Ah, millennials... a raging topic of the day. Who are these tech savvy twenty to mid thirty year olds, and what makes them tick? Or perhaps “buy” is the better word here.

Coming from a millennial, sometimes it’s quite entertaining to read about and realize that there’s so much buzz and research being done on, well, you. Being in a marketing position as well as pursing a college degree in business exposes one to quite a bit of this “buzz and research”, and it's quite intriguing.

As of late, I’ve been more cognitive of marketing strategies aimed at myself and my generation and have done some reflection and research. Please don’t take my words as doctrine, in no way shape or form am I a professional- just merely wanting to share a raw and reflective millennial perspective on marketing to millennials.

Millennials, being in their young 20s to mid 30s, are in vast stages of life. This is that chunk of 10 or 15 years of life that many big decisions are — or aren’t — made (education, careers, buying a house, relationships and family, etc.)

Some of us have moved out and have independence, but some live at home or in some way are still dependent on our parents for financial stability and advice.

The bottom-line is: you’re dealing with a group that has many variables within it. That being said, I think it’s only fair to emphasize that though there are some general guidelines that work and don’t work for us, there will be many ways to find, converse with and persuade different sections and groups of millennials.

While push marketing remains an important component of any customer acquisition or retention program, pull marketing has become even more so. It is becoming increasingly more common that consumers have already done much, if not the majority, of their research before reaching out to a salesperson.

This research includes searching the internet, looking up websites to compare companies/brands, finding out more info on other similar items, reading reviews, asking friends or others they know use the product, etc.

This is one reason why content marketing has become such a critical part of any marketing program. It provides related, beneficial information that can be found during the research process of a prospective customer.

People like to buy from people, so the more you can develop relationships with your customers, the more effective your marketing will be.

This is where relationship marketing comes in.

Relationship marketing is a broad term that focuses on customer loyalty, retention, and satisfaction rather than primarily on sales. Instead of saying, for example, “Don, we know that you’ll really love our new product,” you relate to your customers as you would to a friend, based on who they are.