When formulating your communication strategy, here are five rules to consider.
1
Stop with the stereotypes. Older
people are not digitally clueless and younger consumers are capable of interacting
with ink on paper. Yes, preferences and
comfort levels vary across age groups, but
over-simplifying your approach is shortsighted. Consider these stats: According to
Hanover Research, a market and business
research firm, about 78 percent of baby
boomers report spending an average of 39
hours per month online. And a December
2011 study by global information researcher Nielsen found that millennials indicated
direct mail and newspapers are the top two
influencers of their store choices, at 92 percent and 91 percent, respectively.
Andy McLaughlin, founder of
PaperClip Communications, a company
that works with school-age and post-college millennials to produce educational
resources, reports that some millennials—
or "digital natives" as his company refers
to them—say that "being seen with the
right magazine in the right social setting
sends the right message." On the other end,
"older generations are the largest adopters
of certain social media platforms right
now," he points out. "Facebook ' joiners' in
the past few years have been Gen Xers and
boomers who are joining to connect with
high school friends and pass around pictures of grandchildren, respectively."
A big turn-off would be pandering
to stereotypes of any particular generation, McLaughlin continues. "The hipster
millennial on her smartphone ordering
up your gluten-free noodles, or the boomer grandmother feebly navigating Skype
to see her adorable grandson lapping up
your delicious red sauce. Nobody does well
when everyone is a cliche."
"All the generations are [digitally]
savvy," says June Jo Lee, vice president of
strategic insights for market research firm
the Hartman Group. "In fact, if you think
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