We are now moving toward the ninth week of national social distancing. Much has changed. We, as a society, have changed in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Your work schedule to meet clients or your customers are interspersed with having to work remotely with staff. Many of us are focused on the millions of Americans who are not working at home.
This article will explore each of the generational demographic cohorts. How they are approaching the use and social media consumption differently. Each of these subsets of our population shares a common factor such as age, income, or education level. Why, where, and whom to communicate is now part of the new business-standard. This effects how your clients or customers will do business with you now and the foreseeable future.
Every generation requires a different set of marketing techniques to capture their attention. Marketing to the Baby Boomers is much different in comparison to tactics applied to Generation Z. The Internet is a vast space, and it is essential knowing how to break through the clutter to reach your targeted audience. There are many ways to target a specific audience, such as print, broadcast, and digital marketing. Grasping your audience’s Internet habits, specifically on social media, is an integral part of online marketing.
The use of social media has adapted over the years to benefit e-commerce. It has become an invaluable marketing tool that can help audiences quickly reach a brand. Each generation uses social media differently, so to connect with them, it is essential to evaluate your own brand image and what service or product you provide that can relate to your target audience. Let’s dive into each generation and what is the best marketing technique for them.
Baby Boomers
Baby Boomers are individuals who were born in 1946 to 1964, aging from 57-64 years old. 84% of them choose to utilize Facebook as their go-to social media outlet site. Baby Boomers mostly inhabit Facebook, spending eleven or more hours on the site a week. Boomers like to talk with real people, so they may not understand all of the ads on their Facebook feed. Still, according to Mary Lister in her article, “Generational Marketing: How to Target Millennials, Gen X, & Boomers,” she states that Baby Boomers have the highest value as consumers in the market today. This means they spend the most money on each shopping trip. Baby Boomers favor written media, such as newsletters or informative advertisement posters, and are more likely to click on a brand’s website to learn more. Here are some tips on how to market to Baby Boomers:
- Take advantage of brand loyalty.
- Go for the up-sale.
- Tie in Cash Back.
- Skip the discounts.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, Boomers appear to have switched their media consumption the least out of all the generations. Only an increase of watching broadcast television, according to Katie Jones in her article “How COVID-19 Has Impacted Media Consumption, by Generation”.
Generation X
Generation X, who are individuals that were born from 1965 to 1976, aging from 38-56 years old. They are considered the smallest generation, but they are online more than 80% on things like Facebook and Twitter. This generation works a lot; they are usually at the stage of dealing with children, buying houses, and working. That being said, they are savvy shoppers, they tend to stick to the list and not deter from it. They didn’t grow up with online shopping, so they don’t mind an in-store trip, but have embraced online shopping as well. When marketing to Gen X:
- Include those discounts.
- Make it convenient.
- Try direct mail.
- Use organic or ethical products.
During COVID-19, pandemic Gen X has increased TV watching, both broadcast TV and streaming sites, more than any generations. They have expanded on watching online videos too, this could be anything from YouTube to Facebook videos.
Millennials
Millennials are people born between the years 1980 and 1996, aging from 24-37 years old. Millennials are usually talked about in social media and pop culture, they were the generation that started working during an economic crash, so they have high work ethics. Just because they are good 
workers doesn’t mean they don’t go on social media, though. 41 % of millennials use Facebook every day. They are the most responsive generation to online shopping as well. This generation is mostly influenced by something they saw or recommended by social media, which could be a restaurant someone posted a picture of or a hairstyle they found on Pinterest. To get millennials attention while marketing:
- Be innovative, they love the new big things.
- Review, review, review.
- Use social media incentives.
- Loyalty or rewards programs are a win, win.
During the pandemic, Millennials have consumed more content on multiple platforms, including; online video, streaming services, and broadcast TV. Millennials usually utilize all of these and more without a pandemic going on. Still, now that we are quarantined and maybe not working as much, more people have more time to relax and watch a little more TV than average.
Generation Z
Generation Z, who was born during the years 1997 to 2010s, aging 16-23 years old. They inhabit almost all social media platforms, including 
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. These individuals were immersed in a digital world, sure still used pen and paper for some things like notes for school, but the technology was the norm, among other things. Millennials and Gen Z may seem similar, but they are different in a couple of ways. Millennials prefer brands that share values, while Gen Z prefers brands that feel authentic. Millennials were raised by baby boomers; Gen Z was most raised by Gen Xers. Here are some tips to market to Gen Z:
- Sell experiences, not just the product.
- Videos all the way.
- Rethink major influencer campaign.
- Show you engage with your customers.
While we are all quarantined, over half of Gen Z are consuming way more online video content than before. Along with more time watching streaming services and listening to music, the age of this generation is about 16-23 years old, a small percentage of them could still be an essential worker. For the most part, they are students with part-time jobs, so they have significantly more time on their hands.
Our new normal has shifted no matter what generation you fall into or market to. With new normal, comes new marketing techniques. People are online more than ever before, online shopping, scrolling through social media, and even ordering groceries online. Putting your brand out there and to the right people is important during these unprecedented times. While everything may be changing one thing stays the same, Multimedia Marketing Group is still here to help you. We specialize in media promotion whether that is social media, advertising, videos, graphic design and more, we are here to serve you. If you need to find a new marketing technique or just need to start online marketing we are here, please don’t hesitate to contact Mr. Arco on LinkedIn here: https: /www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-arco-2353b414/
Sources:
https://pwim.com/2018/11/23/marketing-effectively-to-different-generations/
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2019/08/21/marketing-to-generation-z
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/media-consumption-covid-19/
President
President, Multimedia Marketing Group Distinguished 20+ year career introducing Marketing strategies to drive growth within intensively competitive markets, an expert in creating the vision, identifying opportunities, creating high-quality products and services, delivering strong revenues and profits, and positioning start-up and existing businesses for sustainable growth. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-arco-2353b414/
Multimedia Marketing Administrator
First coming into the Multimedia Marketing Group as a college media intern and then establishing herself as a Multimedia Marketer. Serena has found her passion within the Business of Marketing and seeing the invisible and making it visible through compelling storytelling with social media. Her cornerstone working philosophy is that “Action is almost always better than inaction.” This enthusiasm has led her through multiple media platforms for the clients served by MMG. Her excitement to share the final story outcomes of the creative endeavors by the MMG team has led to quantifiable business results for the leaders of the companies in which the Multimedia Marketing Group serves. MMG is a full-service marketing and media production firm servicing the Business-to-Business marketplace in retail, service manufacturer, and the non-profit sectors.
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