As marketers, we often talk about “leads” and “prospects” as if they’re lumps of clay… a blank slate just waiting for the most enticing call to action.

Of course, that’s almost 100% wishful thinking than anything resembling reality.

The truth is, digital trends don’t spread evenly across all demographics. In fact, it’s probably more accurate to say that demographics, as much as the technology itself, drives our digital trends.

So what’s the biggest driver when it comes to demographics (here’s a hint: it’s not immigration)?

It’s age. Pretty obvious when you think about it, right?

BazaarVoice has put together this awesome, macro-level infographic that will simultaneously blow your mind AND reinforce a lot of what you’ve been learning over the past few years.

Basically, it’s simple: The Millennials (aka “Generation Y”) are coming! It’s not exactly a surprise, is it… BUT at the same time, you probably didn’t realize that this group of people will be in the economic driver’s seat by as soon as 2017!

That’s right, by 2017, Millennials will have more spending power than any other generation. What’s more, they make shopping decisions in a VERY different way than their parents or grandparents did.

As this graphic shows, social proof (or user generated content, as they call it) is the holy grail when it comes to marketing.

It may be a little too powerful, actually — 51% of Millennials actually value user generated content reviews over recommendations from friends and family…

That may strike you as weird, but think about it for a moment: You have all kinds of biases when it comes to friends and family. You know who has tastes that are similar to yours, and who’s opinions make you want to vomit. With perfect strangers, you don’t hold the same preconceptions.

The good news is that you already knew how powerful social proof can be (especially if you read this blog regularly), so you’ve hopefully been taking full advantage.

Also, it’s a little bit surprising how much social media affects Baby Boomers — they base purchase decisions on user generated content as well, just not quite as much.

That means that you don’t have to completely change your approach in 2017. Instead, you just need to steadily ramp up your focus on social proof.