This is my generation, baby. ~The Who
The right words on your website gets you what you want: better sales, more readers or increased credibility. You can achieve all kinds of goals by tweaking to target your online market audience. Be like Robin Hood in an archery contest – think, research, test and hit it dead on, baby.
Here are some good ways to get a head start: Engage in two-way conversational marketing. Tweak your tagline and make it benefit-rich and catchy. Test for the right words that resonate with your buyers and convey emotion.
Is it enough?
The Coming of Ages
There are four generations out there right now, all with money to spend: the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomers, Generation X (or the Thirteenth Generation) and Generation Y (or the Millennial Generation).
These people are zooming through the Internet connections. They’re surfing and buying every day. They’re looking for solutions, and you may have exactly what they want.
You’ve done your research. You know the demographics of your target market. You know their needs. You’ve chosen a design that appeals to that group and you’ve wordsmithed your content to be rich in benefits.
People hit your site. Those potential customers take a look and then…
Click. They’re gone. You’re left wondering…
Where’d Everyone Go?
Sales that don’t soar may be a problem of generational targeting. You might be targeting the right audience, but you may be turning them off with the values your website portrays. In essence, you may not be effectively conveying what makes your audience feel comfortable.
Gen X might like friendly, slightly cocky content. The Silent Generation may prefer a professional, authoritative tone. Baby Boomers may like a site that stimulates thoughts of self-gratification and leisure. Gen Y might be searching for what’s cool and trendy.
Each generation has a core set of values that define the group as a whole. Life events and experiences shaped each generation’s way of thinking. They have specific beliefs, opinions and values that they uphold.
These generations needs to know that the company they’re dealing with supports what they believe to be valuable.
Are you the business they’re looking for?
Showing Your Values
Your business has core values that it conveys to your target audience. Those values might be quality and professionalism or being socially conscious and responsible. Maybe your business website shows you believe in hard work and effort or being different from the rest.
The values your business website conveys are important. A generation like Gen X isn’t going to care much about an authoritative website that tells people what they should buy. This group is reactive, and they like businesses that are all about change. They aren’t easily impressed and they are skeptical of those who make claims.
But the Silent Generation might prefer an authoritative tone in your website copy. This group of people respects experts and they like to adhere to the rules. Big titles mean something, and the Silent Generation tends not to argue with people in positions of power. Logic, not magic, is what hits this group best.
These examples show how two different generations may prefer completely different businesses based on their beliefs and values. A person from either generation may be seeking the same product – but they’ll hire, buy or work with a person who believes in what they do.
Because believing is everything.
Bull’s Eye Generational Targeting
Make sure that your website content conveys the right values for the generation of buyers you want and need.
How? Easy. Determine the values you want to convey to your audience. Choose language, tone and style that your generation prefers. As you write your website copy (or have someone write for you), make sure that your business values shine through the cracks between the words.
So what values should you aim for? Here’s a look:
Silent Generation: respect for authority; conformity and adherence to the rules; law, order and duty; dedication, hard work and sacrifice.
Baby Boomers: personal gratification; personal growth, health and wellness; optimism and positive attitude; teamwork and being involved.
Generation X: diversity and global thinking; self-reliance and independence; life balance; fun and informal attitude; technologically literate.
Generation Y: confidence and achievement; sociability and collective action; diversity and morality; street-smart; optimistic and savvy.
These days, it’s not enough to slap up a nice design and some well-written content. You have to get into the heads of your buyers and learn how they think – and why they think that way. Targeting your market means intimately knowing who’s going to feel good about your business…
And who isn’t.
Reader Comments (72)
As a baby boomer writing copy, this is very enlightening. I would think these theories are applicable for all internet communication that is targeted…web site, email blast, blog posts, etc.
It is simply wise to pay attention to my copy and not be talking to myself entirely.
Awesome article dude.
It really opened up my eyes to the importance of Generational Targeting something I never really took into consideration with any of my projects.
Keep on Truckin!
Heh – never heard of the “Silent Generation” before. Thanks for the heads up.
If I hadn’t hired you to do my blog redesign already, I guess I’d have to mull this over … 🙂
@ Dave – And you thought we were just aiming for pretty pictures…
@ Orange – Backatcha, bro!
