Millennials are NOT a target patient segment; they're a stereotype.

This post originally appeared on drewleahy.com. Subscribe to GTFO for more: Uncovering truth. Exposing foolers. Pushing the aesthetic industry forward by taking a step backwards: marketing fundamentals. Get the f%$& out of the middle. Start marketing.

In the aesthetic industry alone, I’ve come across a deluge of how-to articles, webinars, presentations, and podcasts- you name it– imploring doctors and practices to target Millennials with their marketing. And I’ve spoken with a handful of doctors who are actually doing it.

I even came across a few self-professed “Millennial Marketers” specializing in medical.

There’s no denying that our infatuation with Millennials is at an all time high.

Which, from my vantage point, as a marketer, is both unsurprising and unsettling at the same time.

Unsettling because Millennials are not a target segment; they’re a stereotype. And targeting stereotypes is lazy marketing, not the lynchpin of a sound strategy.

And unsurprising because, well, I guess I’m just not surprised by the pervasiveness of bad marketing advice anymore.

In this episode I’ll explore why Millennials shouldn’t be the object of your marketing’s desire, and why those who profess themselves to be “Millennial Marketers” are usually hacks.

Marketing segmentation… the real kind

Market segmentation and targeting is the process of dividing the market into smaller groups of patients that share the same unmet needs. It’s the foundation of real marketing strategy.

The goal is to identify and target underserved groups of patients and niche opportunities that promise a superior competitive position.

When marketers pursue Millennials, it’s their attempt at segmentation and targeting, however flawed their logic.

For market segmentation to work, however, it needs to recognize diversity in the market (and this is non-negotiable). The entire point is to group patients with like-needs so you can create a message and service that resonates.

So a viable target segment, then, requires homogeneity within the group and heterogeneity between those outside the group.

A segment populated by different people with different needs is not a real segment.

Millennials are not all alike. And they’re not all different from older or younger people, either. Which makes pursuing Millennials a fool’s errand. 

I’m not denying that Millennials represent a real generational cohort. They’re young adults.

Some say Millennials were born between 1977 and 1992. Others say born between 1981 and 2000. And still others, like the Pew Research Center, say Millennials were born between 1981 and 2000.

Any way you slice it, Millennials do represent a real cohort of young people spanning 15-20 years apart. Some as young as 20; some as old as 40 (depending on who you ask).

But the assumption that Millennials, or everyone between the ages of 20 and 40, share the same behaviors, beliefs, interests, and needs, is patently false. Yet that’s the basis for every Millennial marketer- that because Millennials have so much in common, you can create a message that resonates with them.

It turns out though that all Millennials are no more entitled, lazy, self-absorbed, disloyal, unmanageable, authentic-seeking, or <insert any other Millennial stereotype> than any other generational cohort. 

In fact, all of the research that has attempted to prove homogeneity within the cohort has proven the opposite: the truth is, Millennials are wildly diverse, and they have more in common with older people than you thought.

Which means that targeting Millennials is just like saying you’re going to target everyone between the ages of 20 and 40. And if your strategy is to target different people with different needs, then you don’t have a strategy, much less a message that will resonate.

But let’s look at the data…

In a recent study from Pew Research that attempted to validate differences between Millennials and Baby Boomers, they concluded that Millennials were actually more loyal and stayed with their jobs longer than Baby Boomers did at the same age.

In a different study from the Journal of Managerial Psychology that sought to identify differences between generational cohorts, they discovered that Millennials actually had less in common with each otherthan they did with those of other generational cohorts. Let me repeat that: they found more similarities between Millennials and Baby Boomers than between Millennials and other Millennials.

They also concluded that Millennials reported higher levels of job satisfaction, job security, and career advancement than Baby Boomers- which flies in the face of Millennial stereotypes.

And in a different study conducted by Dutch researcher, Martin Schiere, that surveyed the attitudes of over 15 million Millennials from 20 different countries (below), he discovered that no one attitude dominated the cohort, just like no one attitude dominated Baby Boomers or Gen Xers. In fact, all three generational cohorts were just as likely to agree as disagree.

No differences between generational cohorts. Source: Glocalities

One study after another- and there’s hundreds– keep debunking Millennial myths.

Despite what many will have you believe, Millennials are nuanced in every direction, and age has almost nothing to do with how we behave. In that same JMP study, only 2% of how we think, feel, and behave has to do with our age group.

So your “Millennial” messaging- whatever that may even include- is more likely to create dissonance than harmony. And piss a few Millennials off in the meantime.

So, why the obsession with Millennials then?

First, too many naive digital marketers that lack core marketing training have bought into the Millennial stereotype bullshit- then passed it on to you. They’ve traded in their common sense for “sweeping generalizations.” 

We can’t point the finger at digital marketers for not being good at segmentation; that’s not their specialty. So chalk this one up to ignorance- it’s just another example of how the overemphasis of digital is crippling medical practices.

And second, Millennials have become a potent sales tool: it sounds persuasive, however superficial, to tell doctors that you know Millennials, given all the attention they garner. After all, Millennials represent a massive group of people to claim expertise in.

It’s no coincidence that the same people telling you to focus on Millennials are also the same people selling you services like Instagram marketing where Millennials make up most of the platform’s audience.

What’s a more strategic way to target patients, then?

It doesn’t matter that I know your 32, or that you’re a women, or that you’re affluent. There’s too much diversity within those cohorts.

Not all 32 year olds have the same needs. And younger people with little disposable cash still have some of the same needs as older, affluent people. 

The key word here is: needs.

Patients have needs and they’re hiring you to do the job. Simple. 

So segment your patients into groups with similar needs, with the same jobs to be done, irrespective of age, gender, or income level. None of that matters right now. Then, target the segment that you think you can deliver the most value to.

For example, using a plastic surgery case, instead of targeting all patients between the ages of 20 and 40, hoping and praying something will stick, target thin women who want the hourglass body.

A thin woman who wants the hourglass body at 26 has the same need as a thin women who wants the hourglass body at 41. 

Within the group, they’re the same. And they’re different from patients outside the group.

That’s a segment.

If you want to layer demographic data on top of that to further splice the market, then by all means do it.

You can still target just men or just women, for example. But you still need a position; you can’t just be all things to all women (or men) and expect your message to resonate. Like with age, there’s too much diversity within gender cohorts too.

So stick with targeting a group of patients that have the same needs, but different needs as those outside the group. 

A segment populated by different people with different needs is not a segment.

And watch out for marketing hacks. The next time someone asks you, “What are you doing to target Millennials?” Tell them, “Not working with you.”