In the United States alone, millennials make up a quarter of the population and are directly responsible for more than $200 billion yearly consumer spending! Multiply that on a global scale and the power of millennials becomes shockingly clear.
In this post we are going to look at why millennials are so difficult to target, who they actually are, and how you can connect with them.
Millennials Vs Gen-X Vs Baby Boomers
We’ve all heard of millennials, but do you actually know which generation they fall into? Do you even know which generation you are? Let’s take a quick look at each of the different generations before getting started with millennial
Baby Boomers. Born between 1946 and 1964, they range from 55 to 73 years old today. This generation were around during the flower power era and enjoyed a huge population boom following the Great Depression and World War II. Baby boomers we’re the ones who fought for protection of the environment and were the first to experience the civil rights
Generation-X. Born Between 1965 and 1979, they range from 40 to 54 years old today. Also known as generation bust, Gen X were the first generation to experience MTV, the fall of the Berlin wall, Tiananmen Square, and the rise in popularity of
Xennials. Born between 1980 and 1985, they range from 34 to 39 years old today. Seen as a crossover generation between generation X and millennials, Xennials enjoyed life before home computers, mobile phones, and social media and were also the first generation to use them. They are considered to be more like generation-X than
Millennials. Born between 1986 and 1994, they range from 25 to 33 years old today. Millennials were born during a time where almost every home had internet, mobile phones, smart TVs and modern technology was the norm. They are often seen as the entitled generation who were raised to think that they are special. Every loser was a winner and they were raised to believe anything was possible. Of course, reality soon hit home
Generation-Z. Born between 1995 and 2012, they range from 7 to 24 years old today. This generation has access to mobile phones and modern technology from birth. They spend less time socialising and more time online. They are also seen as the most tolerant generation toward different races, sexual orientations and cultures. Gen-Z’rs are also less likely to believe in church and government and are more forward-
Generation-Alpha. Born between 2013 and 2025, they range from 1 day to 6 years old today. This generation is still too young to have developed any clear character traits.
Why Millennials are a Marketing Nightmare
Unlike the preceding generations, millennials are much less likely to respond to traditional advertising campaigns. And here is where the problem
As Millennials start to take the reins of consumer spending, it is becoming harder and harder to understand their spending
Plenty of research has been conducted trying to understand what it is that gets their attention. And while some patterns have become clear, it’s still not understood why they don’t match the marketing numbers of previous
With more Millennials spending online than any other generation, marketing campaigns should have some type of influence. We already know that influencer marketing works with this generation, but why are ad campaigns missing the mark.
The Solution to Millennial Marketing
We know where Millennials hang out and which platforms work best for reaching them. But unfortunately, most marketers don’t know how to connect with
If your ad campaigns and marketing efforts don’t resonate with them, they will simply ignore you. So what can you do? The answer is actually much easier than you would
Forget about spending a small fortune on ad campaigns that keep failing and work on utilising words from the millennial lexicon! Yep. That’s all it takes.
Every generation has its own style of language that the preceding generations struggle to understand. Just as you find millennial lingo confusing and hard to connect with, the same is true in
The internet makes it so easy to integrate relevant millennial-friendly phrases and words into your campaigns. But to save you the time and effort of trying to find them, we’ve pulled together a list of the biggest and best millennial words for you.
Millennial Lexicon (with old people translations)
Final Thoughts
Adapting and modifying the way that you write your marketing campaigns can cost effective and easy once you know how. Of course, the millennial lingo goes far beyond the examples that we have listed in this post.
Start off slowly by testing the waters with a few additional millennial words sprinkled in here and there before going in full force. This will give you a better idea of which words grab their attention and which don’t.
You also want to make sure that you don’t come across as condescending. It might not be your intention to insult come up but it can happen all too easily. Anagrams such as FOMO, GOAT and SMH not only resonate with this generation, but can save you space and money when creating ad campaigns.
Combining these words with visual images that resonate with causes and activities such as sustainability, global warming, political events, etc are the perfect way to reach out to and connect with the often confused millennial consumer.
Millennials are not the enemy… they are just harder to understand than all of the other generations. And now that you know what makes them tick, you can start checking all the right boxes to get them on side.
Why not check out our blog today for more awesome marketing and SEO tips, tricks and techniques to boost your reach across the board.
