When it comes to social media, knowing your target audience is everything. But, it can be easy to get bogged down in all the details. Luckily, we are here to tell you one of the most important characteristics you can know about your target audience is what generation they belong to. Generational marketing is the idea of using your target audience's age cohort to decipher their preferences, attitudes, and behaviors. While this is by no means an end-all strategy, generational marketing can be an extremely powerful tool when used correctly.

Main Generations on social media

If your target audience is on social media, they likely belong to one of the following four generations:

What these generations have in common

One thing each of these age cohorts has in common is that they all use social media daily. A study conducted by The Manifest of 627 social media users in the USA found that over 80% of these generations consider social media to be a part of their daily routine. This means that if your target audience falls within at least one of these generations, you should be marketing your business on social media. The numbers don't lie; check out the graph below for a breakdown of the daily usage of each generation (The Manifest).

Most used platforms

When it comes to what type of platforms people use, generational cohorts are a great indicator. If your business targets a specific generation, check out what their favorite platform is: 

• 61% of Baby Boomers use Facebook (Marketing Charts)

• 68% of Gen Xers use Facebook (Marketing Charts)

• 75% of Millennials use Facebook (Marketing Charts)

• 59% of GenZers use TikTok, and 48% use Snapchat (TechCrunch)

Diversifying platform usage 

Generational cohorts also provide insights into how many different platforms users use. For example, Gen Zers are often very specific about the platforms they use and often go back and forth between a few at a time. In comparison, millennials regularly use a variety of different platforms. If your business targets Gen Zers, investing your time and energy into a few key platforms will offer more bang for your buck. On the flip side, if your target audience is millennials, you may want to opt for being on a range of platforms (The Manifest).

What THEY use social media for

Different generations even use social media for different purposes. Gen Zers generally use social media to keep up with brands and share pictures and updates. This is also the most likely cohort to use social media to "hang out and chat with friends" (Marketing Charts). The majority of millennials (75%) use social media to inform their purchasing decisions. And baby boomers report using social media for interpersonal reasons, like staying connected with friends and family (Forbes). Interestingly, when it comes to following influencers, 18% of millennials and 23% of Gen Zers report using social media to keep up with celebrities, while only 5% of baby boomers report this type of behavior. This highlights why influencer marketing is so successful among the younger audiences (Marketing Charts).

Is your business utilizing the power of generational marketing? Let us know in the comments below!

Written By: Leah Ross, AMR Digital Marketing, Copywriter