Millennials are the dominant generation in today’s workforce. Fifty-six million of them have jobs or are actively looking for them. And that number just keeps growing. They’re a bright group of workers with a clear understanding of technology.
Sounds like a bunch of great job candidates, right? And your company, along with every other one in the market will be competing to attract the best of them. How do you get on their radar and in your doors? Here are a few tips:
Engage and Be Engaging
Millennials love engagement, especially on social media. And your company needs to know how to use it to attract them. They not only like to see an engaging company, but they also want to be on the receiving end as well. Here’s how to use the various social media platforms to your advantage:
Instagram – The place for pictures and video
- Post eye-catching content that is fun and showcases your company culture
- Use the Instagram story features of polls, question and answer, and ratings to allow millennials to get involved
- Have Instagram takeovers of your account by select employees to make things feel more personal and fun
- Encourage, respond to and like comments on your photos and videos
- Showcase users that tag you in their own stories, photos and videos
- Follow people back
Twitter – The place for tone and humor
- Post attention grabbing gifs, pictures and short videos
- Use the latest memes, sayings or trends in your content
- Run a poll that will appeal to millennials
- Have Twitter takeovers by select employees to make things feel more personal and fun
- Encourage, respond to and retweet comments from your audience
- Follow people back
Facebook – The place for professionalism
- Post appropriate pictures and videos that show both the fun and serious sides of the company
- Plan and create events that millennials can attend to get a better feel of your business
- Make use of Facebook Live to showcase fun things going on at work
- Encourage, respond to and like comments on photos and videos
YouTube – The place for video
- Post content-rich, authentic videos that showcase your company culture
- Reply to comments on your videos
- Encourage and thank subscribers
LinkedIn – The place for business
- Post fun articles or videos that showcase your company culture
- Let people know when you are hiring
- Reply to comments and messages
- Encourage people to follow your page
As I mentioned in my first AOMC blog, millennials make up about 88% of adults that actively use at least one of the major social platforms. Posting engaging content on at least one of the big three sites is guaranteed to get you some attention.
Invite Them In
Millennials are a generation of go-getters who leap at any chance of networking or involvement they can get. If your business is hosting an event that caters to this audience, you should use certain tactics that will make them want to come.
First off, you want to make sure the event is publicized. Post about it on all social media platforms, and do so multiple times. Make sure to spread the posts out so millennials don’t feel like they are being bombarded with information.
The way that the event is framed can be very important. Millennials are all about experiences. Studies show that they will spend thousands of dollars just to have a good time. Share how your event is unique to your personal brand and their growth. Showcase, through images and video, what your company looks like, whether that be the people who work there, the office space, or past events that succeeded.
Millennials also love authenticity, so make sure to stick to your company’s tone and brand throughout the event process. Explain what they’ll be doing and what they can learn. Also, encourage questions, comments and suggestions.
A great examples to look to is Zappos. To showcase their internal network and introduce the company to new hires, they came up with the idea of a culture book. In the book are pictures and testimonials from Zappos employees all over the world, as well as events they have. In terms of social, Zappos uses YouTube to show off the different ways they like to have fun with their products, often including celebrities. These efforts makes the company unique and is readily available evidence of the experience and brand of Zappos.
Show Off
When they look for jobs, millennials tend to lean towards places that will meet their career goals and personal needs, and will provide them with a great experience. They love collaboration, leadership opportunities, learning new things, and an overall good workplace culture. The group also enjoys feeling like valuable assets to a team.
If your company can provide any of this to the millennial generation, you shouldn’t be keeping it a secret. Don’t be afraid to boast about what you offer and how millennials can help you.
So, how can you showcase your enticing company assets to millennials? Here are a few simple ways:
- Post storytelling pictures and videos on social
- Highlight employee testimonials on your website
- Showcase employee work and award them for their skills
- Rave about your culture in the form of a video, article or blog post
Millennial workers are a lot less complicated than you think. We know what we like and want, and we will do anything in our power to grab a great opportunity. Knowing how to be strategic with communication can make a huge difference in how many millennial workers you attract.
Sophia Alfieri is a member of the #MillennialPrinciple team
