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Creating Facebook pages that attract the Millennial Generation

Written by Kelly · Friday, 04 June 2010 11:07

Using inbound marketing techniques to create effective and targeted Facebook pages

Similar to how the Baby Boomer generation can remember The Beatles invading the U.S., I can remember the exact date when I became a member of Facebook. It was my freshman year (2004) in college and one of my friends encouraged me to create a profile. So, I did and everyday, several times a day, I searched for new friends to add to my network. For most of my college career, Facebook was the most popular Internet tool for college students to create, develop and monitor an online social identity.

It was a bittersweet moment for students when Facebook allowed anyone and everyone to join. We could now connect with our high school friends who didn’t attend college and our…mom, or anyone else, and even businesses. It gave employers an opportunity to pre-evaluate potential candidates and marketers another outlet to promote products and services to a diverse audience.

Because of this change, many of my fellow Millennials adjusted their privacy settings so that they are unreachable. As a result, outsiders are unable view their profile or even search for them on Facebook, which can be troublesome to marketers. How can marketers penetrate this generation on Facebook? Try simple inbound marketing techniques and an understanding of the Millennial generation.

The Millennials are creative, wholesome young adults with an edge and are constantly keeping up with the latest trends. Joshua Glenn, former writer of the Boston Globe’s Ideas Section wrote a piece in 2008 entitled “The Millennials, 1984-1993” in which he evaluates the Millennial generation by exploring historical events and pop culture that have influenced this intriguing group. He describes the “admirable generation” as “ethical, sweet-natured, hard-working, thrifty, and public-spirited.”

With everything at their fingertips and the intrinsic ability to navigate the information superhighway, Millennials actively seek opportunities that are of interest to them. As a marketer, if you have a product or service that is interesting to this generation and it has its own Facebook page, they will find you and explore your offerings. However, some marketers need to seal-the-deal and get this generation to “like” their page. By doing so, marketers can apply simple inbound marketing techniques to create a page that specifically targets this generation and their interests. Consider the following inbound marketing techniques to attract the Millennial generation:

Present an incentive. Offer anything from a free t-shirt to a new iPad for “liking” your page. Millennials are young and often times poor – anything will be an attractive prize.

Create an exclusive page. Some Millennials miss Facebook’s initial uniqueness, a website created for just the college crowd. Make your page exclusive by using verbiage that Millennials use, explore their interests and encourage conversation.

Advertise your page on other sites. In addition to advertising on your own site, advertise your Facebook page on the sites Millennials often visit such as PerezHilton.com, CollegeHumor.com and YouTube.com.

Make your page interactive. Lots of videos, images and meaningful messages will hit home with Millennials, as they will be more likely to engage in conversation.

Creating a Facebook page and indirectly marketing it to Millennials will help get your business’ message across effectively and precisely. Remember, Millennials are extremely good at surfing the web, discovering new websites and setting trends. Just like in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.”