Millennials may get a bad reputation — lazy, entitled, attached to their phones and responsible for killing the napkin industry. But stereotypes aside, this generation is playing a greater role in the workforce and needs to be taken seriously.

The B2B landscape is constantly changing, and today’s buyers are more informed than ever, especially as new generations like Millennials and Gen Z make up more of the workforce. It’s crucial for businesses to abide by this change and cater their marketing efforts to buyer preferences and needs.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year for the B2B marketing world, as marketers took their strategies to the next level to engage buyers in a more authentic, human way. The landscape is ever-evolving and new technologies and channels have made it easier for marketers and sellers to build relationships with their audiences.

Since the introduction of SPIN selling in the early ‘80s, the world of B2B customer engagement has seen steady innovation. Telephone cold calling, voicemail and emails became vital tools used to let prospects know you wanted to talk to them. When you did get a positive response, face-to-face meetings for problem discovery and PowerPoint presentations to drive the impact of your solution home became the standard. B2B selling was ruled by the conventional wisdom of seasoned sales executives who had control of the information. Through vast experience and advanced training in strategic and positional selling, they knew exactly how to win. It was a seller’s market and a game of inches.

Millennials have long been disparaged and dismissed as “lazy and self-centered.” But marketers can no longer afford to overlook Millennials, who now comprise the largest generation in the workforce, according to the Pew Research Center, and are positioned to influence B2B purchasing decisions, according to insight from Forrester and LinkedIn. Progressive B2B companies, such as Oracle + Bronto and The Pedowitz Group, are rethinking their marketing strategies to include mobile-friendly, highly-visual content that caters to Millennial preferences.

Known as the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, Millennials (defined as between ages 20 to 35) are a valuable demographic in B2B sales and marketing. A recent study from Sacunas, a B2B marketing agency, revealed that 73% of Millennials are involved in some form of B2B decision-making, and one-third are actually the sole decision-maker in their company.