@ WordUp – Generational targeting is one of the best ways to get even more results from your content, and it should always play a part in what you write. Good luck!
@ Judy – You bet. This method can be used in anything you write, and it tailors your words to reach exactly who you want to in the way they want to be reached.
And I don’t recommend talking to yourself. People may look at you strangely 😉
So … as most of our clients fall in the generation Y age group, I need to think how to sell wedding films focusing on ‘confidence and achievement; sociability and collective action; diversity and morality; street-smart; optimistic and savvy.’
… just had a re-read and I might just focus on the ‘cool and trendy’ bit. (Is ‘cool’ a cool word anymore?!)
It may take me the whole Bank Holiday weekend to understand what is I’m sure a valid interpretation.
Awwww, you got me. I totally believed you. Stupid Twitter.
Great post, though. Is this you demonstrating the confidence factor?
What if my clients cross all these generations?
@ Janice – That question is much the same as this situation:
“Who is your target audience?”
“Everyone!”
No, no, no. Your ideal customer profile falls down to one person with one type of need. While that need may be one that spans many different types of people, the majority of the group of people with that need will always fall into one main category.
You can try to target everyone – you will never achieve good sales. Fishermen don’t cast a wide net. They focus on one school alone and bring home the mother of catches.
Knowing who your audience is and how to speak their language is so important. I’ve learned to adapt depending on who I’m having a conversation with.
Rudy
Social Media Guru at Trulia.com
Looks like the Baby Boomers are my audience. Maybe I should change my style of writing a bit, so it’s more suitable for them..
Though it’s still too early to tell I guess, since the blog has only been around for a month or so.
Anyway, great info. Cheers
Very interesting post. Knowing your target is key to the success of any marketing endeavor.
I typically find that clients are targeting a specific industry or field of interest. They are not looking at the generational aspect to their marketing efforts, i.e. just everyone in the “travel’ industry.
This is a fantastic, simple breakdown of generational differences. Thanks for posting such nutritious food for thought.
James, do you think it’s easier for a person from Gen X or Y to write copy that appeals to the older generations, than the other way around? Or do you think that an astute person of any generation can write copy aimed at another? Love to hear your thoughts on this.
This article really got me thinking about our own brand and use of language. When we reviewed some of our own copy it became evident that we are not always hitting the mark in appealing to who the real decision makers are.
Some questions for us to ask ourselves are: Who are the deicision makers in our industry (meeting planners? corporate executives? executive assistants?) For instance, we are currently developing a site for managing generation y employees. Our first thought is to make a young trendy site reflecting the essence of generation Y and yet our real target audience is not the younger generation themselves but the people who manage them.
We are now going to take a different approach. Thanks for your article.
Who is the silent generation?
I can’t believe it’s any of my kids and I have had some each in the last three decades.
Damn. That’s an interesting question, Michael.
I think anyone who takes the time to observe writing, who picks up magazines for different audiences and who scrutinizes the word selection or who reads multiple styles of websites, can most likely learn how to write effective copy for specific generations.
I don’t think that you are able to write generational copy for your own generation simply because you’re part of it. In fact, I find that many good writers struggle to capture the right words and tone to reach their target audience in this way.
I also think that Gen X and Y have a difficult time writing for older audiences because they simply have trouble understanding the mentality. And the same for older writers trying to reach youths. Each generation struggles to understand the experiences and attitude that other generations maintain.
For example, my senior-aged mother never asks a doctor questions. She shows her problem, takes the prescription and does not know what she has, what the treatment is, how it should work or what alternatives there are.
I’m the opposite. By the time I leave a doctor’s office, I can write a research paper on whatever I went in for.
I cannot say I fully understand how difficult it may be for my mother to ask questions of people in authority positions. Likewise, she’s horrified that I would dare to grill a doctor, lawyer, etc.
It’s taken me a few years of in-depth observation to grasp the generational differences properly and to be able to write for all generations as if I was one of their own.
In short… I’ve given you my thoughts but I believe I can’t answer your question. I think Gen Y and X writers can reach either group. I think Baby Boomers may be able to reach the Silent Generation more easily. But I don’t think that the older generations can reach the younger generations easily or vice versa.
