Talk About Generations: There's a lot of talk about generational differences in the use of social media and customer behavior, two issues that you'd think would be important to businesses. Serving diverse populations, including different generations, constitutes some challenges IF it's true that generations behave differently from each other. In fact, they do, and they don't. Generational labels can be misleading as they stereotype people inaccurately, and it's likely we don't need all the labels, since it's AGE and other demographics that are more important when looking at social media and buying behavior. Marketers, at least, the good, professional ones, know that, as do media experts, and that's why most demographic reports are phrased in terms of age groups, not generational labels. Our advice is to put aside the stereotypical labels, and do all you can to see what YOUR target customers (age and other demographics considered) are doing online and in terms of buying. Forget about generations. It will just confuse.
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Ponder This: Diversity means more than generations of course. It can mean having customers and employees from different cultural, geographic, and income levels. Think about how diversity might affect your use of social media to communicate with your customers.
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Top : Diversity and Reaching Different Populations: Kids, teens, retired, millenials, etc. Here we'll look at how to reach the variouys populations via social media, and how they differ.
Articles:Why Teens Don't And Won't Tweet - by naI'm 16 and, unusually, I use Twitter quite a bit. I say unusually because perhaps you've heard that teens don't tweet. This first came to light last year when a 15-year-old Morgan Stanley intern wrote a report [PDF] where he explained that teens "realize they are not going to update it," and that "no one is viewing their profile, so their 'tweets' are pointless." Teens' lives are entirely built around their actual friends. Quite simply, why would teenagers bother using Twitter when Facebook exists, and offers so much more? Teens want a platform that allows easy, fully-functional communication to an exclusive social circle. That is, solely to their friends and peers. Twitter is a platform built for inclusive broadcast (to everyone), and to teenagers it offers no obvious value. (Added: 28-Dec-2010 Hits: 280 ) Older generations consuming more social media - by S. Chernow Conventional knowledge dictates that younger generations dominate social media trends. However, older adults are now the largest growing demographic for use of social media. Pew Research found that between April 2009 to May 2010, the number of adults aged 50-64 who use social networking sites such as Facebook and Linkedin grew 88%, while usage among adults who are 64 and over went up by 100%. Editor&Publisher recently wrote an article stating newspapers' largest readership base is 55 years, and according to Pew Research this age group may be spending increasingly more time online. While internet users ages 18-49 still dominate social platforms, when it concerns consuming news online the statistics appear relatively equal across generations. (Added: 8-Dec-2010 Hits: 105 ) Why mingling with millennials is vital for your business - by Vijay Pullur ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS:Interaction is the reason people join social networks in the first place, but they don't want to feel like they are being spammed with irrelevant promotional information from the brands they love"Right now" is an important gratification for millennialsIf you can make your brand relevant to millennials, they will take it upon themselves to spread your messageThe sweet spot for marketers is becoming more elusive. For an industry that has prized the coveted 18-49 demographic since what seems like the dawn of time, a lot is changing. This changing dynamic is forcing marketers to go to greater lengths to attract this new prized group: millennials. (Added: 8-Oct-2010 Hits: 162 ) Forrester study on Generation Y: Social media myths debunked? - by Zack Whittaker This is pretty cool because it's one of the few articles reference research in social media that mentions bias: As in: Remember this is a research study done by Citrix, which as many companies do, roll out research which somehow integrates with the products and services it provides. The results will all but certainly be biased, but it does give me the apt opportunity to debunk a few myths based on my own experience. (Added: 8-Dec-2010 Hits: 165 ) Dear Generation X: Social Media From The Eyes of Your Successors - by na Dear Generation X: I think we need to have a talk. As a member of Generation Y who has, like many of my generational cohorts, recently advanced into the world of business (especially the business side of Social Media), I've noticed a few things about you all. Firstly, that you're more social network savvy than we might have given you credit for; but secondly, that you've forgotten that despite the fact that you're ahead of us in age, that we totally had a hold on Social Media first. (Added: 8-Dec-2010 Hits: 137 ) The Top 10 Social Networks for Generation-Y - by Dan Schawbel With thousands of social networks globally, only a handful of them cater specifically to a special group of individuals, known as Generation-Y. Also known as Gen-Y or millennials, Generation-Y are individuals born between 1980 and 1995, at a volume of 80 million strong. Gen-Y was raised on technology, so much so that our cell phones are extensions of our hands and text messaging, instant messaging and Facebooking are how we interact with others, even different generations. While Facebook is our home sweet home, there are various other social networks out there that cater to this demographic and are worth looking at. (Added: 8-Dec-2010 Hits: 133 ) The essentials of marketing to moms online - by Avi Savar ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS:Brands need to know who Mom is, what she likes, and where she spends her timeThe hard part is balancing content with your brand messagingYou will need to get into the minds of moms by first listening to real momsJust about every brand has recognized the power moms have gained through social media. And who wouldn't want to have a piece of the $2 trillion of spending they control? Moms are the driving force behind social media today, and this activity is affecting the way brands communicate and do business. The "connected mom" of today rules the social web: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo, and FriendFeed, among many others. She also makes practically all purchase decisions in (and out of) the home -- including food, fashion, finance, fun, technology, travel, health care, and cars. In other words, there isn't a brand on Earth that doesn't want to connect with moms right now (Added: 8-Oct-2010 Hits: 134 )
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16-Nov-2011
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