Why Gen-Y Is Going To Win The Branding War
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
When Michael invited me to write a post on his site, I wanted to talk about some of the changes that are happening online and the speed in which everything is moving. As an outspoken member of Gen-Y (you know the Under 30 crowd), we are experiencing this change and adapting quicker than ever. The Million Dollar Mint
Take a look at young entrepreneurs like Aaron Patzer of Mint.com who recently sold out to Intuit, maker of finance products like Quicken and Quickbooks. Aaron saw a gap in the way personal finance was being handled and created a solution. A good solution. And he did it fast. He did it using technologies like the iPhone, where the Mint.com app is regularly in the top 10 free finance apps. He did it by using customer service through Twitter. And the older generation had to play catch up, or rather buy out the fast kid with the great ideas.
Next on the list are heavy hitters like Matt Mullenweg, creator of Wordpress. This young gun changed the way many people develop websites, manage content and keep clients, fans and web browsers up to date on happenings in the world of the content creator. Next to him is Mark Zuckerberg, king of social networking after besting Myspace sometime last year.
These young people understand the information age in which we live, where information is extremely valuable and the price tag on data jumps significantly higher than the $15 for a CD or $20 for a DVD model that is slowing fading away and crushing long standing business models.
Gen-Y Speed Branding
With the increased speed in building a brand, the way in which people find you in more important than ever. There is no better way to be found, both cost effectively and conversion wise than from the Google. I say the Google, because they have more than transformed the way the web works. From simple searches back in the early 2000's to buying video sites, serving more ad dollars than any company on the planet and having more access to data than the government (opinion, but I really do believe it).
Young people have found that being on Google's good side can bring more than traffic to their website. Through topics like personal branding, college grads are starting to make a name for themselves that will have employers calling them before the ink dries on their diploma, getting clients without much work experience and having the opportunity to network with people all over the world, due to niche writing, blogging and having a case of the "curious."
Young people have found that being on Google's good side can bring more than traffic to their website. Through topics like personal branding, college grads are starting to make a name for themselves that will have employers calling them before the ink dries on their diploma, getting clients without much work experience and having the opportunity to network with people all over the world, due to niche writing, blogging and having a case of the "curious."
The Internet has been around for nearly the entire lifespan of younger Gen-Y's and mobile technologies are in more hands than anyone could have ever imagined, to the tune of 4-1 over internet enable computers.
How To Rock Google In The Branding Space
Get a great domain name. With the availability of vanity names (facebook.com/yourbrand. twitter.com/yourbrand), it is more important than ever to have a home base that you control. Buy a domain and send all your traffic there. Build it as a home for recent articles, your products and services and use it to build your brand, your email list and RSS subscribers.
Grab up the vanity URL's. If you want to own a brand name, than you really need to own it. After you grab a rocking domain, go and signup for the popular social networks and start getting active. This includes YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Brazen Careerist (the latter for the Gen-Y crowd). By getting active on these platforms, you will build a fanbase, great links back to home base and start to dominate the top page in Goolge.
Create killer content. The last step is to get out there and create great content that people are going to want to share, link to and tell their friends about. This should include videos, audios (Podcasts), reports, presentations, images and blog posts. Share them with your followers, your customers, your mailing list and anywhere else that people would find value. Good content spreads. Good content is found by search engines and good content can make your brand stand out!
Your brands can compete with Gen-Y! The challenge is to get out there and outperform us. Work harder. Work smarter. Then cash out for $170 million to an older, slower company like Aaron from Mint. Not a bad exit strategy, huh?
Your brands can compete with Gen-Y! The challenge is to get out there and outperform us. Work harder. Work smarter. Then cash out for $170 million to an older, slower company like Aaron from Mint. Not a bad exit strategy, huh?
This post was written by Greg Rollett. Join the Rock Star Business Series to learn more about branding yourself or your business. Greg blogs about lifestyle design.
Marketing Blog founder and top-selling author Michael Fleischner has been featured on The TODAY Show, ABC World News, and Bloomerg Radio. 
3 comments :
There are many strategies to be put to use to increase brand name and traffic. Gen-Y has all the resources to do so. The winner has to know how to use these optimally.
I don't see how any of this has to do with Gen-Y.
A very low percentage of the other college educated, gen-y professionals that I know, have any idea about branding via google or the web in general.
Mark Zuckerberg and other successful entrepreneurs are individuals and can hardly, justifiably represent the capabilities of an entire generation.
David
Community Manager, Scribnia.com
Co-founder, u30pro
Another important strategy is not just to compete with Generation Y, but to actually market to them. Gen Y is now bigger than the Baby Boomers, and are responsible for $200 - $300 billion in spending.
I think the key for this kind of success is to be the first to create a product that Gen Y wants. And since the generation spans 20 years, this can be a long-lasting market. As the older end of the Y spectrum is buying the product, the younger end is right behind, getting ready to buy too.
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