Boomers Fear Social Media. Not.

I hear the mantra “boomers fear Social media” all the time.  While there may be a certain logic in believing this, as a marketing geek with a target market in that group I really wanted to find the real numbers.  Makes sense huh?

If a large part of my target market fears social media (interpreted as not using it) then I should only use social media in proportion to which my target audience is involved.  The remaining portion of my marketing assets would of course then go to the other areas my market hangs out.

Ok, so check this out. Let’s look briefly at some demographics. First, baby boomers are that unique generation born after the Second World War. Most generally the dates used for this group is 1946-1964.  Currently this group holds the bulk of assets in the time and money area.

Generation X. Generation X can technically be defined as the generation following the Baby Boomers. Xers were born between 1965 and 1980, depending on which source you use. The term Generation X came from a book written in 1991 by Douglas Coupland by the same name. It is a fictional book about three strangers who decide to distance themselves from society to get a better sense of who they are. They are the generation that was raised in the 1970s and 1980s, and saw this country undergo a selfish phase that they do not want to repeat.

Generation Y with the members of this generation referred to as Millennial or the Millennial Generation. Precise dates are disputed but Generation Y consists of those people born somewhere from the early 1980s to early 2000s.  I love this group of people. They are really shaking up business as we know it spurning well known and established brands for the new and exciting. Contrarians as a group.

Alright back my target market. Most people would associate the tech crazed social media with Gen X’ers and younger. According to the latest Consumer Electronics Usage Survey from Accenture, Baby Boomers are the fastest growing users of social networking sites. That group is also reading blogs more frequently as well. Meanwhile, Gen Y interest in these services has plateaued. Hmmm. All is not what it seems.

So, how cool is that?  The whole point here is really to make sure when it comes to investing assets into your marketing plan that you KNOW who your target market is and where they hang.  As a general rule, (I will go out on a limb here)….dont listen to mainstream media, do your own research.

Tomorrow we can take a peak at the demographics of Twitter.  Not to be boorish but c’mon you need to see this.  If you have been waffling on whether you should add twitter to your marketing toolbox AND you have a vested interest in the boomer generation you need to see this next article.

Live-Love-Laugh