Millennials Hate your Marketing -- Here's Why (and what you can do about it)

You've done it! You researched the young adult market, identified their buying power, and now that "just for millennials" campaign has launched and you're waiting for the leads to roll in. But instead, nothing happens.

What's behind the lack of attention and response from this coveted age group? Adults under the age of 30 make up about 1.4% of the U.S. population and pack about 1.3 trillion in buying power domestically. This massive market is made up of savvy consumers who are digital natives and who are very aware of marketing and advertising.

So, why aren't they paying attention to your marketing? It could be one of these three reasons.

You Treat Them as an Afterthought

It's a common misconception that millennials, particularly young ones, don't have the money to buy things or that they waste their money on the wrong things, like avocado toast and pumpkin spice lattes. The problem with this approach is that brands who see these young adults in this way tend to promote the most heavily discounted or bottom of the line products using cost-conscious gimmicks.

Both entry-level products and marketing gimmicks drive millennials away. These savvy users what the newest, the latest and the best, and they can pay for it. Don't assume your youngest targets can't afford your best or most recent models. If they are truly captivated with your brand, they'll find a way. Offer your best products and your most innovative lineup to this group and if they like what you have to share, they'll keep coming back for more.

You Roll out a "Millennial" Product

You may call it that internally, but labeling your product as a millennial offering is a sure way to drive young adults away from it. Promote it that way on social media and you could get a lot of attention - in a negative way. That innate disapproval of marketing means that millennials are going to be suspicious of any product that announces itself as aimed at them (and could even mock it relentlessly online). You can target millennials with a campaign, approach, or product, but don't overtly mention it in your materials to avoid a backlash.

You're Not Social

If you're dabbling in social media because you are supposed to, but not truly interacting, you're likely driving away the very consumers you want to attract. Millennials are social media savvy and use channels regularly for entertainment, engagement, and social chatter. A steady stream of promotion is going to drive these coveted young adults away. Instead, pull back on the promotions and truly engage.

If you have an employee who already loves social media, this might be the right person to have monitor and post, even if they are not officially on your marketing team. Social media channels that speak to and "get" millennials can lead to huge brand success, while a mismatch in your messaging can cause millennials to see your brand as out of touch or irrelevant.

Harnessing the power of this massive demographic is well worth the effort, but the first step is ensuring that your current messaging isn't driving your young adult targets away from your brand. Taking the time to learn how millennials spend money, what matters to them, and even why they love engagement so much can help you tailor your efforts to resonate with this coveted group.

Boost Happiness Without Stress: How to Stop Multitasking

Have you ever felt as though you're not as productive as you'd like to be, even when it seems as though you're working all the time? Perhaps the problem is not the number of hours that you're working, but instead, the focus that you're bringing to each particular task. Studies have shown that multitasking can be incredibly bad for our brains, and is truly a way of doing more things incompetently instead of getting more done! If you're always checking Facebook, waiting for your email inbox to ding like one of Pavlov's dogs, or getting interrupted by physical visitors at your desk, you're not going to be as effective and efficient as you'd like to be. The outcome? More stress -- and that's something we can all do without!

Your Brain on Multitasking

Did you know that your brain is incapable of multitasking? It's true, and what your brain is doing when you think you're ultra-productive is pinging back and forth between tasks at a high rate of speed. The problem is that things often get lost in translation or fall between the cracks of our mental map, making it tough to figure out where we were in a task we abandoned a few minutes before. This "epidemic of distraction" (as some researchers label multitasking) is incredibly prevalent in modern society and starts at a very young age. The cognitive overload that we suffer as a result of multitasking can cause headaches, poor sleep, a feeling of being overwhelmed, and even depression.

Dangers of Multitasking

It's not too strong of a word to say that multitasking is dangerous to our brain because it is. This negative practice has been shown to decrease creativity and cognitive control, and lead to serious memory problems. The more you include multitasking in your daily work, the more likely you are to become distracted easily over a longer period. Think about it: if you're training your brain to be looking for the next distraction constantly, then are you likely to be able to focus well on one task? Probably not. Even something as seemingly simple as glancing at your phone as you're stepping off a curb can be dangerous to your health for a variety of reasons. If you're fortunate enough to be out of the way of oncoming traffic, your gait may be affected by your distraction causing a serious fall on the unstable or uneven ground.

