When it comes to their response to digital advertising, Generation X aren’t all too different as may seem compared to Generation Y & Z
Kantar Millward Brown recently undertook a consumer study where they tested different types of advertising, both digital and traditional to those within Generations X, Y and Z.
If you aren’t already aware of who Generation X, Y and Z are, here is a quick break it down.
- Generation X are those who are between 35-49 years old and are the post-baby-boomers.
- Generation Y are those between the ages of 20-34 years and are often referred to as the millennials.
- Then we have Generation Z who are aged 5-19 years old, who have lived their entire lives so far surrounded by various technologies.
There is often a misconception in the digital industry, that those in the upper end of the 35-49-year-old bracket aren’t worth targeting to digitally, but this is not the case! They may not be quite as into taking selfies and posting them on their profiles, but they’re still actively using social media and other digital channels.
Reach Them Digitally
You might assume that Generation X may not be on their mobile phones as much as Y and Z. However, when it comes to looking at the results of the research, mobile display, online search and desktop display seem to be equally as good to be advertising towards all these generations.
So, you may be able to reach Gen Y and Z on a more frequent basis, but don’t cancel out advertising to Gen X on their digital devices.
Get The Timing Right
Timing seems to be a key factor for all the generations. The best time to be focusing your adverts is during their time at home when they’re feeling most relaxed. If you have adverts running during the day, but perhaps not in the evenings, people may glance at them during work hours, but won’t be fully engaged or able to convert.
They’re Spam-Aware
All of these generations are cautious about what they are sharing online, although the youngest are less concerned about privacy. We are all being taught from a young age and also reminded through adverts and more, about cyber safety. What may or may not be spam or what could cause personal harm to you. Just make sure that your adverts don’t appear to be spam or make people think about approaching with caution.
Get Them Engaged
Generation Z are the most difficult of the bunch to advertise to, as they have the lowest attention span and are more likely to multi-task around adverts. However, Gen X and Y are able to be captured more easily and tend to be more engaged into adverts targeted at them. This includes being more likely to like, comment or share with their friends.
They Like Similar Visuals & Concepts
When it comes to the visuals of an advert, the more creative, bold and relatable, the better! It’s really just human nature. They all like to see campaigns that stand out on their news feed from all the noise that is already across social media and online. They also like adverts that they can relate too. These would need to be altered between the age brackets, to suit what they may find relatable, but this should just be common practice for adverts anyway. Think about the things they may be going through at this point in their life, or do a throwback to things they used to know.
They Dodge Adverts Similarly
There’s always going to be people who avoid adverts like the plague. Overall, each of these generations favours just skipping the adverts if they aren’t interested, over using advert blockers or physically closing the page. This allows you to creatively play around with adverts to stop them from just skipping. Make sure you’re getting them engaged within the first 5 seconds before they’re able to skip.
This misconception that Generation X are so digitally different compared to the younger generations should be banished. Really in marketing, you should be using the term Generation C. It’s all about the connected consumer, no matter their age, gender or whereabouts. These are those who are engaging online and are definitely not technophobes!