@ Wendy – The Silent Generation is the group of the oldest seniors today.
Hmmm, took a look at my ideal client profiles again as opposed to my total client strata…Fly fishing for a few good boomer males…what’s that number, 1000, is all it takes? Outfit me with waders Pen Man. 🙂
James,
Ah..that makes more sense..thanks..I know I sure as heck never gave birth to anyone who could keep their mouth shut!
James, gotta say this is one of the best articles I’ve read in a long time and is the first Copyblogger article I’ve saved to del.icio.us.
I think you are dead on with your evals of each generation. I’m generation X and yes, that pretty much describes me and the way I’ve designed my website around. Then there’s my gen Y nephew, you hit him dead on.
It’s sorta like you’re reading a person’s astrological sign.
However, in the comment section while replying to Michael, you said:
Then you follow it up with:
Umm . . . huh? Sounds like no one can write for anyone?
Sorry, just trying to understand.
Personally, I think you can write well for your generation because it’s you. Therefore, you should be writing in the language and thought process your generation is accustom to.
yeah?
It seems like a lot of these overlap each other to some respect… Is this just because of the simplification in what you’re saying, or is it a sign that there’s a way to appeal to multiple groups in there?
@James and Michael- before the storm hit, one of the hottest new markets for Tulane undergrad techies was introducing the “seniors” to technology and virtual communication. Fee by the hour home visits to set up computers, show them how to use email, give them a tour around the www, just like a masseuse or gardener or a tutor…seriously, My senior friend Abby,” Oh I have to go, my tech tutor is here.” Generations are integrated there. Communication did not seem to be a problem in either direction because the intersection of interest is there.
I think fluency is fluency…look at Memoirs of a Geisha for example. Good writers use the ability to immerse themselves in whatever context, metaphor, analogy and skillfully create persuasion.
You all are making me think again…stop it, stop it right now 🙂
@ Janice – But we’re not discussing integration of technology with generations or getting back to our roots. We’re discussing the values that each generation upholds and why the choice of words you use, the tone of voice and the style of your writing affect the generation you will reach the most.
Anyone can learn some of another person’s generation.
But it’s difficult to apply the values that were driven home in a person to someone who lived a different experience – the senior does not understand nor value street-savvy self-taught people as much as he does a university-educated professional. The events that shape our lives ingrain themselves deeply into our values and beliefs and are psychologically not easy to change.
That is not about communication – that is about perception of value. Huge difference.
@ Rachel – They overlap because they transition through time. You will note that the two extremes of Silent Generation and Gen Y are nothing alike, though Gen X and Gen Y resemble each other slightly in certain areas, and Gen X and Baby Boomers resemble each other in different areas.
@ John – You misapply your logic 🙂
Because you are Gen X does not mean that you will instantly capture all the nuances of speaking to your generation. You are more apt to do so, yes. It is easier, yes. But not a given. Writing never is.
Michael asked about ease of communication involving generations – so yes, it is easier for Gen X to communicate to Gen X than to the SG or BBs.
And no, I did not say that people cannot write to each other’s generation. I said they will have difficulty and struggle to reach other generations.
Is that more clear or is the mud getting thicker?
😉 gotcha. So you’re saying writing for the generation you’re in gives you a bit of an edge but it really boils down to learning your trade and learning to communicate what you have to say.
Was I able to wipe the mud away?
@ James- “But we’re not discussing integration of technology with generations or getting back to our roots.”
Huh?
Values. I get that. Not an idiot. Michael asked opinion on if it was easier to write copy in one direction or the another. I meant fluency to include understanding sets of values as well because that is the context of his question.
@ Janice – Ah, I misunderstood. I understood you to be saying that because someone was tech savvy, they could communicate to a Gen Xer with the same set of values.
No. My friend Abby who was chronologically an SG also fits the Gen Y profile of values. She liked street savvy as much as the learned professor view and values. And the techs knew the extreme importance they brought to the seniors that valued friendships and keeping in contact,( high values to them) especially if these seniors were unable to “roam the streets” as they used to do.
