Do you remember that long weekend in February when you went away on a ski trip; the way that the snow fell from the tree branches the morning after the mountain got hit with a heavy snow storm, leaving that perfectly fresh layer of snow; the way your skin felt when you rushed into the hot tub that night after running for two seconds outside to make it from the cabin’s back door into the hot tub’s welcoming warmth?

Of course you do.

Do you remember the ski hat that you wore? How about the type of TV that was mounted on the cabin wall? You try and try to remember if it was a Sony or an LG or even a Samsung, but you can’t seem to remember even though you were the one that paid for an upgraded cabin in order to have this nicer TV.

But wait… you collect your thoughts and you can see the TV on that brick wall, and how about that fireplace under that TV! How great it felt to sip hot cocoa by the fire right before bed and overshoot the planned bedtime by hours because you stayed up way too late talking about the little things.

Right. The TV. Of course. It was a… and your mind trails off yet again to remember the time you spent stuck on that dumb chairlift and how you really got to know the stranger you were with.

I think you’re starting to get the point. The countless studies that you’ve heard about over and over seem to be right: spending money on experiences is a better way to find happiness than spending money on material goods. Experiences are anticipated, they’re enjoyed, and then they’re reminisced about, creating emotions that last for a while.

Now more than ever, people are taking note of this. While one generation ago people focused on getting their first car or their first home as a measure of where they were in life, today’s generation, the millennials, are more set on measuring what experiences they’ve gained in order to see where they are.

Millennials understand that things can break but experiences will be embedded in their memories forever. They place so much value on seeking new experiences to become more cultured, bond with new people, and become better people through their newfound knowledge.

This adds a lot of fuel to the fire of the Experience Economy, which is something that experiential marketers should be happy about. With so much emphasis on experiences, brands would miss a large part of the market if they didn’t start tailoring their experiential marketing efforts toward an experience-enhancing campaign.

Millennials make up over one fourth of the population in the United States and are responsible for an estimated $1.3 trillion of annual consumer spending. With this much purchasing power, millennials are an influential force in today’s economy. Experiential marketers need to appeal to this generation through their campaigns.

According to Eventbrite, 69% of millennials experience fear of missing out (FOMO). This works well for experiential marketers. Social media plays a key role in fueling FOMO because while some people are out sharing their experiences online, others are sitting on their phones, scrolling through and seeing the experiences that they’re missing out on.

Generally tech-savvy, the millennial generation is able to interact well with the footprints that experiential marketers set up. By integrating social media into an experiential campaign, experiential marketers are able to entice those who are at home to come see for themselves and also show the world that they too have gained that unique experience. The plus side of this is that 78% of millennials admitted that they are more likely to become part of a brand if they’ve had a face to face interaction with it.

Experiential marketers can attract these experience-craving millennials by creating brand experiences that consumers are able to reminisce about. This generation desires to forge a connection with the community around it, so an event that allows them to do so will be a hit, both for the brand and for the consumer.

Experiential marketers should also value this generation because of its spontaneity. Just like they are willing to jump on a car and head out to the mountains for an unplanned ski trip with their friends, they are willing to stop by an event that seems appealing. After they share this event, their spontaneous friends at home, who may even be experiencing a little FOMO, are likely to check out the event if it’s within their reach.

So… do you remember that nifty pop-up store last month?

Yeah, thought so.