Practicing Mindfulness

One of the best ways to overcome a tendency to multitask is to create mental space for yourself to focus on one task at a time, also known as mindfulness. Try stopping yourself when you start to become distracted. Put away everything else on your desk or computer, close programs (don't minimize them!), and create a space for yourself to think and to breathe.

Don't let yourself fall into the trap of feeling like you need to work at double speed -- and multitask -- to get everything done. Instead, take a break and focus on getting the most out of each busy day. When you're able to concentrate on one task at a time, you'll find that you're getting a lot more done and staying calmer in the long run.

How to Inspire Those Around You Like the True Leader You Were Meant to Be

Even business professionals with the best of intentions often make the mistake of assuming that solid leadership is about one thing and one thing only: delegating responsibility. You've worked hard your whole life and you've ascended through the ranks - now is the time when people should start listening to what you have to say, right?

Yes, but not in the way you think.

You're the Inspiration

In truth, employees shouldn't be doing what you say just because you're the one saying it. They should be following your guidance because they want to, they're inspired to, and if given the opportunity, they'd be steering that proverbial ship in the same direction that you've chosen. To get there, though, you're going to have to do more than just bark orders. You're going to have to inspire. Here are a few key things to keep in mind when trying to inspire others.

Leaders Who Inspire Support Their Employees in More Ways Than One

One of the most common traits among leaders who inspire their workforce is that they tend to support their employees, both personally and professionally. After all, everyone wants to have meaning in their lives and wants to be encouraged to follow their passions.

To help support this, you need to create an environment where learning is encouraged and where everyone feels like you have your own personal interest in their success. You need to be a leader that fosters development - someone who looks for and utilizes every opportunity for a person to take a positive step forward. Doing this won't just inspire pride in one's work, it'll go a long way towards inspiring loyalty, too.

Inspirational Leaders Set the Tone

Another essential trait that you'll need to focus on to both inspire those around you and to become the true leader you were meant to be is to lead by example. This goes far beyond just "treat others how you want to be treated." You need to show that you're willing to do what you want others to do, too. Never ask someone to do something that you would never be willing to do yourself. Don't be afraid to get in there and get your hands dirty, so to speak. If you want your team to put in long hours and work hard on that next big project, you have to put your money where your mouth is and show that you're ready and willing to do the same.

Inspirational Leaders Value Trust Above All Else

A truly inspirational leader knows that human beings are exactly that - human. The road to success isn't going to be an easy one and if you aren't willing to trust the employees around you, they will soon recede into their comfort zone. They'll quickly start to feel like the risk of stepping outside that box isn't worth it and that the environment they're spending so much time in just doesn't support them in doing so anyway.

By trusting your employees (and being willing to accept that not every challenge is a simple one to overcome), you're creating a situation where people are more willing to take on challenges and risk any failures that come their way. You need to show people that even if something goes wrong, you believe in them and that you have their back. You need to make them believe that even when they have a setback, you'll still be by their side, urging them to move forward. Rest assured, at that point, they will.

Why Patience is One of the Most Important Qualities a Leader Can Have

The chasm between a leader and a great leader is a deep one. It is one that is often filled with qualities like clarity, decisiveness, courage, passion, and a healthy amount of humility given the circumstances.

But one of the major qualities that is essential to leadership that people don't talk about nearly enough is patience. When patience is practiced wisely, it can have a dramatic effect on your entire organization from the top down.

The Ripple Effect of Patience

In general, patience is more important than just being willing to wait for results. Yes, all people are different and employees need to be given room to move at their own pace for the sake of quality. But, the true benefit of patience runs much deeper.

First and foremost, patience shows respect in a way that also encourages productivity at the same time. If you're the type of leader who delegates responsibility but then spends hours each day telling people to "hurry up" or to "get things moving," ultimately all you're really doing is creating frustration or fear in an environment where you can afford neither.

Being willing to wait for someone to work at their own pace shows an employee that you value their overall contribution to the larger organization. You didn't just choose any person for this job; you chose the right person for the right job. Sometimes, that takes a little more time than you'd like, but that is perfectly fine. Patience is also an important acknowledgment that every person progresses at a different pace. If you're up in arms every time someone takes a little more time to complete a task, what you're doing is communicating that they're not as good as someone else when given the same responsibility.