@ Janice – That’s very coo, but that is not the majority of the group or the behavior of most of that generation. Psychology is what it is, and there will always be exceptions to the rule, but in online marketing, you’re not selling to the exceptions.
Hm. That’d be a nightmare to have to deal with, come to think of it.
In my experience, I would add that Gen Y (millenials) are highly skeptical, always assuming there is an unspoken agenda which they have to scope out. Also, Gen Y needs to be attracted to what you have to offer, drawn in. Don’t try to push your way in to a Gen Y’s world.
If they suspect you have some ulterior motive you will be shunner. This is why poking fun at yourself (or your mission)…has become a highly effective advertising theme and ironically, the honesty of this diffuses any tensions between the buyer and seller because at least you are laying your agenda out there.
Great article. I was recently reading about how Karl Lagerfeld (artistic designer at Chanel and aged 70+) designs so successfully for Gen Y. He picks Gen Y muses and is inspired by, and learns from, them. I think finding a real muse of the target generation is the way to make this work.
@ Susan – Researching generational profiles uncovers a looooooong list for each group. It’s extremely interesting material.
Hmm, Yes I want to agree with you. That is correct. But ( you knew there was a but), huge niche market. (I am just using Abby as one example of her generational niche ) We’re still talking about being about to understand and speak value cross generational (I blame Michael asking his question).
Yes, mass marketing is generality, rules not exceptions, but online marketing is targeting with specificity. Say you are tech savvy trustworthy kid with a car and a computer, who has a few people skills too, and a need for cash. (AND understands the NEEDS and VALUES of this niche) You might have to start with a card or a flyer, or your Nana telling her friends, but once you get them online and hooked up, for a slight monthly fee in addition to house calls you’ve got a membership coaching site. Which you could sell to a freshman when you graduate. See you’re kid with ambitions and some fluency.
My point is that these lists are very helpful. Especially if you have an idea for something out of your generation that supports the needs of another. My point with Michael is a self limiting belief is just that. That , “Is it easier in one direction than the other?” Someone who wants to communicate and persuade with resonance does. Finds the way. Especially if you are trying to open new markets.
That’s what I meant.
@ Janice – The kid has to target like anyone else. And if he’s targeting to two different groups, he will have to alter his text to be accepted by two groups or create two different sets of text.
Keep in mind that no one can sell to everyone. There is always an ideal profile of the consumer you target, and that is who you aim for. You don’t restrict yourself so tightly that you shut others out, but you can’t market to all people using the same content and communication.
Look at this blog – 37,000 people, you think. Brian hits up everyone!
Wrong. Brian’s blog only has a very small portion of the people online. He would like to have everyone as a subscriber, but he can’t. So he targets his market while trying – at the same time – to be appealing to a wider group.
If he wanted to target senior citizens as well as online entrepreneurs, Brian would seriously have to change his site look, design, content and appearance or simply open a new site.
So, what’s the next generation? And, which way will they swing?
Yes. I hear you on the targeting. We agree there. I am not advocating being all things to all people. Not at all. My mere suggestion is that there are also studies and experience that show people relate cross generational. And that the lists like above are guidelines. That means you’re hooking them, not only on a chronology designation, but on something else too. Like having an entrepreneurial creative mindset and the values that entails. Which generation owns that? See what I mean? We may be differing in semantics …it has happened before. 🙂
Invoking The Who is a surefire way to get the attention of (some) Baby Boomers — this one especially. Got me thinking about the guitar-slinging Pete Townsend, who wrote ‘My Generation’ back in 1965 supposedly for rebel Brit youths called mods, saying in affect “Older people just don’t get it.” Could this have been justification for the the lyric; “Hope I die before I get old” …?… Well I don’t know, he’s still kickin’. And guess what James; he blogs on The Who site — giving us ‘the right words’ to get exactly what The Who want; more online sales at The Who Sell Out Store.
Yeah, ya got me on the twitter thing as well, but hey, it worked.
Good marketing and excellent advice.
Lead by example, right?
James, great advice. It’s funny how many of my customers don’t understand that the more specific you are in your targeting the greater your success. To catch more fish you don’t cast a wider net but a smaller one. Targeting a generation does not mean other generations will not buy from you but it does mean your messaging will be finely tuned and effective. Awesome post..but then that is what you do. 🙂
There’s a lot of talk about generational divides within real estate (agents and consumers) and this hits the nail on the head.
