Recent LinkedIn data show that millennial marketers are taking the platform by storm.
Globally, the predominantly “twentysomething” generation—which LinkedIn defines as born between 1980 and the early 2000s—makes up 38 percent of its user base. Two million users hold marketing roles, and 1.2 million self-identify as “marketing specialists.”
To reach them, LinkedIn data suggest diversifying your content and tailoring your marketing efforts to meet the needs of various millennial subgroups.
Page Williams, LinkedIn’s senior manager of member marketing and communications, says in “ The Millennial Playbook ” that although these young professionals share plenty of traits, it’s unrealistic for marketers to pigeonhole 85 million Americans into a single persona. Not all millennials consume content in the same manner, with the same intent, on the same platform, she says.
If you’re a millennial marketer looking to increase your reach—or if you’re a brand manager seeking to interact with these consumers—consider the following insights.
How to tailor and target your content
Connections are crucial to a user’s success on LinkedIn. To make meaningful connections with millennial users, data suggest publishing your organization’s content.
[WHITE PAPER: How to communicate with a millennial workforce.]
To interact with this audience, though, don’t take a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Instead, consider the top 10 content topics LinkedIn says its millennial users are most “engaged with.”
1. Recruiting
2. Social media marketing
3. Employee engagement
4. Recruiters
5. Self-esteem
6. European Union
7. Integrated marketing
8. Venture capital
9. Marketing
10. Lean manufacturing
Once you understand what to post, “The Millennial Report” advises figuring out whom to target. If these consumers are your target audience, Carat research says, it’s best not to treat them like a homogenous entity.
Divide your content by audience. Consider each subgroup its own audience, Carat research says. Start with what it calls the “four main types of millennials”:
- TrendNetters. This group makes up roughly 40 percent of millennials, and its members most closely align with marketers’ generalizations. They frequently share and curate but rarely create content of their own.
- AlterNatives. This mostly male subgroup takes refuge in online friendships. They are extremely digital savvy and active in their consumption of technology and entertainment content, but they can be difficult for marketers to track. Data show they are “elusive, and they like it that way.”
- LYFPreneurs. These people embody a “work hard, play hard” lifestyle and make up fewer than 20 percent of millennials. They are creators and big-spenders and “prefer face-to-face conversations.”
- BetaBlazers. These millennials are value-oriented and take a quality over quantity approach in their personal and professional lives. Research says this group is “extremely forward-thinking.”
Personal and professional branding
Millennials use LinkedIn to interact with colleagues, brand managers and other young professionals. A millennial marketer’s presence, however, is more focused on building a personal brand.
“Your personal brand is your responsibility,” says BitTorrent’s editorial and social media manager, Mel Carson. “Never before has there been more of an opportunity to use technology, social media and common sense to tell your professional story, stand up and stand out in an increasingly crowded digital space.”
LinkedIn appears to be increasing in popularity among different types of millennials because of its marketing focus and publishing functionality. Young PR and marketing pros use the platform to tell their stories and promote their brands.
Here’s more from Linkedin’s Page Williams on personal branding:
Publishing … is where millennials have an opportunity to really showcase who they are, what they believe in and how they can add value. It’s also a way to showcase personality: We are not a generation of suits and ties, but rather creators and entrepreneurs.
LinkedIn creative and brand strategy lead Jon Lombardo says:
It seems to me that everyone now focuses on sharing “snackable” content, when the real opportunity is to develop expertise in a growing field and share your experiences, ideas, and thought leadership in long-form content. I am always most impressed and most remember people who pen long, thoughtful posts that help me re-think the world in a novel, original way. I think that’s the way that you really distinguish yourself and create inbound opportunities.
Which brands have reached this coveted audience?
Data show that millennials “claim a purchasing power of $1 trillion annually.” This is predicted to grow by $6.4 billion by the end of 2016—and is extremely device-driven. It’s a tremendous opportunity for digital marketing efforts, but it’s one that has many brand managers scratching their heads.
As many marketing pros hunger for insight about this digital-savvy generation, here are a few examples of brands that have succeeded in tapping millennial audiences online.
From Williams:
[Nike is] coming out strong with their women’s apparel line and global strategy. And with the launch of their first YouTube series, they are reimagining how to reach this audience in a way that aligns with the audience’s lifestyle.
From Lombardo:
Beats by Dre …do an amazing job using each platform for its respective strengths, they continuously innovate in their media usage, and they’re about as smartly tapped into sharing and interpreting culture, entertainment and sports as any brand I’ve seen.
From self-publishing to curating or sharing content, if you want to reach millennials, it’s important to remain authentic and hone your organization’s voice.
“If you tailor the post to a specific audience and engage influencers in your own network, that ties in your authenticity, which essentially completes the circle,” MediaCom’s Alex Mann told LinkedIn.
What about you, PR Daily readers? How have you used LinkedIn—or other platforms—to connect with millennials?
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