We keep some of our print products so we don’t lose that old line of customers. That makes sense; we live long lives now. But that also costs money. Are we spending that same kind of money or making the needed effort to attract and sell to young people?
Some entities are trying and succeeding in bringing Millennials into their respective fold. But it won’t happen magically. Last night I attended a $2 Tuesday showing of Star Trek at the Cinema & Drafthouse in Arlington, Va. The idea is to get people in the door, and then they will spend money on food and drinks. It’s working—waitresses were flying by me all night. Then the Washington Post reported this week that Forum Theater Company in Silver Spring, Md., will allow patrons to set their own price for a set number of tickets at all shows. The article also said that a theater company in Minneapolis tried this two years ago—they called it “Radical Hospitality”—giving away 100 tickets and selling 100 at $20 each. The company has broken even and reports that 60% of the “Hospitality” patrons are under 30.
All three of these entities are making the effort to attract young people, the hope being that they will spend later, or—perhaps just as importantly—spread the good word on social media. If a 28 year-old enjoys a play—or let’s say a webinar, one-day conference or ezine—the odds are pretty high he or she will be announcing satisfaction via social media.
There was a good article in Inc. a short time ago by Brian Halligan, CEO and co-founder of Hubspot. He focused more on attracting and retaining Millennials on your staff—also very important—rather than selling to them. Although I do believe lessons can be learned for both.
While we stayed at a company for a few years and hoped to work our way up—indeed my initial job spans consisted of 6, 7 and 12 years—Millennials work “diligently in hopes of learning as much as possible and moving on to the next challenging project,” Halligan wrote. “They typically stay at a company for 1.5 years. If they had a collective psychological condition, it would be ADD.”
What to do? “Lean into the ADD by creating formal rotation programs, innovative leading-edge training programs like the one at Zappos, and work environments that leverage social media interactions instead of discouraging them, and you’ll see these Millennials become just as loyal as we were ‘back in the day.’” He also wrote that young people have different goals now. “They want to transform a broken industry, save the planet, feed the starving, etc.” What to do? “If your mission this year is to improve earnings by 5% by either gouging your customers or gouging the planet, that’s just not going to get it done with the Millennials. Think again.”
I disagree with the word “gouging,” but his point does resonate. There has to be an acknowledgement on your end that Millennials may be looking for different information. Is there a global-warming, hybrid-car or eat-green slant to your niche that you can cover in some way? To just say, “I’m going to do what I’ve always done” and think you can attract a group of people raised in such a different world is, at best, short-sighted.
That brings us to mobile delivery, so important in this equation. Tomorrow’s don’t-miss webinar, Mobile Essentials, Making the Business Case, begins a six-part series on The Guide to Creating a Mobile Business. It is a joint venture between SIPA, SIIA’s Content Division and American Business Media. The speakers are highly experienced in mobile: Jeffrey S. Litvack, senior vice president & chief digital officer, ALM, Andy Swindler, president of Astek, and Greg Krehbiel, director of marketing operations for Kiplinger.
If you are a member of one of these groups, the webinars are free for you and your staff. We think it’s that important. You should know how to best deliver your content to smartphones and tablets. It’s almost as if you will be learning a new language. And while that does not come easy, it can be very worthwhile.
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Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline