What Do You Think, The World Started When You Were Born?!

I’m Lucky.  I’m Old.  At least that’s what my 6 year old told me recently.  I’m 41, so I am lucky enough to have grown up in a world without the internet which helps me appreciate it.  It also helps me factor in how technology is perceived differently among different generations.  I read a blog post recently that got me thinking a lot about this.

Most of us view the way technology has forever changed the way we communicate as a big advancement and a good thing.  Many would argue though, that it has promoted isolation and gives a false sense of community where people stay alone, communicating through tools instead of directly with one another.  Think about it.  How many of the people you connect with on a given day do you actually see face to face? I’ll bet it’s less than 10%. For some with huge followings on Twitter and Facebook, it’s less than 1%.

So what does this mean?

If you are marketing your business or selling anything, it means a lot.  If you are in your twenties and are just entering the workforce you never knew the world before the internet or cellphones and text messaging.  You are probably very comfortable sharing the minutia of your personal life with people you have never met via Twitter and Facebook. I know this is a generalization, but follow me here. It’s important, because it impacts your perspective, your point of reference.

If you are older it matters too.  Maybe even more. You may be charged with managing younger workers and at the very least you will be getting pitched ideas and opportunities from twenty-somethings.  There is a big difference between being aware that there was a world before, and having lived in it.  I know that my grandmother grew up in a world before television, but I have no personal reference about what that experience felt like.  How she learned, received news, was entertained, was so much different than my experience.

Feelings and emotions are everything with sales and marketing.  We make decisions based on emotions not facts.  The single most important factor in marketing is making an emotional connection to your target audience.  Don’t you agree?  If you are not a member of your target audience you need to keep these differences in mind.

Awareness makes us better

If marketing or sales is on your radar, you know that companies are using social media websites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to promote their brands, and in some cases carry entire marketing and sales campaigns.  It is very tempting to jump on to these sites because the cost is so low and the payoff can be so big.  But before you consider this for your business or consider pitching this path to your next prospect, make sure to factor in your audience’s point of view.

Be sure you have some specific goals and specific reasons for doing it.  Setting up a Facebook fan page for your business because “everyone is doing it” is probably not going to do much for you.  Your specific reason may be broad like, “Connecting with my customers and prospects on a more personal level,” or “maintaining a listening station so I am aware what people are saying about my business.”  Do some thinking before hand, though.

Are you a forty-something pitching a twenty-something?  The inverse? Are your prospects Millennials or Baby Boomers?  Don’t count out social media for older folks either.  More and more seniors are wading into Facebook, etc., because it is the best and sometimes only way to keep up with the grand kids.  I predict you are going to see this demographic exploding onto the social scene.  Don’t just assume because they are there, they “get it.”

We all need to keep generational differences in mind when we are crafting our message and communicating.   In the end, it’s really about creating and enriching relationships, right?  We want to get the most from our relationships with our friends, employees, bosses, prospects, right?