Patience Also Says a Lot About You, Too

Being patient with others isn't just about your employees - it also speaks volumes about you. When you're constantly working from a place of "I needed this yesterday," all you're doing is artificially inflating the stakes of the business you're trying to run. You're not making considerate decisions; you're making ones fueled by little more than raw emotion and a ticking clock.

Patience shows that you're the type of leader willing to stop and let things breathe for a moment. It shows that you're willing to listen and consider all variables before making a thoughtful judgment about what to do next. It shows that you're not the type of person to make snap decisions that you'll later regret and that your employees shouldn't be willing to settle for that, either.

These are just a few of the many reasons why patience is one of the most important qualities a leader can have. It's also important to remember that you need to be patient with yourself. Patience is a virtue, yes, but it's also something of a discipline. You'll need to acknowledge the importance of patience and the role it plays in your business so that you can grow into the type of leader who no longer has to make an effort to be patient with others. Instead, it will become an afterthought.

Wish You Were More Productive? Try These 3 Tips!

Being productive means making room for the things you really want and uncovering new and innovative ways to work smarter, not harder. Thankfully, it's a lot easier than you probably think it is. If you want to become more productive, here are a few key traits you should focus on.

Take Frequent Breaks to Recharge Yourself

Although this may seem a bit on the counterintuitive side, studies have shown that taking frequent breaks throughout the day help to recharge yourself. Our "biological clock" has two basic forms that are dictated by our natural twenty-four (circadian) rhythms and our shorter than a day, but longer than an hour (ultradian) rhythms. Our ultradian rhythms essentially function in 90-minute intervals. This is why it's so easy to go from "firing all cylinders" to "boy I need a nap" and back again throughout the course of your work day.

Remember that managing your time and managing your energy are not mutually exclusive. Taking breaks will help get you over the hump and allow you to come back better and stronger than ever.

The Results Are All That Matters

In a piece originally published by Forbes on how to be a more productive manager, it stated how one of the key traits to focus on is leaning into the results, not the process. One of the reasons why we often feel overwhelmed at work is because we're just not getting the results we're after with a particular task. This causes our productivity (and as a result, our morale) to take a nosedive.

Because of this, it's important to make your number one priority a high-quality, consistent, and reliable output, rather than simply trying to do as many things at the same time as possible.

Discipline, Discipline, Discipline

According to the experts at PsychCentral.com, one of the essential things that you can do to become more productive at work is to maintain a strict sense of self-discipline at all times. Highly productive people aren't just able to eliminate tasks that are ultimately time-wasters - they also have a high degree of personal responsibility and are constantly looking for ways to improve themselves, both of which fall back under the distinct umbrella of discipline.

Hitting goals, meeting deadlines, fulfilling promises - these are the true goals behind that task you're trying to find the time to accomplish. Maintaining focus on these through strict self-discipline is the perfect way to suddenly find more time in each day.

These are just a few of the key traits that you can focus on to instantly become more productive at work. This was the good news - the better news is that gains like these in your professional life will undoubtedly have a ripple effect on your personal life, too. You'll be happier at home, and you'll have more time to spend with your loved ones. It really is a win-win situation.

Your Willingness to Accept Feedback Will Affect All Areas Of Your Business

Many people make the mistake of assuming that feedback automatically equates to complaining. After all, people tend to not speak up about issues unless the topic reaches a boiling point, right? In reality, feedback doesn't have to be like this at all. When given properly, feedback is constructive and can help to both reinforce what you're doing right and pinpoint what you may be doing wrong.

No one is immune from the concept of feedback because no one is perfect. When you learn to accept feedback (regardless of where it is coming from or how positive or negative it may be) it will have a dramatic effect on all areas of your business.

Accepting Feedback Helps Employees Feel Engaged

A willingness to accept feedback has a direct relationship with something all business leaders should be concerned about: employee engagement. Feedback goes beyond open and honest communication and enters into a realm where employees are free to speak their minds when they feel it is necessary to do so.

If employees don't feel like they can come to you with issues they see as essential, it can have a negative effect on your entire business. According to one study conducted by Execu-Search, 42 percent of all employees feel like company leadership does NOT contribute to a positive company culture. This goes a long way towards explaining why, according to a Gallup study, 51 percent of the U.S. workforce is not engaged.

