By 2021, millennials will make up three quarters of the workforce. Therefore, this cohort will comprise a large part of your client base. As competition steepens, recruitment agencies must think differently in order to encourage the top talent their way.

Agency = a business that provides a service.

However, it has been reported that millennials like to engage with ‘brands’ over ‘businesses’. Using insight from a report by Inkling and Censuswide, we have identified three ways to develop your brand in order to meet the prerequisites of driving millennial engagement.

1 – Keep it real

Authenticity is considered first-class currency in the eyes of millennials. But what actually is viewed as authentic? Surveying nearly 70,000 millennials, Inkling and Censuswide reveal the top authenticity factors according to this demographic:

• 55.2% of respondents ranked brands that stood for high quality as being the most authentic.
• In second place is brands that treat and speak to their audience like real people.
• Next are brands that share interesting and relatable content.
• Closely behind relevant content is co-creation – brands that exercise customer feedback when developing their products.

Authenticity can generate real business impact. This is supported by research from Cohn & Wolfe that found 91 percent of consumers are willing to reward a brand for its authenticity via “purchase, investment, endorsement or similar action.”

Cohn & Wolfe investigated and identified the top 100 authentic brands of 2017, front-runners included Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Google. See the full verdict of who and why here.

2 – Share your values

UK Millennials are renowned for their tendency to favour brands with strong ethical credentials. In fact, almost 70% of survey respondents claimed that they would explore the ethics and values of a brand before making a decision. Additionally, older millennials (aged 25-34) professed that a brand which is environmentally and socially responsible is likely to win their loyalty.

To identify brand principles, a business needs to determine what the company holds truly valuable and draw up a social responsibility strategy that reflects this.

In 2016, Lego did just this. The company reported tremendous growth and attributed its success to both its customer-centric model and its sustainability efforts. Announcing its best year ever, global sales grew by 19%, reaching double-digit growth in all its markets.

“We are honoured to see that our efforts to positively impact the planet resonate with people all over the world. We feel a huge sense of responsibility to inspire and develop children through play while leaving a significant positive impact on the world children will inherit. It is part of our DNA as a company, and we will continue to set the bar high for ourselves to do better.”

– Marjorie Lao, Chief Financial Officer, LEGO Group

3 – The three S’s: service, support & simplicity

2018 marks an era obsessed with comparison sites. On the contrary, millennials look beyond this; exploring further than the best deal available. In fact, the quality of support and service is the most influential factor to millennials when choosing to remain with or disassociate from a brand. Appreciation and loyalty are also shown for brands that make processes simple. Chatbots, voice search, auto-population, machine learning, renewals, subscriptions, single sign on, the three-click rule, follow-the-sun support: we live in a world where simplicity is everything.

Loyalty activations are also highly regarded. In the recruitment realm, things move extremely fast and days are extremely busy. However, taking the time to check in and show appreciation for your now ‘inactive’ clients is very important.

The funnel does not stop at conversion, it continues to advocacy.

Have you thought about…

• Partnering up to benefit your candidates
• Sending your client a birthday card
• Gifting loyal clients

In 2016, Lego did just this. The company reported tremendous growth and attributed its success to both its customer-centric model and its sustainability efforts. Announcing its best year ever, global sales grew by 19%, reaching double-digit growth in all its markets.

In a recent survey, 95% of customers felt that the delight triggered by the above actions left them with an increased positive view of the brand. Over 50% spoke about this experience with friends and family, and more than 1 in 3 claimed it swayed them to give the company more business. This is most definitely a fruitful route to take, especially for those with smaller budgets.

At Broadbean, we work with agencies, big and small to help ease the recruiting process. We are proud to offer an esteemed product suite, arming our clients with the tools to save time, save money, track performance and increase recruiting ROI. If you would like to find out more, please check out our homepage, or to see our easy-to-use technology in action, please request a demo.