Demographic data is an important component in defining your social media target groups. From brand awareness to advocacy, generational differences have a significant impact on how consumers interact with your business.
You can adapt your message to a certain demographic by learning how Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers interact with different social media sites.
Knowing your target audience is one of the first steps in developing an effective digital marketing plan, according to any marketing expert. You can better customise your messaging to that target by focusing on your ideal customer persona. But, once you’ve identified your ideal customer, how do you effectively reach them, and which social media channels are worth your time? Continue reading to learn how Millennials, Gen X, Gen Z, and Boomers use various social media platforms.
Baby Boomers
Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964, shortly after World War II ended. Unlike today’s younger generations, baby boomers are content to be reached via traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers).
However, this does not preclude you from marketing to them online. Boomers are active on Facebook and YouTube, reaching out and sharing content with family and friends, also as watching videos. Targeting them on Facebook is a fantastic idea, especially if your message can be delivered in the form of an informative video with supporting copy that links to your website or the product page.
Boomers and older adults are not a homogeneous group. Baby Boomers, on the other hand, share similarities in how they seek to connect with brands.
35% of Baby Boomers use social media to get new brands, and 48% say it allows them to interact with brands and corporations online. Boomers are less likely to create profiles on new social networks, but they are open to experimenting with new ways of communicating with businesses on platforms they already use.
- What this means for your business
If Boomers account for a sizable portion of your target market, consider tailoring your platform strategy to where they’re most active. Differentiating your content across social media platforms can increase engagement and permit you to specialise in the channels that are presumably to convert for your brand.
Almost every consumer search begins with Google, and Baby Boomers are no exception. If you would like to entice Boomers to go to your location, confirm you are taking advantage of all of Google My Business’s features.
Generation X
This generation witnessed the introduction of computers and the internet. These latchkey kids, born between 1964 and 1980, grew up to spend their adult lives online, watching videos on YouTube and Facebook.
Most brands have jumped from baby boomers to millennials, but this can be seen as a mistake by smart marketers, as those in the Gen X category are in the prime of their lives, both in terms of age and income. For this generation, an omnichannel approach works best. Because generation X bridged the gap between traditional and digital media, they still value both old and new media.
Using an omnichannel marketing strategy that combines traditional and in-store marketing with digital and social media will connect the fluid preferences of Generation X and cultivate an overall seamless shopping experience.
Create videos and replicas that talk to the present “forgotten” generation, and pair it with traditional advertising. Marketers, unlike baby boomers, can focus more of their efforts online to reach Gen Xers, but it’s also important to keep a little bit of traditional marketing in the mix.
Because generation X doesn’t make headlines in the same way that Millennials and Baby Boomers do, they often feel ignored by brands and marketers alike.
Businesses that target Generation X will frequently discover that simply acknowledging what motivates them goes a long way.
- What this means for your business
Look to your social media video marketing strategy to connect with Gen X. Use video tutorials and how-tos to help them understand your products and brand better.
Generation Y/Millennials
Generation Y, also known as millennials, was born between 1981 and 1996 into a world of emerging technology. While they are not as brand loyal as baby boomers, word-of-mouth and online reviews have an enormous influence on them. They use YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram as their primary social media platforms, which gives marketers more opportunities to reach them, especially since they use social media to conduct product research before making a purchasing decision.
For millennials’ parents, Gen X, a mix of traditional and digital marketing works well; however, an all-digital approach is best for this generation. Short pre-roll ads, engaging video ads on Facebook and Instagram, and even dabbling in augmented reality (AR), AI (AI), and computer game (VR) with apps and special interactive sites tend to pique the interest of millennials.
Associating your brand with a lifestyle, activity, or topic of interest can assist you to connect with Millennials. Seventy-five per cent of Millennials say social media allows them to interact with brands and businesses. This interaction allows you to connect with other fans all over the world.
When compared to previous generations, millennials are taking a different approach to their careers, family lives, and future. Businesses can play an important role in these life-changing events by creating online communities where fans can connect with one another and with your brand.
- What this means for your business
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to building a brand community. However, there are a few steps that must be taken to ensure its success.
Begin by determining the purpose of your community. Conversations about your product or service will become boring after a while, so zoom out. Align your brand with high-level topics that promote long-term debate.
Generation Z
If brands and businesses believed that millennials were technologically savvy, they must now prepare for Generation Z. This generation, which was born between 1996 and 2012, will account for 40% of all spending consumers in 2020. Technology and social media have always been a part of their lives. They have no idea what a pager is, but they can make a viral TikTok video in minutes.
Gen Z spends the most time on Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and Facebook, out of all the major social media platforms. And TikTok, the hottest platform right now, is gaining traction not only with this generation but also with marketers looking to connect with youth. Personalization is important to Generation Z.
Brands must recognise that hyper-personalized content and advertisements will reach this generation more effectively than genetically targeted advertisements. Gen Z also considers social causes and will base purchasing decisions on the impact that a product or company has on a cause that is important to them. Short pre-roll videos on YouTube and creating a hashtag challenge on TikTok with social good messaging can help your brand attract Gen Z.
Beyond the storefront, Generation Z is eager to interact with brands. Seventy-six per cent say social media allows them to interact with brands and corporations, and 78 per cent say they use it to find out about new brands. They’re moving the awareness stage to social media, and they expect brands to keep up.
- What this means for your business
Prioritize social content that sparks two-way interactions and engages Gen Z in relevant conversations when targeting them.
To make an impression on Generation Z, examine your customer experience through a social-first lens. Here are a few questions to get you started on evaluating your strategy:
- Is your awareness content engaging (for example, polls, user-generated content, quizzes, etc.)?
- Are your profiles set up to take advantage of social commerce features?
- How long does it take your team on average to respond to questions or comments?
Think about what interactive content and social commerce could look like for your brand if they haven’t been at the forefront of your strategy. At least twice a week, test new content and see how it compares to your standard social content.
Conclusion
Social media is no longer just for youngsters. People of all ages are taking part in billions of online conversations. As adoption grows, brands must be even more deliberate about who they want to reach and how they want to reach them.
Companies can learn what resonates with their customer base and identify market trends that can influence how and where they show up to consumers by assessing social performance across key demographic factors.
Social media has changed the way businesses interact with customers of all types.
At our agency, we start by looking at a brand’s current audience and then ask our clients who they want to reach. It may be a specific population for some, and we can design creative for that generation. Others want to be able to reach all markets. If that’s the case, we create messaging tailored to each age demographic to ensure that the brand or product resonates differently with each generation while maintaining the underlying message and core product or brand value.
Know your audience and where they spend their time online, and then tailor your messaging to how they consume content.
Contact The Social Lions, a digital marketing agency, for more information.
