We all knew it would happen one day. The kids are taking over. We are finally starting to see statistics that state Millennials are having a major influence within B2B buying decision groups. But really, with all of the updates in today’s technology world how could Millennials not be.
Based on a study published by Google and Millward Brown, a global branding and marketing research company, the B2B marketplace has changed rapidly over the past two years. The study states that Millennials are not just doing the research anymore for product options, they are also very much involved in the purchasing decisions.
Nearly half of all B2B researchers are Millennials
The researchers received their data from 3,000 purchasing internet users in a variety of industries. As you can see in the graphs below, only 27% of the employees buying B2B products were between the ages of 18-34 in 2012. In 2014, that number increased to 46% of employees. That means almost half of employees who have the power to research and purchase products are Millennials.
Millennials use mobile devices for work
More importantly, Millennials are not using their desktops to make these important buying decisions anymore. Thirty-four percent of the people involved with the purchasing decisions use their mobile devices to complete each stage of the buying process. And no, this does not just happen at home. According to Google, “Nearly half of B2B researchers who use their mobile devices for product research do so while at work.”
Millennials watch a lot of B2B videos
Finally, research notes that purchasers are watching more videos than ever about the products they may want to purchase. According to Google, “70% of those researching b-to-b products and services now use video across the purchase path.” Google also just realeased, “more than 895,000 hours of YouTube videos produced by a selection of top b-to-b brands were watched in 2014.” That’s a lot of hours!
Smart B2B marketers will embrace mobile and video
This study shows that reaching potential buyers through mobile devices is more important than ever. Not having the convenience of a user friendly mobile web browsing experience and compelling B2B videos may leave you missing out on opportunities to connect with a very influential section of your audience.
Is your B2B website Millennial and mobile friendly?
If not, contact TANK New Media today for a free website evaluation.