Anyone who reads my columns frequently, or sees me speak at conferences, knows that I am a huge fan of "generational marketing." At my last keynote on this subject I suggested that if you are looking to create a killer marketing strategy, start by gathering one person from every generation in a room, gave them all an iPhone, and ask them how/why they would use it. Within 15 minutes you would understand how vastly different the response and interaction with marketing is by different generations. I even have a chart that I share with people that outlines tone of voice, type of messaging, and media outlets that work best for various generations.

But all of that changed last week when I made a bold move. Eliminate the majority of my "Boomer-only" marketing and use Millennial marketing to reach Millennials and Boomers.

Today, the "Boomer" market still encompasses the largest amount of disposable income and spends trillions each year on items to better themselves and their families. Following closely behind them are the Millennials. Millennials are poised to soon take over the reign of largest buying demographic as the Boomers begin to age out of range. By 2020, they will total more than $1.4 trillion in spending power. At some point in time, marketers and brands will have to make a move to adjust their marketing strategies and tactics to meet the needs of the market. Well, that point in time is now.

A few weeks ago, NewsCred released a report called "The Millennial Mind: How Content Drives Brand Loyalty." After reading this report, I realized that the strategies for effectively reaching Millennials can also work with Boomers (but not the other way around). This means as brands, we can evolve our marketing to attract the new buyer without negatively impacting our current buyer. It’s a pretty exciting breakthrough.

Here are three lessons I am putting into play as we speak:

• Keep the content/message crisp – you only have 10 seconds to capture interest
• Make my marketing as personalized and hyper-targeted as possible (hello programmatic buying and design)
• Strive to entertain, inspire, or educate by putting the right message into the right channels at the right time (pre-rolls will rule!)

When I look back on it, Millennial marketing might just end up bringing us back to best practices. I’m looking forward to watching the results of this move to Millennial messaging.

Article Link