Generational Marketing: Creating Content that Clicks

By Jamie Chatel

Adviser of Right Brain Thinking

Silverman McGovern Staffing & Recruiting

Content is king in the world of marketing. Generational marketing is the art of crafting your content to appeal to a target market that is within a certain age group. Messages are targeted based on cultural experiences and perceived values for each generation. The goal is to use precise language in the appropriate medium to communicate with the right person at the perfect time. Let’s take a look at different generations and how they interact with branding messages.

“Gen Z” is the youngest generation, under the age of 21. Gen Z experienced the financial woes of the Great Recession as children. They grew up in an age of technology, with computers, tablets and smartphones available to them as toddlers. This group is using the latest, most up and coming social media apps. Use less traditional media like Snapchat and Instagram. Snappy, shareable content with visual appeal and videos will resonate better than pushy sales tactics.

“Millennials” are between the ages of 21-35. As teenagers, Millennials experienced the rise of the Internet, 9/11 and the wars that followed. They were the first college students on Facebook and many had cell phones in high school. However, for the first time in America’s history, this generation of her citizens are poorer, more indebted and less employed than the preceding generations. The Great Recession stymied economic growth, halted job creation, kept older Americans in the workforce longer and encouraged younger Americans to continue debt-financed schooling. Millennials are consumers of content. Quality, snackable content that they can share is the best way to connect with them. They are more interested in life experiences than material possessions.

“Messages are targeted based on cultural experiences and perceived values for each generation.  The goal is to use precise language in the appropriate medium.”

“Generation X” is between 35-47 years old. As teenagers, this generation experienced the AIDs epidemic and the fall of the Berlin Wall. As adults they faced the dot-com bust, 9/11 and the housing crisis. Generation X is in the work force, most likely wishing they had better benefits and a deeper savings account. Generation X is savvy enough to use social media and hunt for deals online, but they engage more with coupons and sales than content. Most of the Gen X crowd work to live rather than live to work. Use social media channels to show them how your product or service makes their lives easier and more fun. They are interested in news, politics and current events, try to tie your content into relevant news topics.

“Baby Boomers” are between the ages of 48-60. They were the first generation to be raised mainly in the suburbs, and were affected so much by the boom in consumerism that as teenagers they felt a compelling need to rebel against their parents, politics and commerm. These hippie teenagers experienced Woodstock, protested against the Vietnam War and participated in the civil rights movement. Baby Boomers practice extreme brand loyalty, buying the brands that they have used and trusted for years. Your marketing efforts should use language that alludes to the advantages of being established, the opportunities of retirement and beyond, and the authority that comes with seniority. Facebook is their social media channel of choice. Most of this generation does their web surfing on a computer, not on a mobile device. Fewer than half of baby boomers use a cell phone to check their email.

Generational Marketing is effective because it takes a deeper look at how cultural influences motivate the purchasing decisions of an individual. However, it is said to be equally ineffective because it is impossible to stereotype unique individuals into one category. One person might be born a millennial but identify more with Generation Y. Either way, with the ultimate goal being to send your target audience content with the right tone at a point in their life that it will appeal to them the most, taking a look at generational points of view surely doesn’t hurt.

Jamie Chatel is a Marketing Adviser and a Talent Magnet at Silverman McGovern Staffing in Providence. For more information, contact Jamie at Jamie@silvermanmcgovern.com. Connect with her on Linked In or visit SilvermanMcGovern.com.

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