Archive for the ‘Business News & Trends’ Category
Courting the Millenials
Recruitment of top notch young talent who can enter your work force and provide that kind of long term growth potential and can only come from a smart and productive staff is always a challenge. One of the big reasons any business works to keep its public image high and to project the concept that they are an employer of choice is to recruit the best and the brightest from the youth ranks.
Young employees bring a lot to a business that can compliment an older work force and make the business much more vital. Younger employees are savvy to the wants and needs of their peers. So instead of trying to guess how to market to the current generation of 18-28 year olds who are the age segment with disposable income, by keeping such employees on staff, you have the inside track to the priorities of the current generation. Further youthful employees are often optimistic and out to change the world. Their sense of mission and belief in the system as a means to make the world a better place results not only in a better morale internally but in business philosophy that shares those values.
The tendency to name the upcoming generations can be a bit trite but it helps in knowing who the target group for recruitment are. And that group of youthful future employees that will be hitting the job market in the next few years has been dubbed “the millennials”. And despite the traumatizing events of world terrorism, war and the decay of the environment, the millennials come to you with that youthful enthusiasm and desire to make a big difference in the world that sets them apart from previous generations.
To lure the brightest minds coming from the nation’s colleges, some rethinking of what we put in front of these young people is in order. They are not leaving academia strictly with the objective of making a lot of money. So to turn the head of youth workers who can make a change for the better in your business…
§ Don’t just make the potential job about money or your recognizable business name. The reputation of the company can be as much a negative as it can be a positive. The millennial recruitee will look past the sign on the building at what the company is really all about.
§ The millennial is more internet savvy and wants to use modern technology to accomplish business goals. It’s in our best interest to facilitate that goal because it will keep us in touch with the marketplace.
§ Corporate culture is an important factor for both recruiting and retaining good employees from this generation. Millenials are looking for a business climate that is creative, able to change when new things become available, highly accessible upper management and responsive.
§ Corporate values mean a lot to the millennial crowd. That means that those high minded values printed on posters and plastered all over the Human Resource department have to actually mean something. By demonstrating that the business lives up to its ethics and values, that will appeal the idealistic side of youthful workers.
§ The values that the business supports must reflect a modern attitude toward diversity and “going green”. If you walk a millennial around the office during his or her interview, they will notice the recycling bins scattered about. They will notice the diversity of culture and race in the employee mix.
§ Be prepared to recruit from various disciplines. Even if you are recruiting for a financial services function or some other specialization, keep your mind open to recruiting students with a focus on liberal arts or teaching. These millennials can be trained to the specific job and they bring a fresh approach to the job description that comes from their college area of focus.
These are things that might take time to change if the corporate culture is behind the times. But it’s worth the effort to start now to attract the kinds of workers that mean long term growth for the company. By doing some serious analysis on how up to the date the business is, you can begin to affect change now so by this time next year, you will be in better shape to court the millennials.
Cyberspace on Aisle Five
It doesn’t take a lot of research to find out that in this day and age, virtually every business of any real size has developed some form of internet presence. Now, for many businesses, that may mean little more than an online business card that can be used to get the phone number and store location of the business into the mind of the prospective customer. But in this new century, the idea of having a business without a corresponding web page to support it is pretty much out of the question.
But if you look at the two business worlds, the internet business environment and that outside of cyberspace, there are some pretty big differences. While many companies like bookstores or concert ticket promoters have learned to build what might be viewed as parallel universes in which their business operations are just as sophisticated online as outside of cyberspace, other businesses have just not found that balance.
But as the legitimacy of the internet as a valid marketplace and business tool becomes more understood, more and more businesses are learning that cyberspace can become another valuable part of an overall marketing plan that drives business to the store shelves directly from their internet web presence.
So just as that billboard or newspaper coupon program are just as much part of the businesses corporate plan, that online effort out there in on the corporate web site can become a vital part of the stores operation so much so that the store manager will come to depend on the sales driven by the internet. To that store manager they will look for cyberspace on aisle five as a vital part of their plan for business success.
There is a systematic process that businesses go through to use the internet as a way of capturing web traffic and turning it into store traffic. Make no mistake, there is one principle that should seem evident but is the key to turning cyber visitors to in store shoppers and that is that – Internet Shoppers are People Too!
When a businessperson looks at those strange internet traffic reports that show that they web site has X number of “hits” and that Z number of web browsers went to Y number of web pages, all of that cyberspace mumbo jumbo just means that X number of PEOPLE were on your web site and looked at Y number of products or web page advertisements or services. And those PEOPLE are the same living and breathing humans who will walk in the front door of your store and buy products and services from you.
All we need to do is devise methods to drive those internet shoppers off of their computers and into the businesses retail operations. And more and more you are seeing a businesses trend of internet promotions that are geared to put the customers feet down in the retail space. Some great methods for doing that are…
* Online coupons that can be redeemed only in the retail store.
* Online sales that can be picked up in the store. Many online shoppers might prefer to have the product shipped to them. So you will have to “sweeten the pot” by making shipping charges out of the question or by adding a promotion if the customer picks up his or her purchase in person.
* Contests. Need we say more?
* By promoting special events that will occur in the store. You can stage a major cyberspace promotional campaign for a book signing of an author or celebrity that will occur live at the store itself. The costs of the promotion and having the in store event will be offset by the increased sales.
If your web site routinely uses promotions that result in positive incentives to the customer to come to the store, before long a customer base of loyal consumers will get used to first going online to see what this week’s big deal is and then going to the store to cash in. That kind of ongoing momentum is what makes such a synergy such a success and what makes even customers come to your retail outlet and look for “cyberspace on aisle five.”
Creating Traffic
Perhaps you have followed the trend in business to create an internet web site for your business that can be used to supplement your marketing efforts. If so, you have joined the momentum to create a corresponding “place” in cyberspace that can be used to reach customers online. The need for such an internet presence is entirely market driven. Internet sales have soared, particularly in certain market segments and more and more, the first place people go to in order to learn about your business is the internet. If they find a well designed web site that is full of features, that works fast and draws them in, that can be a tremendous tool for promoting your business.
When you set up a marketing tool outside of cyberspace, the first concern is how will that new marketing effort get noticed. So we are drawn to places where there is already an active traffic of people who would qualify as our customers. That may mean putting up a billboard where it will be seen by people going to work. That target audience may be the best population to respond to your message. Or if your business appeals to youth, advertising on MTV or on popular radio stations is a natural place to put your marketing money because the traffic is already there.
We have to approach the internet differently. Yes, the traffic is already there but we have to enter the world of cyberspace marketing with a different kind of strategy so we can reach the customers who are traveling certain “internet roads” and make sure those roads lead to our web site.
There is whole a cottage industry that has sprung up around the need for knowledgeable internet marketing gurus. And, yes, it’s a good idea to use their talents to make sure the search engines put your web site in front of the right kind of client or customer. These talented internet geeks can put your business web site into the flow of web surfers so you get your fair share of that traffic.
That said, you don’t have to wait for the internet marketing experts to make your web site more successful. If the business has made the effort to put that web site up, you want to see it start to pay off right away. That is why you should consider some creative ways to drive people to your web site from your traditional markets thus educating your current customers, clients and partners about the site. Ways to do that include…
§ Promote the web site at the retail level. Some creative signage at your retail locations can create some momentum and interest in customers to go see your exciting new web site.
§ Put the link on all correspondence. If you have flyers, a magazine or other current means of communications, your URL should always be listed there. Add your URL to your email signature and on business cards and all other forms of communication so your community of clients, customers and partners get used to associating that web site with you as much as they do your business name.
§ Create excitement. It is easy to operate a business contest from your retail sites that drives people to the web site for clues or to claim their winnings. That kind of momentum can create huge surges of traffic through your web site with the corresponding surge of sales and leads.
The modern customer or client is used to seeing the promotion of a web site included with other forms of promotion and advertising. You are not “assaulting” your customer base with this information. If anything, when your audience sees that the business has burst into the cyberspace world in a big way, they will be thrilled and as likely to respond with, “It’s about time.”.
You know how much you depend on the internet to keep you informed about areas of interest and about businesses you like to patronize. So you can see that not only putting up a good web site but letting people know that it is there and that there are big things there for them to enjoy is doing them a favor as much as it is creating new marketing opportunities for your business.