Darn those Baby Boomers! If they would just get out of the workforce, everyone would embrace the new technology and there would be one way to market everything! But for now, the old hanger-onners are holding the rest of us back from marketing that is 100% driven by a phone app. Is that the way you feel about marketing these days? The old methods can’t seem to fade into the sunset as long as there are those traditionalists that respond to marketing methods such as direct mail, TV commercials, print advertising, outdoor signage, printed coupons, and paper, paper, paper! If you have the utopian view that there will be marketing harmony when there is no more marketing method diversity, let me pop the bubble you are living in and take you down a road called realism.

Every age group has their preferences. That includes their preferred way of communication. That preferred method of communication is established pretty early in our adult years – typically by the time we are 18-25 years old. We call this the coming of age period of life. After 25, we all are pretty well wired with likes and dislikes that we take with us the rest of our lives. For instance, if you grew up in a time when you went to a bricks and mortar store and talked to a sales person before a transaction, you might have a hard time with the younger set that prefers not to make eye contact with anyone unless they are Skyping with them. They would rather make all purchases online, preferably with a mobile device, through Amazon, and without talking to anyone verbally during the purchase. If there is any talking to be done, it will be done with an emoji ;)

If you think you can tie up marketing for now and the future by putting it all online, think again. Marketing on social media, search engines, and web sites is a great method to get in front of the Millennial demographic, but there will be a new method with the new generation… you can count on that. When we decide our generation’s preferred method of communications, we typically kick the old method to the curb. Smart companies understand how this preference for communications can be used as a method to market to one particular group or another. For instance, American Telephone and Telegraph is the world’s largest telecommunications corporation. You know them as AT&T. They haven’t had a strong demand for telegraphic services for many decades. They also haven’t had a big need for landline telephone service. They are in high demand for mobile services that can stream lots of data. That streaming capacity is an opportunity for marketing, but it will not last past the present generation. The next generation will want something new. Just like the Boomers who preferred the telephone and dissed the telegraph, there will be something new that makes the Smartphone a museum piece.

If you are being smart, you will take the time to really understand the preferences of each age demographic you are targeting with your marketing. The method you use needs to match these preferences. And as new generations of young adults come of age, make sure you are noting the changing opinions of the methods you are using. You cannot use just one method, there are too many different age groups active at any given time. Thinking you can put all your marketing chips in just one method’s basket will leave you wanting for customers left on the outside of your choice and their preferences. It is a recipe for failure.

If I were to predict what the next generation will prefer, I would tell you that these things tend to cycle. For instance, is text messaging that much different than the telegraph that was cutting edge technology 100 years ago? Communications methods are going to change; it is inevitable. So don’t get too comfortable with all your current methods. They are good for now, but they will need to change in the future. Marketing always attaches itself to the next best communications method that is picked up by a new generation. Keep an eye on this for your marketing success.