Getting new customers to your business could be tough, particularly in a diverse market. Content marketing, targeted ads, and other advertising methods can only be effective with the right supporting strategy. If you plan to leverage generational marketing and lean to how to advertise to Millennials, Boomers, and other generations, smart strategies must be adopted.
That’s why in this post, we’ll be looking at the best strategies for marketing to Millennials and other generations. Maximizing your marketing effort toward a specific generation will be more comfortable and successful after this read.
What is Generational Marketing?
Generational segmentation is a business promotion approach that targets marketing products towards a certain demographic. In simpler terms, generational marketing is a strategy designed to advertise products to members of a particular age group.
Most aspects of generational marketing currently target four age groups – Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers.
Marketing to Gen Z’s
Characteristics
- Born from 1995 till the present
- Largely internet-savvy and embraces most tech innovations
- Has most been influenced by social media, 21st century terrorism, reality TV, etc.
- Most likely to support gender equality, multicultural, community-centric movements, etc.
Social media marketing
A very large percentage of Gen Z’s spend several hours on social media platforms. Marketing your brand through preferred platforms of this generation is a smart way to target your promotion effort.
Marketing to Millennials
Characteristics
- Also called Generation Y
- Born within 1980 – 1994
- Largely tech-savvy generation influenced by the advent of internet technology, birth of social media, pop culture, etc.
- Influenced by major world events and ardent supporters of multicultural and gender equality movements
Embrace innovative marketing
Before Gen Z’s came along, Millennials were the youngest generation for businesses to market to. Most members of this generation identify with marketing strategies that break the norm and embrace smart techniques to solve problems.
Use discounting, reviews, and rewards programs
Members of the Gen Y generation tend to like being appreciated for their patronage. Discounting is a smart way for businesses to tap into marketing products for this generation. Gen Y members will also trust brands that offer unbiased reviews or maintain a rewards program for loyal customers.
Marketing to Gen X’s
Characteristics
- Born within the mid-60s to late 1979
- Largely influenced by Watergate, Entebbe hostage crisis, invention of PCs, etc.
- Second biggest market for most advertisers (only behind Millennials)
Time-tested marketing methods
Even if couponing may not work with Gen Z, it’s a winning approach for marketing to Gen X’s. Members of this generation are more likely to respond to email marketing strategies and also convert easily through social media.
Customer loyalty programs
Apart from being open to conventional marketing, members of the Gen X generation can be converted through customer loyalty programs. Giving people in this generation a reason to trust your brand will make them remain loyal for years, or decades.
Marketing to Boomers
Characteristics
- Members were born within the mid-40s to 1964
- Usually largely influenced by the invention of TV, Civil Rights Movement, Indo-Asian, Pan-Pacific wars, etc.
- Quickly becoming the smallest market for business promotion
Leverage marketing strategies towards building brand loyalty
Of all the generations businesses can market to, Boomers tend to be the most loyal. Boomers tend to become loyal customers and even ambassadors when your products or services satisfy their needs.
Use upsells
Even if upsells may turn off some younger generations, it’s still a working strategy for Boomers. Members of this generation are more open to an upsell, as long as it makes their activities much easier. Businesses that can adopt upsells for their Boomer generation customers will worry less about generating new leads every time.
How to Marry Generational Marketing Strategies
While some businesses adopt separate generational marketing strategies, some entities may not have the budget for such a move. In such a scenario, a pointed, generalized strategy usually makes more sense. Putting a general template onto marketing across generations can be maximized with:
- Adoption of targeted marketing ads for all generations across channels
- Incorporating marketing content where most generations congregate online
- Engaging data-driven business promotion strategies towards a massive, ‘generation-less’ section of the market
Most of these strategies tend to work better for businesses that have generic products or services to offer. However, targeted marketing could yield better results, especially among generations with a much higher purchasing power. So, if you have the metrics to support gunning for markets with more spending power, generalized strategies could be profitable.
Takeaways
It could be tough to generalize generational marketing, but it’s not entirely impossible. Marketing to Millennials may not sit well with Gen X’s or Z’s. It’s crucial for business owners to shun typecasting their marketing towards a certain generation, except for specialized products.
Businesses should adopt marketing strategies that appeal to their customer base while resonating with a larger audience. Relevant insights on each generation could play a pivotal role in targeting buyer personas for more returns.
Testing what works for your marketing effort heavily depends on your niche. Selling to a larger chunk of any generation will be easier with a combination of relevant data and aggressive marketing.