ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Mobile impact on millennial?s engagement

Millennials are by far one of the most active groups in the mobile sphere and many brands are revamping their strategies to target these younger consumers.

According to industry experts, millennials bring a new set of attitudes and preferences that separate them from their predecessors. Millennials are confident, optimistic and open to change ? something marketers can adapt to.

?Millennials care deeply about honesty and authenticity and they share a collaborative mindset with their peers,? said Cezary Pietrzak, director of marketing at appboy, New York.

?Millennials are also digital natives ? the first generation to grow up with technologies like the Internet, social media and mobile phones,? he said. Mobile marketers should pay attention to mMillennials because they?re the tastemakers and trendsetters for the category.

We?ve all seen how mobile is an indispensable part of their lives and millennials live and breathe with their mobile devices, carrying them around wherever they go and even sleeping next to them.?

Mobile usage
According to a recent study by Experian, mobile usage is 14 percent higher for millennials than older consumer groups.

And, millennials also spend a lot of time texting and checking their social media profiles, as well as interacting with mobile apps.

Mr. Pietrzak believes that marketers should engage millennials on mobile-first, because the technology is an extension of their personalities and something they interact with on a daily basis.

According to Pew Internet, more than 50 percent of younger millennials say mobile devices are the primary access point to the Internet.

For others, mobile complements traditional advertising channels such as television, radio or in-store.

In general, mobile is important because it gives millennials a voice in a two-way conversation with brands, whether it is to tweet a complaint, vote for their favorite music show contestant or participate in an SMS campaign.

Although mobile and new channels create quite an allure for millennials, marketers should not forget about traditional channels.

?Traditional channels are still important to millennials, especially for building awareness,? Mr. Pietrzak said. ?Many watch TV in the evenings, spend several hours of their day on desktop computers at work and are exposed to outdoor advertising.

?However, the lines between traditional and digital media are increasingly blurring, with mobile devices bridging the gap between them,? he said. ?As traditional and digital media converge, it?s important to think about ways these channels complement each other, rather than seeing them as pure alternatives.

?Millennials are so tethered to mobile phones that the majority would give up their car before their devices. This attitude is very indicative of the relationship they have with this technology and how much it means to their daily lives. For marketers, it?s important to understand that interacting with millennials on mobile is a privilege.?

Millennial future
According to Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile, Beverly Hills, CA, 95 percent of 18-29 year olds text regularly.

These users send or receive an average of 87.7 text messages on a normal day.

Additionally, 18-24 year olds are even more active, as they send or receive an average of 109.5 text messages per day.

?To put this in perspective, that average is more than double the comparable figure for 25-34 year olds and twenty three times that of 65-plus year olds,? Ms. Lowy said. ?The fact is, millennials spend a huge portion of their day on their phone and the majority of them feel paralyzed without it.

?Marketers who are attempting to reach this specific demographic know that they can?t do it without a mobile strategy,? she said. ?Marketers who are targeting a broader market base know that their mobile campaigns are going to be utilized primarily by the millennials within their audience.

?Mobile is one of the few channels that has already achieved tremendous scale, is growing day by day, and has not yet been diluted. It has been and will continue to be one of the most effective ways to reach millennials.?

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York