When you’re building your Ideal Customer Profile or your Buyer Persona, one demographic consideration will be ascertaining which generations your clients belong to. Solidifying your understanding of the dynamic psychologies that link generational groups will help you craft more effective pitches, concentrate marketing efforts in areas that offer the highest returns, and tailor your services to fit the demands of different generations better.
While individual preferences and habits remain, there is much to say about understanding the broad categories and how they play into successful marketing strategies. How different age groups interact with their peers and the information they consume has implications for how you might best market your products and under what merits.
For example, a more affluent generation in their 40’s might purchase with fewer price considerations than a 60+ age who are budgeting for retirement. The messaging you use to target these two groups can and should change to reflect their dispositions, desires, and preferences.
To break everything down into manageable bits, I’ve put together this blog that will help you understand different generations in broad strokes, along with what their unique traits could mean for your marketing.
Generation Z
Profiling Generations of Potential Customers
The newest generation to enter the market is one of the most innovation-driven we’ve ever seen. This tech-savviness applies not only to the fact that Gen Z purchases and researches almost entirely through online platforms but also because the information they seek out in a company will heavily influence their buying habits.
This generation is concerned with geopolitics, sustainability, and virtue with growing intensity. Their purchases are driven by brand stories, narratives, and emotional connections. Perhaps most of all, they seek out acquisitions that differentiate them from their peers.
Video marketing, freemiums, loyalty packages, and influencer marketing will be the best way to target this generation. Since they see brands as an extension of their ethics, they seek a partnership feeling in the brands they will champion.
Since this generation is the most tech-savvy in history, they can also be leveraged as part of your organic marketing. For example, music production companies that target young home producers will often feature user-submitted content as an integral part of their strategy.
Since Generation Z loves to be a part of an impactful community, they are eager to submit their content to the community, effectively acting as lifestyle marketers and champions for the brand. It’s a great strategy—and perhaps a potential avenue for your next user-driven campaign.
Generation Y / Millennials
Profiling Generations of Potential Customers
Millennials have gotten their fair share of complaints when it comes to the social sphere—born too late to get in on the ground floor of tech, but too early to predict the massive cultural swings that would unseat tech giants on a near-monthly basis. They are the economic middle-children—trying to skirt by as professionals and new homeowners.
They grew up with the pressures of achieving high education, competitive jobs in fast-moving sectors, and above all, innovation. They are not afraid to adopt new technologies seeing as they have repeatedly done in both the professional and consumer electronics industries.
Millennials respond well to messaging that emphasizes new products, as well as environmentally-conscious practices and loyalty programs. They feel the impact of their purchases extending into a turbulent world and genuinely believe in making the world a better place through informed decision-making.
To target them, focus on Instagram, personalized marketing, and a hint of self-awareness in your marketing.
Generation X
Profiling Generations of Potential Customers
Generation X is among the wealthiest in the past century. They lived through hair metal, doobie culture, and Y2K. Nowadays, they seek stability and reliability in the products they purchase.
There is some overlap between Boomer characteristics and older Millennials in this age group, making it difficult to pin down or understand their tendencies entirely. Many absorbed the stoic and practical traits from their parents. In contrast, others are more open to fun and experimental marketing strategies—just look at the success of cuss-based marketing in blogs and cookbooks!
As a general rule, this generation is well-educated, fiscally responsible, and familiar with internet practices. The marketing they respond best to is well-researched, personable, and authentic.
Baby Boomers
Profiling Generations of Potential Customers
You might think online marketing would be lost on this generation, but 2/3rds of Baby Boomers are online shoppers! The key is to target where they are most active, which is Facebook.
Baby Boomers are excited to learn new skills that are accessible and value-focused. With more time and financial resources to go after what they want, they are candidates for online classes or novel experiences. Capturing their interest is best accomplished through romantic language and making a solid case for your product as “influential” or “timeless.”
While it may seem challenging to get the messaging right for this age group, there is a lot of potential, seeing as they are the wealthiest age group this century.
Taking a look at generational buying is just one of the ways you can solidify ICPs and BPs for your marketing campaigns. Being strategic with your resources will mean scaling your results, especially in targeted marketing strategies where every metric matters.
This guideline should help you to better understand what sort of platforms and tones communicate your brand best. When it comes to implementing these into fleshed-out strategies, consider hiring a pro. My expertise and services will help you transform your branding and land the clients that work best for you. Get in touch today to put me to work on your next custom strategy.