The Millennials: Introducing Your Future "Communicator-In-Chief"

Introducing Your Future "Communicator-In-Chief" ... And Having Access to the Biggest Marketing Database in the World ...

Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation (or Millennials) has been raised in a period of fast, easy and cheap communications. Their parents recall long distance calls on a low-cost weekend for 20 cents per minute. Their grandparents wrote letters and waited two weeks for a reply. Many lived in homes without phones or on systems with multi-party lines. So much has changed that we lose sight of how our behaviors have changed along with the technology.

Prior generations relied on journalists to write the news, but now anyone can write the news. There is no better proof of this than the dramatic events unfolding now in Northern Africa. Social rebellions continue to gain momentum across the region relying heavily on social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to organize the masses. The power of social media has affected not only the way we communicate and do business, but it is changing governments and democracy.

Millennials are information creators who pass along advice to hundreds or thousands of friends in real time. The Millennial has become the “communicator-in-chief” for many businesses because literally every product and service is subject to word-of-mouth advertising. Platforms like Facebook -- where you provide your age, sex, likes, and dislikes, as well as your geographic location -- have become every marketer's panacea. Facebook is not only a social media site, but also "the biggest database company in the world" as a utility communications manager recently mentioned during an industry conference. The idea struck me as 100% on target; it's true but few people see Facebook in that way. It reminded me of what Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s use to say: he wasn't only in the cheap sandwiches business, but in the real estate business. Look around; chances are you will find a McDonald’s in the most high-traffic and lucrative corners, worldwide.

As Millennials keep joining the workforce and the way we communicate keeps evolving, companies from all industries are jumping on the wagon to recruit a Communicator-In-Chief; the person responsible for all their social media outreach efforts including promoting their "brand equity." Are you falling behind or do you already have a Millennial tweeting about your brand and services, and monitoring what external stakeholders say about you in the social media space? Word of advice: Don’t be the last one to know what’s being said about you.