Multi-Generation

Today’s market is diverse in many different aspects. An aspect that can prove to be difficult to sift through is age. In order to understand a particular generation a person needs to learn the views that the generation shares. Interviewing a person is one way to get to know their views and how those views differ from the views of other generations. When implementing a social media strategy it is important to understand what generations fall under the target market in order for that strategy to work.

Different generations vary on their views of social media. During my interview, I found out that the person I was interviewing had not yet used social media because they hadn’t deemed it useful enough to use yet. If they wanted to talk to someone, they would call them. The fact that there is an “interaction” without face-to-face communication seemed unfriendly and insincere in their view. Hearing each other’s’ voice, or seeing their face established a more intimate and friendly interaction then simply reading letters that someone typed without an investment in getting together to meet or call one another. My generation views social media differently, because we can see the sincerity in what someone typed and establish friendly interaction without talking or meeting in person. Another view is the internet is used for business. The person I interviewed is very active and views the internet as a place to shop, email employees, or to pay bills. Leisure activities are done with friends and family, away from the computer. This is very different from my generation. About half of my interaction with friends is online. I use the internet for both business and leisure activities. Whether it is video games, Skype, Facebook, or email I use these outlets more than I do my cell phone for friend and family interaction.

A challenge to social media strategies to market effectively to the generation of the person I interviewed is that most of them do not use social media as much as other generations. So the marketing has to be twice as effective in order to justify using social media.