In today’s day and age, having a strong presence on social media for your organization is crucial to staying relevant in your industry; this is no exception to associations. Associations must create and maintain a social media presence in order to capture their current and potential association members. Considering that the majority of the Canadian population is now made up of Millennials, they are likely your association’s largest demographic and, therefore, are your target audience. With the hustle and bustle of today’s society, it can be difficult to establish how to grasp these millennial’s attention. One fact is true; that is that Millennials report using over 80% of their time on social media interacting with organizations.
Your association’s social media accounts, such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, can all be utilized in different ways to engage with current association members, promote your association to the public, and to share news about your industry.
Social Media Marketing
Always consider the demographic of your association when choosing the right social platforms for your association. For the purpose of this blog, we are focusing on Millennials. Studies show that over 50% of Canadians use more than one social media platform, making it unlikely to miss reaching a Millennial on at least one platform. But which platform is likely to engage Millennials?
Despite the mindset that Generation Z and their Twitter and Instagram accounts own the internet, the Facebook presence of Millennials is the strongest and more active compared to Gen Z across all platforms. Consider these Canadian statistics when distributing your efforts to capture Millennials on social media:
Facebook:
- 93% of Millennials have a Facebook accout
- 80% of Millennials use Facebook on a weekly basis
Instagram:
- 59% of Millennials are active on Instagram
LinkedIn:
- 35% of Millennials use LinkedIn
- Compared to only 23% of Gen Z
Twitter:
- Only 30% of Millennials have a Twitter account
- Even lower than Gen X at 33%
Forbes Magazine recommends that organizations should have a few social media accounts, but most of the effort should be geared at the one platform that incurs the most traffic and engagement.
Connect, Observe or Monitor?
It is important to consider the statistics above when reaching Millennials on social media, but it is also important to be aware of the recommended type of content for each platform that will keep your audience interested. Take into consideration that Facebook should be used to connect, Instagram to observe and Twitter to monitor.
Given the above statistics, Facebook comes out on top to reach Millennials. Canadians share over 1.5 billion pieces of content monthly! It is crucial that your association takes advantage of this platform’s connectedness and its user’s willingness to engage. It is recommended to use your association’s Facebook account should be to connect and it should focus on the following content:
- Videos and live videos
- Curated content
- Announcing and updates about upcoming association events
- Blog posts
Instagram is the second most likely platform to engage with Millennials. Use your association’s Instagram account as way for members to observe your organization. Focus on posting trending photos of the following content to your Instagram account:
- High-quality photos
- Product photos
- Behind-the-scenes
- At events, in the office, etc.
- User-generated content
- Re-post member posts about your association to promote engagement!
- Quotes
- Relevant to your industry and association
- Stories
- Share tutorials, training, research and statistics
Although Twitter shows as the least-used platform for Millennials, it is still possible to generate solid and relevant content that will only work on Twitter. The most common use for Twitter is to collect up-to-date news. So, encourage association members to follow the Twitter account to receive the most current, brief and important association news. Twitter should be used to monitor the industry and the association. Post content such as:
- Breaking and general association news
- Blog posts or other curated content (like Facebook, but more to-the-point)
In addition, LinkedIn is a platform that associations can utilize to engage with members and with the public. Use LinkedIn to post the following:
- Open board and committee positions
- Industry and association news
- Professional content
In conclusion, consider how and why you’d like to capture your Millennial association member’s interest. Use Facebook to connect, Instagram to observe and Twitter to monitor and you’ll surely grasp the attention of Millennials.
References:
https://canadiansinternet.com/2019-report-social-media-use-canada/
https://www.algonquincollege.com/ac-social-media/facebook-stats/