The Millennial generation tends to have a bad rep. While I am inherently an old soul, I believe we have been unfairly categorized as needy, greedy and as seekers of attention and self-gratification. Yes, some are; but, it is in my experience that we just require a different approach for interest, awareness, engagement, trial and adoption. 

Yes, we multi-task. Yes, our attention spans are very short. Yes, our brains are often on-go with a need to feel connected deeply in order to make us stay where we are. But! I would argue that Millennials have way more to offer brands – as long as they take time to care about us. The advertising industry has experienced a drastic shift of power, specifically from brands with the most money to the consumer audience who can communicate one-on-one with brands.

In July, AdWeek mentioned: “Marketers are constantly working multiple social media platforms and tweaking digital ads to target elusive millennials—adults ages 18 to 34 who don’t respond to traditional advertising and are increasingly ‘cutting the cord.‘”

The keyword in that statement is “elusive.” Let’s take a second to define that all-important word:

I’ll speak on behalf of all Millennials for the sake of this post and tell you we aren’t difficult to find or catch. We would, however, like a brand to be invested in what we think and care about. If a brand is spot-on with identifying its target audience, this shouldn’t be hard at all. Right? Right.

On the flip side of being greedy and needy, I would rather offer you three characteristics of Millennials that may offer you a different perspective in regards to communicating with them.

Community

According to a study released by the White House in 2014, the Millennial generation places a great emphasis on being connected with the people and brands around them. I am going to be loyal to my local coffee shop because I value someone knowing my name. It makes me feel comfortable and accepted. The coffee shop has great coffee, but the environment in which I feel welcomed is its biggest “pro” for me coming in each day. That single action that makes me feel connected, also offers me a platform of trust. I feel like I belong. This means the world when I choose where I am going to grab my caffeine-fix.

Emotional appeals

In the same White House report, it states,“Millennials desire to make a positive social impact on their own children and communities, as well as on society as a whole.” If you can make a Millennial feel connected to your cause or story, they will respond. We want to be engaged with, and a brand that takes time to do such ends up on a loyalty list. Marketers are chasing the seemingly “elusive” Millennial demographic because they/we do not respond to blatant sales-language.

Do I want to buy your new and shiny product that can do X, Y and Z? No. I really don’t; but if you can show me how your new and shiny product can impact my life in way that has an effect on my inner-circle – THAT will win my attention.

Thought-leadership 

We like for our voices to be heard. Want to hear from Millennials about your latest service or brand product? Invite 10 – 12 of us to sit with you for an hour. Feed us, and listen to us. I bet you’ll be surprised at what you find! Recently, we invited a group of Millennials to sit down with us to talk about a client project. They told us they like Facebook (regardless of it being a “dying” platform with this age demographic), but would rather see information from their friends, family and brands THEY choose to engage with.  Give them a purpose and a reason to share their opinions and voice their concerns with you.

See, that’s not so hard! Right? Communicating with Millennials is rooted in fundamental techniques, and it involves a very genuine approach to making sure brand messages match with target audiences. If we do a better job of identifying our audiences and truly pay attention to what they want versus what we want to tell them – the messages, tools and channels are a lot easier to manage.