Target millennial voters with jobs.
In an effort to target millennial voters throughout the 2016 election, I witnessed what may have been one of the biggest political blunders of the decade in a failed marketing attempt aimed at courting my generation.
In trying to garner support from the next generation of voters, campaigns went after internet memes, avocado toast, Snapchat filters, selfies, craft beer ads, even celebrities. In the end, of those who actively sought the younger vote, few connected with real voters and most ultimately drained valuable campaign time and resources. Up and down key battleground states, consultants and strategists tried to figure out what captivated my generation as if they were splitting atoms.
In their only defense, they did so with the right end goal in mind, since the value in appealing to this generation of voters is indispensable. As a population we constitute what is now the largest living generation in the country since surpassing baby boomers a few years ago and ultimately comprise roughly 31 percent of the eligible voting population.
What most campaign aides overlooked in the attempted gold rush was the underlying driver for millennials. It’s not Snapchat filters or internet trends. No. Millennials are after jobs.
A vast majority of the new voting bloc are in school or just beginning their careers. Job opportunities are undoubtedly priority No. 1 for us, bar none. As a generational work force, we are more likely than any generation before us to hold a college degree. But with 1.9 million bachelor's degrees projected to be awarded this year, educated millennials are becoming the standard minimum for employers — meaning commencement ceremonies nationwide are ending with millions of diplomas conferred but zero job-offer guarantees.
In fact, across the country, especially here in D.C., where I now live, students and recent grads line up every year to contend for unpaid internships just for the possibility of future employment. That’s right, millennials are so eager for jobs we’re literally competing to work for free.
For all our regularly publicized flaws, we’re actually members of a young professional work force who are careerfocused and opportunity-driven. In fact, compared to non-millennials, we’re 50 percent more likely to relocate for jobs, making us a flexible and adaptive work force that can compete coast to coast.
So how do you take aim at these young voters?
In short, engage the voting bloc directly not on trends but rather by their need for jobs. Stage a targeted media and engagement strategy centered on work opportunities for young professionals and craft a message that inspires millennials to the polls for the possibility of a new or better career. College towns, for instance, are large population centers comprised of students, alumni associations and a larger sustaining university community. For a campaign, they’re a gold mine of volunteers, entry-level staffers and an open-season marketing opportunity to pitch a job-creating platform to new voters. Millennial-heavy employers should also be an outreach priority. Fields like tech, marketing and communications hold large pockets of young professionals who just recently launched their careers. These individuals value career growth opportunities and advancement; in other words, they’re an entire constituency hyper-receptive to an economic-opportunity campaign.
The next generation of voters are at your doorstep in 2018. They hold below-average voting turnout rates and it’s your job to drive them to the polls. Get after them.
We are career-focused and opportunity-driven, flexible and adaptive, hyper-receptive to an economic-opportunity campaign.