In previous decades, most marketing efforts were geared towards the older set: the thirty to forty somethings who were head of families and had ample disposable income.
Beginning in the 80s and 90s, however, spending power, and thus marketing focus, progressively shifted towards the younger generation. Today, beginning in the first half of the decade, more companies are devoting their advertising and marketing campaigns to twenty and thirty somethings, what we call “yuppies” who are on their first car loans and corporate housing mortgages.
Unfortunately, this younger demographic has a fleeting attention span. They don’t have the customer loyalty of, say, a Cadillac owner. Which is why marketing for the younger crowd carries with it a unique set of challenges. R
Here are ways you can enhance your marketing strategies for the Twitter and Playstation generation.
Be informal
Compared to the straight-laced salary men of the past, today’s younger crowd has a more upbeat, informal atmosphere. Instead of ties and smiles of success, think statement shirts and jeans.
This means that your marketing language, from your collateral to your ads, has to project an informal look. Make it clear, concrete and easy to understand. No flowery terms: just direct to the point talk and casual language. You need to be able to talk the talk if you want people to take more than just a passing glance or skim through your website.
Quirk
Apart from being more casual, twenty something people have a greater degree of humor. Consider today’s Internet trends and memes: people post Hitler reaction clips on Youtube, and invest hours creating a funny Photoshopped image.
Appeal to pop culture by riding on these trends. New trending topic on Twitter? Make sure you’re on top of it: pass it around in your corporate Twitter account while marketing your brand.
Know what’s in
This brings us to another point: keep on top of what’s popular on the Internet.
Whether it’s a hilarious new meme or a video taking Youtube by storm, make sure you’re in on it. This way, you can drop a reference in your marketing ad and project the image that you’re cool and hip to know what’s happening. For instance, in the wake of the Balloon Boy scandal, businesses were quick to cash in on the trend, with funny ads like “No hot air here, just good service.”
Tap social networks
Finally, tie all these points up by harnessing the power of social media. Social networking sites are the best, easiest and most effective way of reaching out to your target audience. So get cracking on Facebook, and make sure your Twitter feed is updated.