Marketing to Younger Generations
While Baby Boomers and seniors respond to emotionally resonant marketing, younger generations such as Gen Z present different challenges and opportunities. A recent report from eMarketer tells us that Gen Z dominates platforms like Snapchat and TikTok, with these platforms leading by at least 20 percentage points in penetration over other generations. Nearly 60% of Gen Z has made a social commerce purchase this year. They frequently use TikTok and Instagram for shopping and product discovery, leveraging user reviews in comments and response videos.
These platforms frequently utilize short-form video formats that typically push users towards a wide but shallow consumption pattern, presenting them with a near-endless stream of content meant to be viewed for mere seconds at a time. Younger generations are much more involved in the digital gaming scene, with 71% of Gen Z consumers identifying themselves as gamers.
To capitalize on these preferences, marketers typically prioritize creating online communities and interpersonal connections between themselves and their younger consumers, such as by emphasizing ads on social media platforms or optimizing campaigns for consumption on mobile devices.
Understanding Generational Differences
Throughout our lives, our brains are slowly but constantly changing the ways that we process and interpret new information. To this end, a 30-year-old and a 50+ consumer can process the contents of a webpage, commercial, print ad, or direct mail piece completely differently from each other. These seasons of life bring with them differing sets of values, needs, and motivations that can be difficult to identify at a broad level.
You can see these differences reflected in the preferred platforms of generational consumers:
- While 51% of Snapchat users are part of Gen Z, only 3% of the Snapchat user base is made of Baby Boomers.
- Even though around 60% of Boomers have adopted digital video during the era of streaming, 87% still watch traditional television, well above the younger generations.
- Millennials tend to adopt digital platforms and habits (such as digital-only banking) primarily for convenience and ease, while Baby Boomers adopt primarily out of necessity (either due to external forces such as the pandemic or internal forces such as staying in touch with friends and family).
A 60-year-old woman is simply not the same person she was 30 years ago; her lived experiences and worldview have fundamentally changed the ways that she perceives marketing materials aimed in her direction.
The Key to Older Engagement? Emotional Connection and Meaningful Experiences
To effectively capture the attention, interest and engagement of 50+ consumers, brands need to look past conventions and resonate with an innate desire to provide meaningful, emotionally-driven experiences. What’s the worst way to speak to Baby Boomers, you ask? Stereotypes.
Brands that embrace clichéd themes not only miss their mark but also alienate Baby Boomers and senior customers at their own peril. Survey after survey reports that people over age 50 feel that advertising messages geared to them are condescending, stereotypical, and place far too much emphasis on medical conditions.
To avoid these pitfalls, brands need to frame their older customers as the heroes of story, offering them the opportunity to realize the full potential that comes with age, experience and wisdom. Emotion-centric messaging that provides a gateway to meaningful experiences tells 50+ consumers that their journey is only just beginning at a time when other brands are reminding them of the slow but inevitable march of time. Give your customers something to look forward to, amplify their excitement, then show them what more they stand to gain through a relationship with your brand’s products and services.
Conclusion
Understanding and addressing the distinct needs, behaviors, and preferences of different generations is crucial for successful marketing. Baby Boomers and seniors require emotionally resonant, authentic messages that acknowledge their individuality and life stage. In contrast, younger generations value convenience, influential online personalities, and novel personal experience in digital spaces.
By tailoring marketing strategies to these diverse audiences, marketers can create meaningful connections and drive successful outcomes with ease. Synthesizing these disparate approaches may give marketers a wider reach, but to more fully engage with targeted demographics they’ll need to refine their approach to best fit the contours of generation-specific consumers.
To learn more about how your brand can more effectively speak to 50+ audiences, reach out to us at comingofage.com/contact and our marketing experts will set your brand on the right path.