Millennial. Echo Boomer. Gen Y. Generation Entitlement. Ouch-­‐ the last one hurts a bit. Whatever you call us, you better recognize us. We make up about 76 million people within the U.S. and we’re not all kids anymore. The oldest of the millennials are now in their thirties. As the age of millennials grow, so does millennial influence and buying power.

However, don’t start seeing dollar signs just yet. Don’t expect us to spend like our parents spend. Millennials can appreciate thrift. We are not ashamed to shop that bargain bin. We may have grown up with wealth, or the illusion of wealth, but many of us saw the wealth of our parents disappear in our teens and twenties with the recession. Many millennials will echo the sentiments of their grandparents, who experienced the great depression, when it comes to spending and saving. Millennials own fewer houses, cars, and are in less debt than people of the same age in 2001. Many are also cautious when it comes to credit cards and the damage they can cause. We aren’t afraid to save money by cooking from scratch. We may even use the leftovers to make a low cost beauty mask. We’re the ones holding up the line to pull up our coupons – on our smart phones, of course. Coupons in the newspapers are so Gen X.

Now, before you lose all hope for capitalizing on millennial purchasing power. Take heart.  Millennials are waiting for advertisers to engage us. We will spend money, once you’ve proven you’re worth it. Here’s where that ugly little quip “Generation Entitlement” comes to play. We want to be entertained with advertising. We know our money is just as green as our parents and we expect marketers to recognize. By the way, don’t even try to tell us what we want or what we should want. We know what we want and we are waiting for you to give it to us. We want to have a say in the products we use. We want you to know what flavors we like, what apps we use, and how we want to watch TV. We want to control how we view ads and we want a truly customized experience.

High maintenance? Yes. High reward? Oh, yes.

It’s also important to understand that not all millennials are created equal. Some of us are moms in the suburbs. Some of us are single in the city. Some are still living with our parents (no shame in that game considering the enormous student loans we have). We want to be acknowledged for our uniqueness and want to have a personal and customized experience with our advertising. Don’t just show me an ad. Let me connect with you. Let me understand that you get me.

If you can get a millennial to feel connected to your brand, he or she will be your biggest fan. Millennials feel that it is our responsibility to share our feelings about brands and products with our friends. Social media and our hyper connectivity to those in our social circles make our opinions highly visible. We live in a world where one consumer tweet quickly turns into millions of retweets and all of a sudden that one individualized experience becomes common knowledge.

So don’t be intimidated or disheartened by thriftiness of millennials. It might take a unique strategy and a little effort, but we are waiting to reward your efforts with our dollars. And, we’ll even post a pic on Instagram to share our excitement. #millennialsrule