A study conducted by Pew Internet and the American Life Project with 895 respondents, mostly technology stakeholders or experts revealed that social media is not just a fab for today's youth. More than two-third of those surveyed agreed that Gen Y will continue to use social media as they are growing up, having a job and even starting a family of their own.
67% agreed that by 2020, the members of Generation Y will continue to be ambient broadcasters and take advantage of social, economic, and political opportunities. Even as they mature, have families, and take on more significant responsibilities, their enthusiasm for widespread information sharing will carry forward.
So what does this study means to business owners? Well, businesses need to take a good look at their social media marketing strategies and see if they are missing out on this huge potential target audience. (Did you know: Half of Youtube viewers are under the age of 20?)
Here are some of the questions you might want to answers to:
- Does your company have a Gen Y employee in your social media marketing team?
- Do you have know where your Gen Y customers come from?
- Are your sales message adapted to include Gen Y needs?
- Are you conducting surveys to find out more about how Gen Y feel about business, career or lifestyle?
- Are you reading blogs that cater to the Gen Y so as to know them better?
Though you may not be targeting the Gen Y at the moment. I hope this post gives you a reason why you need to do so in order to be ready for the future.
If you are interested in the full report, you can download it here