Society is fascinated with millennials. Not only are they the largest generation in U.S. and world history, but they are quickly becoming the most influential population of consumers in our market today. According to Forbes Magazine, “It’s estimated that they will be spending $200 billion a year by 2017 and $10 trillion over their lifetimes as consumers, in the U.S. alone.”

Referred to as the Millennial Generation or Generation Y, most researchers and commentators consider millennials those born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. This group is known for their tech-savviness, their unique sense of self, their surprisingly optimistic outlook on life, and their less than traditional approach to life stages.

But even though so much attention is paid to and focused on millennials, many of us have a hard time understanding them, as evidenced by how companies today try to market to them.

For instance, many brands will push traditional life markers such as getting married, buying a home and starting a family, because that’s what drove older generations’ purchasing habits. But research suggests that most millennials don’t buy into the traditional life stages, and aren’t swayed by that type of marketing.

Additionally, most millennials don’t trust traditional advertisements. A recent survey concluded that only about 1 percent of millennials claim that a compelling ad influences them. The rest are almost naturally skeptical of advertising. They think it’s all spin, so they don’t bother paying attention.

In order to capture the attention of millennials, companies need to create new and unique marketing campaigns that speak to this new majority. And here are five helpful tips to achieve that:

Empower them with authentic content

According to a recent report, millennials spend an average of 25 hours per week online—and what is it that they’re mostly after? Content-driven media. It turns out that they’re surfing and scouring websites, blogs and social media because they feel empowered by all of the interesting content they’re discovering.

They share, like, pin, tweet, snap, forward and comment on what they find in order to feel a sense of empowerment. And when you offer your audience content that they proudly share with others, you’re building a real brand-consumer relationship. Millennials trust what they believe to be authentic—and they are willing to share it with their friends and even strangers in the online community.

Though it may be paradoxical since they grew up in the digital age, millennials prefer a personal connection to most everything they do, including what they buy into and what they buy. So, they deeply appreciate genuine and authentic messages and are adept at spotting the fakes, particularly those playing up to them in order to push a product and dig into their pockets.

In order to be authentic, companies and brands must be transparent. One way to do this is to open your business up a little, and show what’s happening behind the scenes. If you do all of your work behind closed doors, you can’t expect millennials to trust you.

Another thing your business can do to prove authenticity is to care—not just about millennials, but about your work and your product. Prove to them that you’re more concerned with providing something of value and bettering society or the world instead of simply trying to make a quick buck.

If you’re going to tell people that your product will truly make their lives better, then you need to believe that as well, and then show them you believe it. And don’t forget to always be consistent in your messaging. If you say one thing and do another, or change your messaging frequently, you won’t build the trust necessary to ensure a lifetime customer.

Be personal and relevant

In order for your business to be relevant, it doesn’t mean that every tweet or Facebook post has to include the current online lingo (in fact, it might be better to avoid that), and it doesn’t even mean you have to like everything millennials like. What it means is that you produce content or a product that lines up with their needs, wants and goals.

Beyond responding to tweets or “liking” a Facebook comment, engaging with millennials means creating the impression that each consumer is special. It helps to add value to their experience of the brand through things like loyalty programs, recognition events and special access to sales and other promotional events.

Millennials want to feel like your content or product was created with their interest (not their wallet) in mind.

Focus on inbound marketing instead of outbound marketing

Millennials want to feel connected and involved when it comes to their purchases, and traditional marketing does not encourage this. Outbound marketing methodslike magazine ads, direct mail campaigns, and radio spots, do not impress millennials. This generation demands more customer-driven, personalized marketing. Millennials know what they want, and because of their digital-savviness, they know how to find it online themselves.

Technology has not only provided this group with a unique identity but also instant gratification and access to information and invaluable tools, which they have utilized to create some of the world’s largest social media and content-sharing platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat— what many consider today’s modern tools for self-branding.

Rather than a traditional outbound advertising model, brands should instead focus on forging partnerships with online influencers that millennials already trust like popular bloggers, podcasters, YouTube personalities and Instagrammers.

A recent study unsurprisingly found that younger consumers are heavily influenced based on the opinions of their peers and people they follow on social media. Additionally, 84 percent of inbound marketers cite organic sources (blogging, SEO, social media as rising in importance and 92 percent of all marketers indicate that their social media efforts have generated more exposure to their businesses.

Aim to build a community of true fans

One of the best ways to gain millennials’ confidence and business is to build a community composed of bonafide voices. You can achieve this through technology and social media. Engage with millennials on platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Brands that fail to give them the level of engagement they seek lose buyers to brands that genuinely care about building relationships with their millennial consumers.

It’s important to note that millennials trust word-of-mouth buzz more than traditional marketing: Eighty-five percent say they trust the opinion of people they know when seeking product recommendations. And thirty-three percent of millennials say blogs are their top source of information before they make a purchase.

Get creative

Consumers like to see a difference and uniqueness. It shows that your company is creative and has the potential to be better than the rest, who may offer the same service or products as each other. Creative marketing gains momentum quickly. Especially with the help of platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, messages are quickly shared and distributed. Try to create something meaningful, fun and worth sharing—and you may have a viral marketing campaign on your hands.

And don’t be afraid to creatively get your brand out there. Utilizing branded promotional products is an affordable and easy way to capture new customers and multiply visibility. When it comes to choosing promotional products geared towards millennials, focus on items that are thoughtful and have a practical everyday use – like BPA-free water bottles or travel power banks to charge mobile devices.

Millennials are wired for authentic, content-driven, honest experiences that cater to who they are and the voices they want to share. It’s important to keep that in mind when creating your campaign to capture this new majority.

About the Author: Scott Pearson is the executive vice president and chief revenue officer of Logomark, a premier supplier of personalized gift and promotional products for the North American and global advertising specialty market. As an industry expert, Pearson has more than 18 years of experience, working in various management and executive positions with one of the largest suppliers and manufacturers of wholesale promotional products.