Millennials have been the subject of a recent spike in theeffort to more comprehensively understand and forecast the economiclandscape in the United States. Studies and reports abound,centering on topics such as student debt, retirement uncertainty,stagnant wages, work-life balance, career trajectory and skillset –and the common refrain seems to be that millennials are more thanjust a little misunderstood.

Source: Facebook IQ white paper – Millennials + money: Theunfiltered Journey

In a recent Facebook report on the millennial demographic andpotential impact on the economic landscape, the company analyzedaudience insights, conversation analysis and survey data in orderto more deeply understand the millennial mindset towards finance.The study revealed some key findings for the financial industry.For example: Millennials are prioritizing debt elimination, with46% stating that financial success means being debt free; andthey’re worried about retirement, with 13% of respondents statingthat the ability to retire is the No. 1 indicator of success and21% saying that owning a home indicates the same. Along with thesefindings, the study also revealed that, not only do millennialsprefer to pay primarily with cash (57%, versus credit), but 25% ofmillennials characterized credit cards as “something that worsenstheir financial standing.” However, whilemillennials are wary of credit cards and the financial servicesindustry, individuals that do have credit cards view them as astrategic tool to help build credit and increase financialflexibility. Further, 86% of study participants noted that savingwas an important part of building financial stability however,millennials are 1.6 times more likely than Gen Xers/boomers to haveno investments at all. Among the reasons cited for millennialunderinvestment, the majority of participants (54%) feel that theyjust don’t have the money, while others don’t know enough aboutinvesting (24%) and 12% generally distrust financialinstitutions.

Source: Facebook IQ white paper – Millennials + money: Theunfiltered Journey

These findings indicate that the FinServ industry must reassesstheir appeal and market position as it pertains to millennials andthe capital they represent. Naturally – and as a result of the 2008market crash – the financial services industry has been scramblingto gather, understand and quantify data surrounding the financialbehaviors, habits, patterns and proclivities of millennials inorder to better position themselves with this powerful and educatedemerging market demographic. As organizations continue to investvaluable time and resources in new and innovative marketing andadvertising initiatives aimed at breaking into and appealing to themillennial mindset, it is prudent to allocate some of thoseresources to seeking strategic guidance for constructing andimplementing business development and marketing platforms thatspecifically target this increasingly powerful demographic.

Claim Your YouthCulture, for example, is a strategic consulting outfit that hasdeveloped a suite of programs that work together to assist creditunions, across the United States and Canada, to comprehensivelyengage the dynamic and energized youth market in order to grow andspread the credit union footprint and movement. And, if themillennials have shown us anything, marketing to and understandingthe youth market is vital in order to not only expand market share,but to stay relevant. The CYYC team leverages years of experiencefrom experts in credit union member engagement and the credit unionmovement, at large, to assist credit unions with strategic guidancefor engaging this important and valuable demographic.

So, while credit unions and small community banks considertakeaways from the Facebook study to meet millennials where theyare – such as offering solutions that address their most pressingneeds, repositioning credit to align with those needs and helpingmillennials to develop a financial plan – Claim Your Youth Culturehelps organizations to develop and utilize targeted andindividualized strategies for cultivating and sustainingrelationships in key areas to help directly grow credit unionmembership, loan and market share.

The future of the financial services industry requires theproactive, strategic positioning and utilization of the youthmarket, and organizations that wish to succeed in anever-increasing, millennial-centric economy would do well toutilize the expertise that strategic consulting firms have to offerin order to ensure their own futures. The future is now – it’s timeto start investing in it strategically.

Michael Barrio is vice president of public affairs,Leverage Point, Inc. He can be reached at 505-338-4228or [email protected].