Tag: demographics

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Digital Nation

Frontline is a popular PBS documentary that deals with issues of current events, the economy, and foreign affairs. In early February, their show was about Digital Nation — children and young adults growing up connected online, whether with their laptop, mobile phone, or iPod.

These digital natives (usually defined as those born after the late 1970s) are those who grew up with digital technologies. On a personal level, I am on the older end of the digital native spectrum – having gotten my first computer at 6 and first online (via the defunct Prodigy service and BBSes) at 10. I started my first non-profit at 15, as a website hosted on GeoCities, and built around the web and e-mail listservs. While the older spectrum of Digital Natives are approaching 30, they still represent a small – but growing – portion of the workforce. Depending on your products or services, they probably represent a significant portion of your target demographics. They are usually contrasted with digital immigrants – those who were not raised connected to computers and electronics, but were able to adapt and use these technologies with ease.

Understanding your target market is an essential component of marketing. If you’re not a Digital Native and want to understand how the world has changed in the last 20 years, this Frontline special is a must watch.

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Who uses what?

As I mentioned on an earlier post about the demographics of social media use, baby boomers are the fastest growing group on social networks.

But, what does that mean for marketers? Does it mean that they just need to set up a Twitter or Facebook page and they’ve done their job? Alternatively, will a LinkedIn page do?

The answer: it depends.

As in any sort of marketing, demographics and the purpose of communication matter. Twitter is not Facebook. LinkedIn is not MySpace. It’s not even ASmallWorld (and no, I don’t mean the Disney song).

As eMarketer points out, different age groups use different social media networks. Younger people – not yet in the professional world or just entering their first career – tend not to be power users of LinkedIn. The 40-year old middle manager? You bet (hopefully!) that they are doing business networking and lead generation via LinkedIn.High school students don’t need Twitter to connect with their peers. But Gen Y and X do.

There’s no one size fits all strategy in life. Certainly not in social media marketing either.

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Baby Boomers & Matures: Fastest Growing Group on the Social Web

Social media is not the answer for everyone. More than that, the latest fad of Twitter is not the place every customer should be.

That is a controversial statement, but it shouldn’t be. The basic of marketing demographics applies to social media as well. If you are the AARP or selling nursing homes for baby boomer’s parents (aged 50+), creating your social network presence was not the first thing you should have included in your marketing plan. However, the fastest growing group on social media networks is not the Millennials – who were early adopters and on Facebook since it was a closed network in 2004 and on Twitter since 2007 or 2008 (or, as they say, #herebeforeoprah). Rather, the fastest growing group is the Baby Boomers and Mature set. Therefore, while you may not have needed to market to them online  a few years ago, today you’re being left out if you don’t include a digital strategy in your marketing plans. However, as will be discussed on the next post, there is no one size fits all approach and online marketing to matures differs than marketing to millenials.

According to recent eMarketer data, only 44% of Baby Boomers (aged 44-62) maintain a social networking profile and only 36% of matures (63-75 do). Nevertheless, that’s up from 30% of Boomers in 2007 and 10% of Matures the same year.

As eMarketer notes:

Baby boomers have always been good communicators, as evidenced by their presence at sit-ins, protests, demonstrations and “happenings” in the 1960s. So it was inevitable that boomers would check out social media sites.

“Creating and renewing personal connections online is the biggest draw for these boomers,” said Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report, “Boomers and Social Media.” “About 47% of online boomers maintain a profile on at least one social network, according to several sources. Their contacts include family, friends and co-workers of all ages.”

“Boomers expect that technology will help them live longer and better lives and keep them connected to family, friends, co-workers and, eventually, healthcare providers,” said Ms. Phillips. “To fulfill these expectations, boomers are turning to social media, where they keep up their offline social connections and make new ones. Online marketing messages that help them build on their connections—and foster other online relationships—will get their interest.”