Paul Carringer’s latest article for the PRSA Perspectives blog.
Millenials rock the smartphone!
A recent study by Experian Marketing Services, a global provider of integrated consumer insights, tells us that “Millennials are the most digitally connected generation, with 77 percent of adult Millennials owning a smart phone” and using it for everything from talking, to texting, to social networking (1). The study is clear that Millennials are digitally driven and interacting with digital media at the rate of almost 10 hours a day, much of it driven through a smartphone.
But, should PR professionals care? If we use the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) model, the answer is, “it depends.” Are we trying to reach Millennials? And, when, and if we do, what exactly do we want the message to be? Most of all, how do “they” want to receive our message?
The Pew Internet and American Life study informs us that Twitter users tend to be men, 19 to 29, and making less than $35,000 a year. Lee Rainie, Director of the Knight Digital Media Center, notes that 89% of the 18 to 29 year old crowd is into social networking while 60% of the 50 to 64 year old crowd can say the same. The fastest growing group into social is those 65 and older. And, Facebook leads the pack of social media outlets with over 90% of adults in the USA onboard…