Generation Y is a demographic coveted by retailers and marketers for their purchasing power. Millennials, the generation born between 1980-2000, will spend more than $200 billion annually starting in 2017, and $10 trillion in their lifetimes. According to Animoto, an online video creation application, new data from the 2015 Animoto Online and Social Video Marketing Study reveals video is no longer optional for brands and businesses looking to market to millennials. The study revealed seven in 10 millennials are likely to watch a video when shopping online and 80 percent of millennials find video helpful when researching a purchase decision online.

In an era defined by instant access, powerful consumer voices and expectations of brand transparency, millennials' standards are higher for businesses than ever before. Brands must use new mediums and know not only how to reach millennials where they are online, but also according to their preferences in order to tap into that spending power. Animoto surveyed 1,051 U.S. consumers and published an infographic in conjunction with the study.

Millennials Use Video to Make Purchase Decisions

Increasing exposure to video has impacted Gen Y's view on video in the purchasing process. Compared to baby boomers, millennials are 150 percent more likely to comparison shop with video while in-store, and 146 percent more likely to watch a video if it's available on a company's site while shopping online, and four in every five millennials find video helpful during initial research for a purchase decision. Brands must strategically incorporate video into their online presence to assist millennials throughout the purchase cycle.

• 85 percent of millennials find product demo videos helpful.
• Nearly three-quarters of millennials find video helpful when comparison shopping.
• Seven in 10 millennials are likely to watch a company video when shopping online.
• 69 percent of millennials find video helpful post-purchase to research additional items from the same company.
• Nearly one-third of millennials find it helpful to watch video to learn more about a company before making a purchase.
• Millennials are 264 percent more likely to share videos about a product, service or company while shopping online than baby boomers.

Video Improves Traditional Marketing to Millennials

Nearly two-thirds of millennials (62 percent) prefer to watch a video from a company instead of reading text, and more than half of millennials are likely to watch a video from a brand if they receive it in an email. With this directive, businesses can incorporate video into traditional components of the marketing mix to effectively reach Gen Y-ers.

• Six in 10 millennials prefer to watch a company video over reading a company newsletter.
• 53 percent of millennials are more likely to read a newsletter from a company if video is included.

Millennials Connect With Brands on Social Media and Mobile

Businesses must ensure video content is optimized across the devices and channels millennials frequent most. Nearly half of millennials (48 percent) only watch videos on their mobile device. Millennial engagement with brands on social media is high; on Facebook, 84 percent of millennials follow brands.

• 76 percent of millennials follow companies on YouTube.
• Nearly half of millennials (47 percent) follow companies or brands on Twitter.
• 45 percent of millennials prefer to watch video on their mobile device rather than on a laptop or desktop.
• Four in 10 millennials (42 percent) follow companies or brands on Instagram.

Source: animoto.com