How to talk to the Millennials in 2018
A study from Pew Research found that only 40 percent of Millennials even identify with the word “millennial,” compared to nearly 80 percent of those aged 51 to 69 who consider themselves part of the Baby Boomer generation.”I also find this generation to be more focused on describing themselves as individuals (hence the rise in “personal branding” as a career skill) than as members of a massive group. This begs the question: what should we call this cohort if not the M-word? Clearly I do use the term millennial because it’s helpful to have some sort of terminology, but I use it in a respectful fashion, realizing that most Millennials don’t care for any group name at all,” wrote Lindsey Pollak on her blog where she describes herself as being “Millennial workplace expert”.
Millennials are different than prior generations,but so does every generation. They are more comfortable with specific technologies, and they have their own perspective on the world that’s informed by both their individual and collective experiences. We believe that in 2018, every company representative has to realize that when he /she talks about Millennials, they are talking about a group of people that includes millions of homeowners, parents, and even people who are realizing that retirement isn’t just an abstract concept. “If your association is failing to reach Millennials, it’s because you haven’t figured out how to deliver or articulate your value to a group of people living very adult lives with very adult worries and concerns,” wrote thesentergroup.com.
At the end of the day, it’s important for managers, marketers and recruiters to understand that using the word as a descriptor (as in “millennial-focused office”) will rarely come off positively. Young professionals prefer terms like “emerging professionals” or “next generation” when referring to their age group in the workplace. And how do they like to be addressed by brands and companies? According to Courtney Wachob,writer for “Leading Results”, Millennials want the brands and companies’ representatives to speak the social media language, to appeal to their values, be authentic, not boring and listen to them. Sounds pretty clear and easy, no?
“Millennials do not want to be sold – and they can spot an advertisement/paid endorsement from a mile away. They recognize “marketing speak” and don’t want anything to do with it, so your content, messages, videos, etc. have to be real. If it looks like an ad, they’ll swipe left faster than on a Tinder profile without a picture. Figure out your authentic voice and use it to connect with – versus market to – them. Millennials are early adopters, seeking fresh ideas, innovative approaches, original insights and, of course, new technology. For Millennials, newer is better; they thrive on testing new devices and jump at the release of a new smartphone, social media platform, video game system, etc, ” explained Wachob in her article.
Creating workspaces that are attractive to millennials from CNBC.
