that their smartphone was their most important device (compared to their laptop or tablet). However, even though it is fair to say that smartphones are central to Millennials lives, this does not mean to say that you can disregard the other devices they may use. On average, they own 3.37 devices and go online via 2.8 of these, so they expect to be able to access your website on all of these devices at different points in the day.
Entertainment is Important to them.
It turns out that Millennials tend to see social media as entertainment rather than a place to share their personal news. They actually spend more time on social media per day than they do watching tv. Again, mobiles are important to them for entertainment purposes as they prefer to consume their entertainment on the move – which is shown in the fact that they access more content on their mobiles than they do their PCs.
They Like to Multi-Network
Millennials tend to spend just under 3 hours per day on social media, and they are not loyal to one platform – in fact, GlobalWebIndex’s research showed that on average Millennials have 9.39 social media accounts. This means that they will have a presence on all of the leading platforms – which are classed as Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Pinterest, Skype, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp. Not all of the platforms are visited as often as some of the others, but the fact that this generation is mobile first means that it is easy for them to dip in and out of the platforms. One interesting insight to note is that although Millennials are visiting the major platforms on a regular basis, they may not actually post when they are there, rather they are just skimming their timelines to keep up to date with what is going on (also known as passive browsing). On a positive note, this means that it is still important for brands to have a presence on social media so that their adverts and content are delivered to this audience.
Ad Frustration is High Amongst this Group
49% of those surveyed for this report said that there were too many ads on the internet, and a similar amount said that ads were annoying and irrelevant. This is surprising when you consider that Millennials are known as the audience group that are the most adept at engaging with new media. Their dislike of ads could be something to do with the fact that they are spending the majority of their time on mobiles, and so it could be poor user experience which is causing the issue. Something for many brands to think about certainly, although 32% of respondents also said they had discovered brands through ads they had seen online, so perhaps a focus on entertainment might help with this.
Social Commerce Has Yet to Take Root
There is almost a 50/50 split on the channel that millennials prefer to use for product research with 49% saying search engines and 44% saying social networks – again demonstrating how important social networks are in the way that Millennials consume content. However, this doesn’t extend into transactions, as most this group are navigating away from social media and to the brand’s actual e-commerce site to complete the transaction still.
So, some interesting insights here definitely, and things that we all certainly need to think about moving forward. Nobody has all the answers on how best to target any audience group, least of all Millennials, but research like this certainly helps us to stay better informed and make smarter decisions.
To download your own copy of the report, and read all the interesting statistics, please head over to https://www.globalwebindex.net/reports/millennials
