Millennials, as we know them!

Chart of the day: How does device preference for online activity differ with generations?

Marketers are always raving about Millenials and how important it is, for their brand to reach and target this segment of the population, especially the youth-oriented companies. In fact, it’s deemed equally important to decipher the millennial category in comparison to other generations and come up with an integrated marketing strategy that targets different segments of the audience with unique approaches, best suited to their consumption habits.

It comes without a doubt that the invention of mobiles had given rise to the migration of online activities away from PCs, albeit slow and steady. Smartphones have only boosted that migration, making the switch from PCs to mobile-first much faster. However, that rate of migration only applies to a certain segment of the population, advocated by their age, to be more inclined towards adapting newer devices for internet usage.

Recent research from Global Web Index shows us how the importance of mobile in online activities varies immensely between generations. Out of the 34 online activities that were tracked in this research, millennials (age 21-34) carried out majority of them on their mobile devices and in contrast, baby boomers (age 55-64) carried out most of them on their laptop. And as one would expect, Gen X (35-54) lies somewhere in the middle of the 2 extremes, with their online activities spread fairly evenly across mobile and laptop.

Another section from a detailed infographic by Global Web Index reiterates the sharp change in millennials’ internet consumption habits over the past few years. 2016 seems to be the defining year where millennials’ online activity took a turn and overlapped across mobile and laptop devices, until eventually, as shown on the graph, mobile device popularity started exceeding that of laptop devices.

• Source: Global Web Index
• Sample: 70,575 internet users
• Recommended resource: Mobile marketing guide