Dear Marketers: Try Harder Please

Stop the press. Hold the elevator. No one move.

I just read an article about how marketers could best connect with my generation this summer, and, wait for it..., “social media” was only mentioned once. No, really, only once.

In an AdAge article last month, Charlie Horsey, President-CEO of MKTG, ventures to describe a method for engaging Gen-Yers in ways other than following a company on Twitter or “liking” them on Facebook. Sorry, Mark. And I, for one, am elated that someone finally gets it. I assure you, not all of us spend our days connected to Facebook like paparazzi to Lady Gaga.

At more than 60 million strong, we’ve earned the reputation for wanting to discover products ourselves and to make buying decisions on our own, which Horsey purports is marketers’ biggest challenge to overcome.

However, a connection with my generation can be made, and once a brand is on our radar, we’ll be loyal to it for some time to come. Read the article to find out exactly which four ways are recommended for making the critical connection to the Gen Y consumer.