I will definitely pass this post on to fellow agents and Realtor associations so they hear it from someone other than me. Maybe then, they’ll believe it.
(Gen X/Gen Y cusp)
LOL, Wendi.
I have a firmly GenX voice (despite the fact that I find my generation to be a gigantic PITA–but then that fits, doesn’t it?). Guess I’d better find some GenX clients to talk to!
That was such a thought-provoking article — yeah I’m a baby boomer! And my target group is also made up of baby boomers… I’ve noticed that much younger people sign up for things and then soon go away whereas the baby boomers tend to stick around… they don’t want to miss out on what could happen next!
Jeanne
Thanks for making people aware of generational marketing, but do be careful. Generations can’t easily be summed up with a few strokes of the pen. Baby Boomers ,for instance, cover 1945 to 1963….they are way diverse. In addition, demographers and marketers are constantly redefining generational groups or creating new ones. Generation Jones is one and recently, the U-Boomers. Good marketing is good marketing and, and at its best, actually transcends age.
Great article.
Often times, generational target is the key to generating business. Take Facebook, they have a great platform but the audience in terms of age and generation is very broad. Bloggers are now the new authentic authority.
Keep writing. One of the best information one I have read thus far.
As a food blogger, I take this into account. Keeping key advertisers in mind, it would be a waste of time trying to grab the “caviar” consumers and “fast food” consumers.
Targeting brings more value to advertisers as well.
excellent advice.
Thanks for teaching us all a bit about generational marketing!
But I think you’ve oversimplified the process of defining a target market.
While “generation” is definitely a factor, it is one of many…
-demographics: age, gender, income, marital status, career, education, religion, political views, etc.
-geographics: country, state/province, urban/suburban, etc.
-needs
In fact, it’s only one factor of many under “demographics.” Each generation has it’s key defining features, but you also shouldn’t assume everybody (or even the majority) fit them.
For example, saying Generation X individuals are technologically literate complete ignores the HUGE percentage of Gen Xers that can hardly feel their way around the internet (just think of all those 40 year olds who don’t quite get Facebook, Blogs, RSS Feeds, eBooks, buying things online, installing their own software, etc).
@ Chad – I have never said that everybody fits every profile. But the majority of people do fit generational profiles – I didn’t make these up. These traits are pretty common knowledge, so that does mean that most people do fit a specific profile for generational value set.
As I’ve mentioned in this comment thread, there will always be exeptions to the rule. But the majorities are there, and that’s what focus should be on.
By the way, Gen Xers are under 43. I’m not sure what huge majority of technologically illiterate group of people you’re referring to, because most people under 43 are pretty adept with computers.
And remember that just because a group of people does not prefer a certain application (like Facebook) or don’t like to buy online doesn’t mean they are technologically illiterate. Those are preferences, not a reflection on skill or savvy.
I find it always difficult to deal with such structures when I speak about people. My favorite is, being and giving always esteem to whom ever. It doesn’t matter what generation, what kind of thinker, everybody deserves to get esteem!
The silent generation? Thats a new one to me, but thouroughly interesting nonetheless…
Generation targeting, a great idea. That gives entirely different niches for each generation. And if you hit the right people with the info they would like to see, you have a winner. Thanks for sharing.
Relevant points indeed. It’s important not only to see them as a guide to our writing as of today, but also as a guide to how quickly things are evolving. Thanks. Great post.
As a consumer, these sort of lists make me feel a bit pigeon-holed. I mean, I’m Gen Y, but give me personal gratification over diversity and morality any day.
Generational marketing-awesome. Now to improve our ability to use it.
James
If you do not turn this post into a book you are mad. The concept of generation marketing is dead on and should be fully fleshed out.
Tom
@ Tom – Ah, time, money, obligations, responsibilities… I wish I could turn much of my work into books. I may be mad after all.
But thank you. And thank you everyone else 🙂
Nice Post James. Being a marketer myself I always like to read this type of information because it gives me a different view on the way view the market place.
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