I can't count the number of times I've sat in meetings with brands large and small and heard the marching orders. "Just get us the Millennials." This mindset is short-sighted and mindless old-school marketing at best! Millennials are just one demographic in your potential market and you need to think carefully before you focus entire marketing campaigns on them.

First let's look at the demographics over the last couple of years:

• 77 million Millennials (18-36) make up 24 percent of the U.S. population.
• 23 percent of Millennials have a Bachelor's degree or higher, making them the most educated generation ( Nielsen).
• 38 percent of Millennials are bilingual.
• According to Bloomberg Millennials carry large amounts of personal debt, averaging $45,000.
• 63 percent don't use a credit card ( Bankrate), they use debit cards instead.
• They're not buying homes yet, they're renting or living with parents.
• Only 21 percent of Millennials are married, as opposed to 42 percent of Boomers at their age.
• They prefer to live in urban settings with lots to do and see and they're less interested in the "car culture" of the suburbs.
• Shop locally and prefer hand-made and authenticity to mass production.
• They text instead of using voicemail or e-mail.
• Prefer to spend more on socially responsible companies and say a company's commitment to the community influences their decision to work there
• Mobile is the #1 platform of choice and apps like Amazon, Groupon and ShopKick are top hits.
• They're social. They check in at retailers, restaurants and they expect brands to respond with authentic voices, not canned responses.

This data is based on surveys, but in my experience working with Millennials, they are a diverse group and generalizations don't always fit. Simply basing marketing on demographics alone is simplistic and patronizing.

Millennials, Gen X, Gen Y Gen Z are all individuals and each is much more diverse and heterogeneous than previous generations. Of course older generations like Boomers have also adopted technology and social media to research before buying and that age group holds 3/4 of the nation's wealth. In fact, Forrester Research says Boomers outspend younger adults online 2:1 on a per-capita basis. So let's quit focusing on labels, shall we?

A More Mindful Marketing Approach
Instead of spray and pray marketing, think about who your market really is regardless of age. If you already create buyer personas that's great, but understand you need many more individual personas than you used to. Understand the specifics of what motivates initial purchases. Today's buyer researches online before they make a purchase whether they are Millennials or not. Knowing what motivates each persona to buy allows you to custom target your message to people who want to receive it. This makes relevant content and ease of finding it crucial.

Are you prepared to use social media as a communication tool, not just another advertising medium? Think about educating consumers on both the product and the need that it solves.

Personalized communication through e-mail and social media is a great way to fine tune the messaging. Answer questions. Do some searches to find out where the holes in the knowledge base on line is and fill those holes, then share the answers to common issues freely through social channels to attract buyers.

Do more searches to find people talking about the problem your product solves. Who are they? What do they like to talk about? Who do they talk to and—more importantly—who do they listen to? Where do they hang out online? Create your personas based on this information and they will be more personalized and accurate.

Are You Ready to Market Online?
This may seem a stupid question in this day and age, but you'd be amazed at how many companies are simply not ready.

Is your website responsive and mobile ready? If not, you'd better solve that. No excuses.

Is your social strategy and content aligned with your buyer personas? Those personas and what you've learned about the buyers is a goldmine for content creation. Speak to buyers with content that appeals to what they need. Expand on that to create a sense of community and knowledge sharing that attracts those doing their homework before, during and after a purchase.

Give people someone real to talk to. We respond so much better to a person than a nameless marketing team. Be personal in your approach and create affinity with your customer.

Do you have the ability to reach out to bloggers and influencers who are active and popular on social networks and engage with them to help get the word out about your products? It's not a good fit for every brand, but there are people out there who carry a lot of weight when they speak about their area of expertise. Get to know them and engage them in real conversations. Help them become evangelists because they genuinely like you and your product.

There is a lot more nuance to mindful social marketing, but it's a lot more effective. Make 2015 the year you put mindful social marketing into practice.

 

Janet Fouts is CEO of TatuDigital Media, a Silicon Valley social marketing agency. She works with brands to understand how to use social media as part of their outreach and marketing program. She's a frequent speaker at conferences, conducts workshops and webinars on digital marketing and has authored three books on social media, "Social Media Success," "#Socialmedia PR tweet," and "#Socialmedia Nonprofit tweet."