Posted on April 16th, 2023.

Also known as Gen Y, the only requirement to be a Millennial is age. There are varying interpretations, but Millennials are to be those born between 1981 and 1996. The term “Millennial” has become a code word for a certain type of young person. Millennials stereotypes are usually considered as a sense of entitlement, a need for approval, a tendency to get distracted, and all about themselves.

18-34-year-olds have long been considered the most coveted demographic for advertisers. They are all of working age (unlike the younger Gen Z), less likely to have mortgages, and therefore, more likely to have disposable income. For social media marketers, millennials are pretty much all on social media. 92% of American Millennials own a smartphone, and 85% of millennials have a social media profile.

Millennials are now the largest working generation there is. Millennials now make up the largest generation in the United States workforce. As of 2017, 35% of the US workforce consisted of Millennials, compared with the 33% from Gen X, and 25% of whom are Baby Boomers. Of course, some of these workers have only just turned 18, so their salaries will be relatively low, and their shopping choices are largely be dictated by price. But these young people are going to be working for roughly the next 50 years. For brands, there’s a sense that if they can encourage loyalty in young buyers now, it may last for the rest of their lives.

Millennials are projected to make up the largest generation in the United States as soon as 2019. Even though the last Millennial was born in 1996, some of this growth is thanks to immigration. More Millennials arrive in the country each year than any other group. At the same time, older citizens are dying, thinning out older generations. Interestingly, the largest group is Baby Boomers. Millennials have already overtaken Gen X (the closest generation in terms of age) and will soon close the gap with their parents and grandparents. Naturally, brands are looking for large market segments they can appeal to, and the Millennial group is only getting bigger.

Social media data proves that this powerful group needs to be segmented further, especially depending on where in the world you’re trying to appeal to millennials, the language you speak to them in, their age range, and the topics you build your messaging around. Instead of targeting all of the 18-37 age brackets as one, marketers can now identify subgroups quickly and find the subject matter that appeals most to them. This creates more tailored campaigns, and brands can then be more confident that they’re creating the right products for each specific market.