BANG! The generation divide is hitting home. Are you prepared?

Boomers vs Generation Y – the generational divide is making an impact on business and we all need to start dealing with this reality. Whether they are our customers or clients or vendors or referral sources or employees or partners, the differences in these generations need to be taken into consideration whether we like it or not. Generation Y thinks differently. They communicate differently. They have different values. And they have power.

From a marketing perspective, the way they think and the way they communicate have the most significant impact. Marketing is all about understanding your customer and creating products and services they need. Understanding how they think is critical to this process of creating relevant products and services.

Then you need to tell them about your product or service. So understanding how they receive and send communications is critical at this point. Only then can you create relevant marketing communications that encourage them to buy.

Remember you cannot sell something to someone that does not want to buy. What you can do is understand what their needs are and make products/services available that they will want to buy. These are opposing forces, and if you get it wrong you will likely fail.

As always, understanding the psychology of the buyer is crucial before you can design and develop your marketing material. Many businesses are happy to just put marketing material (flyers, websites, brochures, advertising etc) with a simple listing of product features in front of the buyer. Most often, that is simply not enough and the money spent on that marketing effort is a total waste. Really thinking about and understanding the buyer, and what will motivate them to BUY is crucial to the development of those materials and messages. Without that – well, I hope you have deep pockets! Generation Y will make you pay dearly if you adopt this approach – more likely they will simply ignore you and will pass your business by.

Digital communication, including the Social Media, is the cornerstone of the new generation’s style of communication. They do almost everything digitally, and in many instances have almost lost the ability to communicate face to face. I chuckle when my daughter tells me the story about her and her friends sitting in a circle at school, communicating with each other by text message – for them it’s become easier to use their thumbs rather than their tongues.

Whether we like it or not, this is the new world reality. And they are our future customers, clients, employees and bosses – if we don’t buy in to understanding this phenomenon, it may just leave us trailing in the dust.

About the Author

Neville Pokroy is a principal of Mastermind Solutions Inc. He runs the Marketing practice, which includes strategic marketing planning and execution, and now also includes the Digital Umbrella. Neville has over 25 years experience in corporate marketing and consulting in entrepreneurial businesses across an extensive range of industries. Neville’s special skills include the ability to translate his corporate marketing expertise into a disciplined set of marketing skills ideal for entrepreneurial businesses.

If you have any questions feel free to contact neville@mastermindsolutions.ca or 905-886-2235. Our discussions always start with YOUR needs. It’s the SMART way to go.

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