What Generational Differences Tell Us About Social Media Marketing

A lot of my social media management consulting engagements lately have centered around standard marketing channels vs. social media and web advertising platforms. This conversation can be sliced and diced in any number of ways but one fact is loud and clear; as Gen-Xers and Millenials continue to exert their influence, buying power and philanthropic footprint across the cultural landscape, organizations poised to leverage digital channels will give themselves the best chance to win the hearts and minds of their existing and potential customers, donors, members and fans.

A revealing and detailed chart provided by wmfc.org that breaks down generational difference into a many fascinating dimensions (influencers, core values and work life balance just to name a few) provides solid evidence of the impending change. Irrespective of the obvious profound shift to digital media channels as marketers move from Traditionalists and Baby Boomers, who have recently embraced more digital devices but remain a distant third behind Gen-Xers and Millenials who live their lives on them, are the sheer numbers. 80 million Baby Boomers, long regarded as the 800-pound gorilla, are dwarfed by the combined 126 million Gen-Xers and Millenials, a whopping 75 million of which are Millenials.

"This young audience, spanning 21-43 year olds, are sophisticated and adept digital consumers, able to sniff out a non-responsive web site, failing form submission button or digitally naive organization in a heartbeat and likely never to return."

Getting a handle on your digital footprint, deciding on the channels that can best facilitate communication with your core audience and consistently executing on your social media marketing plan will continue to be key differentiators that will separate the haves and have nots. The time to start assessing your current position, aligning it with your organizational goals and both executing on your plan and measuring your results it is now.

This philosophy, a comprehensive suite of social media marketing and management services provided by Steve Peterson & Associates, is what we're all about. We can plug in when and where you need us; digital media effectiveness assessments, strategy, execution and reporting. When you're ready, we're here. Let's get started!