Generational Marketing: More Important than You Might Think

Our country is composed of multiple generations, each with widely varying viewpoints, experiences and lifestyles. All of these have a significant impact on how individuals like to receive information, make decisions and take action, like deciding to choose a company with which to do business.

We’ve all heard tidbits about Baby Boomers, Generation Z, Y and Z, and now there’s the latest…Gen A. At CIM, we work with clients in a variety of industries with client bases skewing all over the board – younger, middle age and seniors. We know from experience that reaching target audiences involves identifying and understanding these niche groups (per client) and, most importantly, strategizing how to effectively reach them.

Here’s a summary of the various generations in the U.S.

Entire areas of research and science are dedicated to understanding what makes the various generations tick:

Habits
Likes and dislikes
Triggers
Lifestage

Preferred communication
Buyer preferences/demands
Media consumption

Again, for marketing purposes, media consumption is critical. The older the generation, the more they tend to consume media (get information) from traditional media like TV, radio, magazines and newspapers. Older individuals also largely prefer to do many business transactions in person. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the younger generations grew up using digital media daily; most prefer to spend much of their time interacting with digital devices.

For businesses, it is critical to identify well-defined audiences they want to reach, and then target them with right-fit marketing tactics. For example, we wouldn’t likely invest in local newspaper print advertising to reach teens, and we wouldn’t target Baby Boomers solely with digital efforts.

To be effective, with a high ROI, your marketing investment should be well targeted, from medium to messaging/images to client cultivation activities. If you’d like to discuss your business’s target audiences and the most effective tactics to reach them and encourage interaction with your brand, our team has significant experience spanning from traditional to digital marketing.

“Gen Z’s earnings are set to hit $33 trillion by 2030 and account for more than a quarter of all global income. By 2031, the youngest generation will surpass millennials’ spending power.”

~businessinsider.com

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