“Hello, and thanks for your attention.
We’ve got a few things that we’d like to share with you today. However, we are (sadly) living in a time when our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, often compared to that of a goldfish (and if you were a goldfish you’d have forgotten how the previous sentence started by now!)
So chances are that if you’ve got this far we’ve done quite well. So please keep reading as we’ve got some thoughts we’d like to share on how you can maximise your digital presence in the battle to beat the scroll and swipe.
Let’s start with the basics, before moving on to a few examples that you can try for yourself.
Firstly, let’s answer the question you might be asking yourself as you read this article – why should I care?
Because creating engaging content that connects with, and inspires your target audience has never been more important. Content that readers and viewers seek out and freely share because it has value to them, not because it’s been promoted in their feed and pushed in front of them. Swipe, scroll, next! To understand what your audience wants you are going to have to spend some time getting to know them – finding out what makes Gen Z tick. Sounds like hard work? That’s because it is, but you’re dealing with the generation that doesn’t trust easily, so a little effort on your part will go a long way.
Once you’re comfortable with WHO you’re talking to you should take time to think about HOW they like to receive their content:
User-generated is a winning formula – young people struggle to trust brands today, with 84% preferring to discover content from a stranger.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner – literally. When creating content imagine it to be a roast chicken/nut roast served up in a different ‘slices’ all part of the same body of work. Budgets for content do not have to be big, think smart and re-purpose.
Develop channel specific digital attraction strategies to ensure your content does not become tired and easy to swipe or scroll past. Do not simply copy and paste across the board, and if you do expect to receive lower engagement. For example, use Instagram for insights, Facebook for creating connections and Twitter for providing updates. Over time your audience will know what to expect from you and appreciate your tailored approach to communicating with them.
Once you’ve mastered the WHO and the HOW, it’s time to tackle the WHY. Every piece of digital content that you produce needs a purpose. For most in the early careers market the why is to nudge someone closer towards making an application. However, too many fail by simply adding ‘apply now’ at the end of a post when this may be the first time someone has encountered your brand. Few will apply straight away. Remember it can take up to eleven (positive) interactions before you get the action you desire. To end here are a few ideas that will help you to stand out for all the right reasons:
Create a digital events strategy
Generation Z are finding reasons to meet IRL (in-real life) and often cite that they prefer to meet employees in person at careers events and in school/on campus. For when that’s not possible consider using functions such as the question and poll functions on Instagram stories to create digital versions of your events and to give your followers the same access to your people as someone stood in the room – no more FOMO! You could share tips for starting an application or give insights into a day in the life of.
Use connections formed online to build an intelligent future content strategy
Opportunities to connect with employees such as our ‘Ask an Ambassador’ tool can be useful ways for you to collect intel from your audience about what they are concerned about, the information missing on your website, and if you keep a list of everything asked over a period of time, say every quarter, you can then use this to create content which fills gaps and speaks directly to your audience. No more time spent racking your brains what to post next month!
Add noise to the conversation using audio
UK podcast audiences are growing and becoming more dedicated to this new medium with 24% of the UK population listening to at least one podcast per week, 61% under the age of 45 (perfect to target influencers such as teachers and parents) and 8% listening weekly (5 million regular podcast listeners). Their increased popularity comes from general interest (51%) and learning something new (26%), making them an excellent opportunity to increase brand recall and affinity, and to capitalise on people’s downtime as most listen during their commute to work making them a captive audience.
If you’ve made it this far then we thank you again for your attention, and leave you with one last thought which is regardless of your digital attraction approach, simply think whether you are adding to our noisy digital world or trying to cut through it.
You may now continue scrolling and swiping.