The last few days, I have discussed the Generation Y'ers alot. You know the 18-26 year crowd with their YouTubes, myspaces and facebooks. Many of these Gen Y'ers feel entitled. They grew up in the boom years of the 90s and had parents who showered them with prizes, incentives and drove them everywhere to keep them happy and safe.
So why do Gen Y'ers matter to B2B Tech marketers?. Two reasons.
Firstly, as Employees. They are what we Gen X'ers and Baby Boomers are trying to hire. In San Francisco, this is proving difficult. I was with a media director of a tech B2B and B2C media agency this week. She is interviewing for 2 assistance media planners. Can she find anyone? No. The best candidate was a year out of school with some work experience, likable and smart. Why didn't see get the job? She needed $48,000 to start.
I remember, my starting salary was GBP 12,000 ($18,000). This didn't go far in London but I survived and learned alot.
Many other Gen Y'ers are jumping ship (after 1-2 years of "real world" experience) to dot.coms, I mean Web 2.0 companies. It is harder to motivate a kid with salary and bonus when they just giving away the companies down in Silicon Valley.
My experience with our Gen Y'er was positive though. He has been with us a year and starting contributing early on. Why? He is a whiz with the Internet and software programs was a quick study on Salesforce.com, our booking systems and InDesign. We gave him personal responsibility and room to grow. Within 3 months, he was put in charge of our website, datasheets and eNewsletters as well as routine tasks of managing production and invoice issues.
After 9 months, he got an small account base. He grew average monthly billings by 15% in the first 3 months of personal sales responsibility.
So this group will be a challenge to manage and motivate but weren't we back in the day.
Secondly, Gen Y'ers will be important as future tech decision makers. If you have to hire these folks so do your customers. While you and your team are getting some good results with whitepaper syndication program, look out. Their attention spans are lower than yours. Rich media webcast and online TV will be more suited to their on demand, "its all about me" mentality.
My advice, put this Gen Y'ers in charge of those emerging Web 2.0 initiatives you been thinking about for the last 12 months. They get social networking, they understand a 2 way dialogue, they are plugged in and mobile. Go with their strengths and don't expect the old "command and control" playbook to work this time.
They are just looking some excitement and purpose. Think creatively and give them responsibility and the freedom to fail. It will be a fun ride for all of us.
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