The business environment as a whole is shifting and it’s all thanks to millennials. How businesses operate, from target markets to employees, have to change or be left behind. If you want to be with the times and grow with the millennial generation, here are some thoughts to consider.
Millennials As Employees
As they graduate and begin the flood the job market, businesses need to make themselves attractive to millennials. Millennials want different things from their workplaces compared to previous generations. They look for new experiences, flexible work schedules, respect from coworkers, and someone to mentor them, not be a boss.
Hiring the newest members of the workforce can have a lot of benefits. For example, this is the highest educated generation of workers, are extremely competent with new technology, and are willing to work for less pay in exchange for perks and benefits.
These perks and benefits can be things like the ability to work from home, fun activities to fill their breaks, a friendly work environment, and exciting business culture. Attracting skilled millennials requires these elements, along with a fairly competitive pay.
Traditional Advertising Isn’t Effective
Millennials have grown up with every advertising tactic in the book. They’ve seen everything from billboards, email scams, commercials, and those tacky website “win a free ipod” ads. The days of interruption marketing are almost over as they are proving ineffective to younger crowds.
Marketing to millennials requires properly leveraging your website and social media accounts. Millennials are more likely than any other generation to purchase things online, through their mobile devices, and respond very well to personalization from a business experience.
Digital tactics, especially content and social media marketing, are some of the best approaches. Just be sure to know your target audience and can engage with them properly. Your content needs to be extremely interesting to them since millennials spend their entire days digesting content. Your content should make them feel connected to your business and want to see more.
Buying Online and Going Cheap
Millennials are the masters of buying online and navigating the treacherous scams and sketchy dealings that accompany it. Millennials have two main priorities when shopping; convenience and price. If your product can meet both of those needs, then you are golden.
When it comes to products, millennials are willing to sacrifice quality for price on most purchases. They are willing to hunt online and spend extra time searching for a better price, and sacrifice brand name to save money. Though, there are some instances where they will drop big cash for a very nice item, typically some type of tech like a computer or smartphone. These situations are rare, but millennials are willing to spend more for the features they want.
The next big factor, convenience, affects where they buy their products. Many assume that millennials only buy online, but they actually enjoy going to physical stores. Most go and check out products in store so they can touch and see it in person and then turn to online for better prices. Additionally, they would rather buy certain products online and then pick it up in store to save on shipping, if that is a factor. So the physical store isn’t dead, but they do have to adapt to different shopping preferences. Prices online and in-store need to be the same, and should let customers buy online and pick up in store.
Millennials Want To Help The World
More so than previous generations, millennials want to help make the world a better place. When comparing products, if one promises to help improve the world, in some way or another, they’ll be more likely to go with that one.
A great example of this is Toms and the work that they’ve done. Their business model was based on when a customer bought a pair of their shoes, they would donate a pair to a 3rd world country. This focus on helping the world resulted in them becoming wildly popular and a solid business model. Millennials loved the idea that, just by buying a pair of shoes, they were helping the world.
Millennials are also changing or improve the world through their career choices. Many who are entering the workforce are willing to accept less pay if they are working for a cause they believe in. This change can be something small like change within a business or huge like changing the world through the business. Many new careers can give people the opportunities for good that they desire. Businesses that give millennials the ability to improve situations will be able to attract very skilled workers.
How do you think Millennials are changing the world? Is it for the better? Let us know in the comments below what you think.
