Lately, we have been talking a lot about the differences in catering marketing techniques to different generations. To make it easier for you to practice effective online marketing tactics, we have segmented the market into four key generations: the Mature generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials. Today, we want to do some brainstorming. We hope that our ideas will be a good starting point for you to market your products, services, and/or brand to any or all of these four generations!
Ideas for How to Reach and Effectively Target the Mature Generation
As mentioned a few times in previous articles of this series, the Mature generation is used to more traditional forms of communication. Therefore, even though you may initially reach this generation through internet marketing channels, it's important to remember this generation's need for a face-to-face, traditional way of business. For example, if your company offers some kind of service (perhaps you are an interior designer), an offer for free consultation to see if your company is a "good fit" can bring in Mature customers. It could also be helpful to allow Mature customers a chance to communicate with past customers who have found satisfaction in using the products or services that you offer (i.e. "talk to this family whose kitchen our company designed and renovated, and find out their opinion of our business practices!").
Brainstorming for Targeting the Baby Boomers
We discussed earlier the Baby Boomers feel confident about doing business with companies that create a strong brand. This means that, when targeting Baby Boomers, it is important to utilize many marketing channels to send out the correct message and create brand coherence. Make sure you develop a strong logo and visual identity, and a short, memorable slogan is always helpful as well! These company identity aspects can be placed in multiple channels around the internet: ads and banners on websites, social media, etc. Traditional channels of Denver marketing should also be used to effectively target Baby Boomers: direct mail, billboards, print ads, and the like,).
Reaching Generation X
Remember how we said you need to build trust and credibility to reach Generation X customers? Generation X customers will thoroughly research your business, products, and services before considering doing business with you. Make information about your company readily available through as many digital channels as possible, so that finding information and (hopefully) building your credibility is easy for Generation X customers. It is also a great idea to make your business or products customizable for Generation X customers. For example, going back to the example of owning an interior design company, some sort of website simulation that allows customers to design their own kitchen or living room with various options is a great idea. Allow customers to save designs and create templates, so that they can have multiple "plans" in mind.
Getting Through to the Millennials
It's all about promotions: get a trial offer of a service free for a month, or get a product sample for free. If free stuff comes first, and Milennials find these products satisfactory, they will certainly be willing to shell out money for things in the future! Contests are also a great way to bring in Milennial customers, specifically if these contests involve the ease of use and contest entry through Facebook, Twitter, or other social media outlets. Consider that Milennials are also well versed and connected in the growing cyber world of mobile apps, and think about implementing apps to amp up your marketing tactics. Maybe that means creating a free app that involves a game, or using apps to run a contest.
So, now you have our ideas for marketing to these four generations. What can you come up with?
