Marketing Across Generations

Updated March 2, 2025

Content to Fill the Gap

For your content marketing campaigns to be truly effective, they need to speak directly to your core audience. The best way to reach that “ready to purchase” buyer is by forming a very distinct picture of your ideal audience and then focusing your content marketing efforts in places where you’ll likely find them. All of that sounds fine and you’ve probably seen that advice repeated often. What happens when your key market spans multiple generations?

Defining Five Generations

It’s not that uncommon to have an ideal audience that spans generations. This was once a costly marketing endeavor that only large companies with extravagant budgets could hope to reach. Today’s savvy business owner can reach all segments of their core audience by customizing their content marketing.

Simply knowing the generation you’re targeting gives you a great deal of information on reaching them.

The Silent Generation. (Anyone born prior to 1945) This older generation tends to have more savings but they’re far more frugal with their money. This generation is not as likely to be swayed by impulse purchases. Many are motivated to leave behind a legacy, protecting their money so they can pass it on to their children and grandchildren. Marketers tend to reach this segment of the population via traditional advertisements because they are not thought to be technologically savvy. Some from this generation have email accounts and use specific websites though fewer are found on social media. Don’t write off this group yet.  According to Nielsen’s Global Digital Landscape Survey, 13% of this age group used a tablet to watch video programming and 8% used their smartphones in their home.

The Baby Boomers. (Born 1945 – 1964) Baby Boomers are found online in large numbers. Many purchase through trusted sites and use email regularly. A large number of this generation can be found on social media sites, such as Facebook. They pay attention to prices and research purchases so you can appeal to them with special offers and sales.

Generation X. (Born 1965 – 1977) Generation X is more comfortable online, makes purchases online and uses their phone and other devices, though not exclusively. This generation is capable of researching purchases and is represented on multiple social media sites. Gen Xers have financial resources and are known as wealth accumulators; they account for a significant portion of online retail purchases.

Millennials or Generation Y. (Born 1978 – 1995) This generation grew up as computers came into common use and they are very comfortable with technology. Marketing to this generation should use the latest technology and any online content should be mobile optimized as they tend to use phones and devices often. That said, this generation is very similar to their grandparents or great-grandparents. They are struggling with student loan debt. And The Great Recession had a major impact on their views toward spending, saving and getting a job.

iGen or Generation Z. (Born after 1996) Many marketers haven’t started looking at this generation, but that’s a major mistake. The oldest of this generation is just hitting college age and their purchasing power is often higher than that of their parents (partially because their parents are supporting them). They are native technology users and are more likely to purchase things recommended by their peers – YouTube videos, Instagram, and Tumblr are all platforms popular for this segment of the population. Marketing to this segment needs to be accessible via any device.

Many products and services can serve many markets and multiple generations? How is your message different?