The most alarming statistic of all is that these types of disengaged employees cost businesses between $450 billion and $550 billion annually. As a leader, this is the type of situation that you're creating for yourself by being unwilling to accept feedback from those around you. Even if you don't agree with something that an employee has to say, just the fact that you're willing to listen to them goes a long way towards keeping morale (and company culture) as strong as it can be.

Feedback Acknowledges the Importance of Continued Learning

Feedback is also critical to the modern business for the simple reason that it sets the tone for everything that comes next. It's less about your willingness to listen and more about showing that you're always looking for ways to improve, to do better, to make stronger decisions, and to increase your performance.

Luckily, it isn't hard to accept feedback at all, and you get can plenty of practice because it's around us all the time. Every time you're talking to an employee, or a customer, or a vendor, you're getting feedback. Going out of your way to hear it can help make employees feel more valued, which in turn motivates them to work harder. It can also make your customers feel more valued, which strengthens your long-term relationships.

This type of actionable information is crucial for you to make stronger, more informed decisions in your position moving forward. Going out of your way to get constant, honest, and (yes, sometimes) raw feedback helps make sure that your actions are aligned with the goals of your business.

The Rise and Fall of Nate Silver: A Lesson in Risk Communication

Political prognosticator and analytics guru Nate Silver rose to national fame by correctly predicting elections. But in 2016, Silver joined almost every other analyst by projecting a victory for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Was Silver's good luck over?

Cognitive Bias and the "Failure" of Data

Actually, Silver's estimate for the 2016 election was closer to correct than almost anyone else's. He saw Clinton as a heavy favorite, but still gave Donald Trump a roughly one-in-three shot of winning. But the world didn't remember that part of the projection once the election results came in. They just remembered the part Silver got wrong. Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman has an explanation: cognitive bias.

Kahneman studied how people make decisions and judgments, and he quickly discovered that they don't make any sense. People like to think of themselves as logical and rational, but they mostly use logic to justify believing whatever they want to believe anyway. And one thing people absolutely love to believe is that the future is certain. Human minds loathe uncertainty. Uncertainty breeds anxiety and fear--sometimes paralyzing fear. So when given a number like "one in three" or "ninety percent," they subconsciously convert the odds to "yes" or "no."

This cognitive bias is often very useful. You probably never consider the statistical chance that you'll be run over by a bus because if you did, you might never leave the house. It's far easier, and probably mentally healthier, to treat the risk of bus accidents as a 0. But the tendency to round probabilities up or down can be disastrous in the business world.

Communicating Risk

Have you told your boss that there's a 90% chance you'll make the sale? If the deal didn't go through, you were probably in a bit of hot water. Has a supplier ever told you her product's failure rate was less than 1%? You'd probably be pretty mad if your order was a dud. The problem with both of those statements of probability is that they do a poor job of communicating risk. They invite the mind's cognitive bias to take over and convert the estimate into a certainty. When that certainty turns out not to be so certain, it feels like a broken promise.

That's why the world decided Nate Silver was wrong. They had rounded up the probability of a Clinton victory to a guarantee. When Trump won, it felt like Silver had broken his word. His failure wasn't in the data--it was in the way he communicated the risk.

The lesson here is that quoting numbers won't save you. Don't just toss out percentages--put them in context. Visualizations are one useful technique. If a product will fail one time in a hundred, a graphic with 99 white shapes and one black shape gets the message across far more effectively than the numbers. Analogies are also effective. A 90% probability? That's about the same as the chance that an NFL kicker will make a 32-yard field goal. Anchoring the numbers to a familiar context creates a lasting impression. It forces the mind to acknowledge uncertainty.

In business and life, people care about honesty. But if your goal is to be trustworthy, it's not enough to state the facts. You have to make those facts sink into others' minds. When it comes to probabilities and risks, that task is taller than it looks.

The Art of Time-Blocking: A Simple Tip to Revolutionize Your Productivity

Most people just aren't that good at multitasking. Trying to remain focused (and organized) is one of the most significant time wasters, especially in the life of a business professional. When you try to do too many things at the same time, you become a "Jack of all Trades, Master of None." Just when you're trying to get work done on that big project, another email comes in that you have to respond to. You hop over to your email client and suddenly the phone is ringing, or you realize that you have to proof a new design before it heads out the door. It's maddening.

