• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 19, 2016

While one doesn’t necessarily exclude the other, new research does find that 44% of Millennials now own a smartwatch, while just 43% cite Facebook as their preferred social network.

 

That's according to fresh findings from Fluent, which recently surveyed 1,769 Millennials and 1,191 non-Millennials.

Such shifting behavior among Millennials presents unique challenges for marketers. On the one hand, brands are still figuring out how to effectively reach consumers on smaller social networks, while, on the other, there are still few ways to market via smartwatches.  

Whether effective smartwatch marketing strategies exist, younger consumers are embracing the new gadgets.

Indeed, Millennials now own smartwatches at nearly twice the rate of the general population, Fluent finds.

Desktop computers remain an important purchase device for Millennials, according to the digital marketing firm. In fact, nearly 1 in 3 (32%) of Millennials use computers to make purchases at least weekly.

As for effectively getting their attention, over two-thirds of Millennials say that promotional emails impact their purchase decisions -- at least on a few occasions.