Reviews and testimonials from everyday people – whatmarketers call user-generated content – may prove to beone of the better ways to reach millennials.

That was the word Tuesday from Laura Marzi, assistant vicepresident of group benefits marketing at The Hartford, speaking onthe opening day of the 2014 Benefits Selling Expo.

Marzi said user-generated material provides an authentic tonethat few companies can match.

According to new research on millennials and user-generatedcontent by Crowdtap and Ipsos Media CT,millennials are, in fact, most influenced by user-generatedcontent.

The research found that millennials spend 18 hours a dayconsuming different media across several devices. User-generatedcontent makes up 30% of that time (5.4 hours), second only totraditional media like print, television and radio at 33%.

But millennials trust information found in user-generatedcontent 50% more than information from traditional media sourcesand find user-generated content 35% more memorable than othersources.

Lindsey Pollak, an expert on millennial matters who serves asthe spokesperson behind Hartford's campaign to reach millennials,told the audience that finding new ways to reach these latestentrants into the workplace is critical given the changes indemographics that are coming.

Millennials account for 36% of the workforce today. By 2025,they will account for 75% of the global workforce, she said.

As they assume leadership – and benefits purchasing – roles,Pollak said the industry will want to keep in the mind some of thekey differences between millennials and the earlier generationsthat occupy the mash-up in today's workplace.

Speed is a priority to millennials, she said. Millennials alsowant to see that your company is really thinking about what theirwants.

As digital natives, tech is obviously not an after-thought formillennials, she said, but they do want and appreciate face-to-faceinteraction, though they view digital interactions to be just asintimate and personal as other types of interactions.

Millennials, she said, also don't see the divide between homeand work. They'll shop at work and work after hours. They don'tidentify with the idea of work-life balance. It's all integratedfor them.

Reaching millennials requires customizing things, Pollaksaid.

“They are part of the customization nation,” she said. “Ifyou're a millennial, you didn't get a stuffed bear as a child. Youwent to a build-a-bear workshop. You didn't get a record album, youwent to iTunes or Spotify. Everything is customized.”

That thinking is what drove the Hartford to develop itsDisabilityFLEX line, flexible, voluntary coverage that allowscustomers to tailor disability insurance to their needs, includingwhen coverage kicks in and how long it lasts.

User-generated content, Marzi said, has helped her companymarket DisabilityFLEX.

“Thanks to my disability insurance, I did not have to worryabout being able to pay my bills,” Fluffy01, a woman in her 40sfrom Missouri wrote in a post on the Hartford's user-generatedcontent area of its website.

“People are used to ratings and reviews, so this is a natural,”Marzi said. “It's also information that I could never get throughcompliance, not in a million years.”