Thankfully, there is a better way. By adopting the fine art of time-blocking, you may have just found the simple, yet effective technique you've been looking for to unlock a bold new era of productivity in both your personal and professional life.

What is Time-Blocking?

At its core, time-blocking is the idea that you should segment your day into clearly defined (and strictly adhered to) blocks of productivity. Organize the tasks you need to complete by category and set aside a specific amount of time for those categories each day.

If you feel like you're spending an unfortunate amount of time responding to emails every day at the expense of everything else, set aside 9:00 am to 10:00 am every morning to just focus on emails. Devote every ounce of your attention to this one task and when it's over, move onto the next one. Outside of the occasional emergency, don't respond to emails for the rest of the day. Get it done, and then move on.

The Benefits

The beauty of time-blocking falls into two distinct categories. First, it's an incredibly effective way to eliminate distraction. Instead of trying to divide your attention between ten little tasks, it's almost like you're tackling just one big one (i.e. emails, and nothing more). Not only do you get those initial tasks done faster, but the ultimate quality of your output is also much higher because you're no longer trying to do too many things at once.

Next, time-blocking is also an excellent way to build up a strong sense of momentum that will carry you through the rest of your day. As you begin to move from block to block, you'll constantly be surprised by just how much you're getting done. This wave of productivity (not to mention the wave of euphoria) builds on itself, driving things home towards the finish line (and the end of the work day).

Success Comes When You Look Ahead

Another one of the keys to success regarding time-blocking is a little bit of forward thinking. This isn't something you can make up on the fly. You need to consider the types of tasks you need to do each day and what you have to get done by week's end. Look ahead a little bit and make a list of your top priorities. Then, separate those into categories and get down to business.

Remember, it's important to be honest with yourself. Time-blocking won't suddenly create an extra hour in your day, but it will help you make better use of the hours you already have. If you try to add too many things to your list to the point where it becomes unrealistic, you'll end up working against your goal and not towards it. You'll quickly begin to feel overwhelmed, which is something that you do not want.

The Quarterly Audit: Why It's Always Good to Give Your Print Collateral a Once-Over a Few Times a Year

An opportunity that far too many people don't take advantage of is the idea of a quarterly audit. Don't worry; it has nothing to do with your taxes. Instead, it's a process that you should go through a few times a year that provides you a chance to re-assess and re-evaluate. It's a time where you force yourself to stop and think "This print mailer was designed in January, and it worked great in January. It's April, now. What needs to change?"

Stop and Smell the Roses

When performing an audit of your print marketing materials, make a list of everything that has changed since the last time you had the chance to re-evaluate things. How have your business goals shifted in the last few months? Have you accomplished more or less than you thought you were going to at this point? What does your average customer look like today, as opposed to three months ago? How have your campaigns been performing?

If you can provide business-specific answers to questions like these, you create for yourself a valuable context that you can then use to make the right, actionable decisions regarding things like design and distribution moving forward. What you're doing is taking a process typically completed at the end of the year, looking backward and seeing what worked and what didn't, and then forcing yourself to do it as often as you can.

Trends and Best Practices

Another reason why the idea of the quarterly audit is so important is that, by and large, the world of print marketing is changing rapidly. New technologies, techniques, tips and best practices are emerging all the time. Taking the time to go back over everything you've done so far a few times a year gives you a chance to incorporate all of this into your workflow as soon as you can.

Think about it this way: maybe you designed new buyer personas in January with an aim towards attracting a different type of customer. You've produced everything with those buyer personas in mind, trying to maintain a consistent voice across all collateral. If things aren't working quite right and need some tweaking, would you rather know in April or wait until December?

In the end, what you're doing is strengthening your foundation. Many people use January 1 as a great chance for a "fresh start." It's a time where you stop and think about where you are, where you want to be, and how you're going to get there. If you do this multiple times per year, however, it puts you in a much better position to be responsive to both internal and external changing factors. Above all else, it's an opportunity to make sure that you're still headed down the path that was important to you on January 1, if that path is still important to you at all.