GENERATION #canteven: Why Targeting Millennials is Not Bae!

Step away from Urban Dictionary and listen closely. 

One of the most persistent factors plaguing marketing mishaps amongst brands right now is relying on Millennials to be a neat, precise target demographic. 

A quick Google search will pull up dozens of articles, blog posts, and books about how to speak to Generation Y and how they differ from generations prior. But here is the real secret to appealing to Millennials...stop treating us like we are part of a unified group based on our age alone. 

The idea that Millennials are identical in their language, values, work ethic, and interests is ludicrous. We are not one-size-fits-all, in fact, our generation is more much more varied in terms of personality, culture, and preferences because we have had more access to information and choices than ever before. Are you a Pteridomaniac that wants to connect with other fern lovers? There's likely a subreddit for that! The internet is our oyster!

The awkward results of inaccurately identifying Millennials as a target demographic is particularly evident in the social media world, where marketing executives worldwide of several major brands seemed to have declared that Millennials will simply not understand their messaging unless it includes the words ship, bae, or turnt up. 

You don't need to look much further than accounts like Brands Saying Bae (@BrandsSayingBae) to see the growing frustration of Millennials that just want to be treated like regular folks that have regular needs and believe it or not, understand what you are talking about without a hashtag in front of every word. 

If you are trying to convince us that you are one of us, you are turning us off of your brand. In order to understand who your target demographic actually is, you need to take into account important factors like economic status, social media use, and locality, just to name a few crucial components. Millennial or not, relying on cliches to communicate rather than treating each prospect as a unique individual is an risky marketing move. Speculation is not an intelligent business practice.

Be useful, delight us with your charming, awe-inspiring, hilarious content, and get real.

You can't get more on fleek than that.