I had the privilege of being part of a discussion panel at a Canton Forum lunch on Wednesday. What an interesting topic. We were discussing the challenges of having multiple generations in your workforce; baby boomers, generation x-ers and generation y aka millenials. The other speakers were Susan Olivera from Aultman Health Foundation and Traci Dunn from The Timken Company. It was great to hear their insights, from a corporate perspective, on bringing in young talent. They definitely have some challenges that we’re blessed, as a small company, to not have to deal with.
I won’t go into all of the differences in these groups with regard to how they work and what their expectations are of an employer. There are plenty of authorities on that topic that can provide much better explanations than I can. Generally speaking though it became clear in our discussion that each of these groups has very different expectations in what an employer will provide them, and in how they should be allowed to do their job. What it did get me thinking about though, is how these very different age groups use technology in their lives and what their expectations are in terms of how they should be communicated to.
An example
I was recently meeting with a prospective client; one of our area’s furniture retailers. They were considering upgrading their website because it’s not performing in the search engines (incidentally, it’s an all flash site so very easy to diagnose). In our discussions, the topic of their current customer base came up, and the fact that they’d really like to reach a younger market. The bulk of their customers currently are baby boomers and older. They’re struggling to bring in the gen-xers (those in their early to mid 30s with young families).
After taking a look at their website and their marketing efforts, it becomes very clear why they have this issue. Their marketing is done primarily through traditional media (newspapers, billboards and radio). Very little focus on the web at all, let alone search engine marketing.
This is a prime example of not understanding the expectations of different generations and meeting them. If this particular company is smart, they’ll consider moving a significant portion of their marketing budget from traditional media into things like the web and search engine marketing. Gen-xers have an expectation of being able to be in control of their time. They largely ignore the vast number of shotgun type marketing messages, but respond well to relevant information that is delivered to them at the time and place they are looking for it.
This same concept ties very well into social media marketing. Everyone’s excited about social media right now, so much so, that industrial manufacturers are wondering if they should have a Myspace profile. My advice, think about who your market is. How old are they, what are their habits, how do they communicate with each other, how do they learn etc. If you answer these questions, you’ll have a much better chance of marketing your business properly. Hopefully avoiding wasted time, money and energy “advertising” to the wrong people.