By Sara Karnish

Generational marketing has long been a staple of effective targeted marketing campaigns. However, a new article says in our current age of social media, this practice is now doing more harm than good.

B. Lalanne, vice president of data and technology for Crispin, says in Adweek that generational labels perpetuate stereotypes that could negatively affect a business’ advertising campaign. She said generational labels have never been based in science, but rather convenience.

For instance, it is easy to generalize all millennials as pumpkin spice-loving consumers and Baby Boomers as hapless Luddites who struggle to learn the latest technology. Social media algorithms — that deliver content to 20- and 50-somethings in equal measure — are driven by users’ behaviors and personal preferences, not their age.

It is well-known that younger consumers have the purchasing power in today’s business climate. It is not just their parents who are trying to understand this generation’s jargon and behaviors — business owners and advertisers are as well.

Rather than put every member of a particular generation into the same broad category, Lalanne suggests advertisers and business owners leverage data and real insights to better understand audiences. She suggests a few alternatives:

  • Influence mapping. Young consumers have a tremendous influence on everything from pop culture to fashion to advertising. Mapping how trends move from one age group to another is a helpful way to identify key influencers in a target market.
  • Cultural segmentation. Emphasize cultural touch points, such as universally shared experiences or interests that bring people of all generations together.
  • Cross-aged moments. Look for ways to highlight moments that relate to experiences consumers of all ages have shared. Nostalgia, multigenerational households, and global events (such as the Northern Lights that lit up the sky and dazzled stargazers of all ages across the world and dominated social media feeds last October) are all examples of ways to appeal to a broad range of consumers in an authentic, engaging way.

Visit https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/ generational-marketing-dead-irrelevant/ to read more.