Marketing to the tech group and not the generation
polygon.com

Marketing to the tech group and not the generation

I had an interesting exchange on Twitter the other day with a contact of mine Adam Singer. @adamsinger. I had just posted an article that I thought had some good content around the emergence of live streaming and video, but a headline purely around Millennials . Adam immediately remarked “Not You Too Joe.” The Millennial fad is one of many to have peaked in recent years, but is that the group that we as business people should truly be focusing on?

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are in the middle of a tech catalyst, and have been for quite some time. Businesses are scrambling at the best ways to get the most out of mobile, augmented reality, programmatic ad buying, social media, virtual reality, and the list goes on. Marketing to generations has always been a steady way to target messaging, style, and design, but I want to think of it from a different perspective. Taking an augmented look at the diffusion of innovation model that focuses on marketing to the tech group rather than the generation we can see three groups; Tech nevers, tech mainstream, and tech forwards.

1. Tech Nevers – This group gets smaller every day. A report from eMarketer shows that only 18% of Americans will not be using a smartphone by 2019. For this small minority, billboards, tv ads, magazine ads, and the pony express are probably viable options. This group may be much harder to target, but traditional channels remain an option. Also, tech nevers may be less apt to have smartphones, but email and digital channels could be an option with ads placed on high traffic news, sports, or financial sites.

2. Tech Mainstream – this will be your main core group of tech users. They all have smartphones and HDTV’s. Also, over 1 in 5 have wearables. Many of them are cord cutters or cord nevers and adopters of Netflix/Hulu instead of cable television and many of them use Apple TVs. The way to reach this group is through mobile, social, and video. They want to see ads that are relevant to them and not just ones that are interrupting their YouTube video. Personalization and digital marketing that is A/B tested and driven by data can be a big boon to capitalizing on this continually growing group that skews younger, but ranges all generations.

3. Tech Forwards – This group bought the first iPod, the first oOculus Rift VR device, and were the first on “The Facebook”. They become a great group to test new marketing technologies on prior to rolling out on the tech mainstream. They will voice their opinions about how and when they are willing to see ads within their technology. They are demanding of their technology and like to be on the cutting edge of devices and how they are marketed too. If you want to test your VR ad strategy, some new personalization techniques, or ad buys on Hulu, you may want to isolate this group.

With tech changing each day and all generations adopting at a various pace, marketing focused on the tech groups rather than the generations could be a way to find a blue ocean of opportunity. At the very least it will get you away from being the next company to put out a piece of content around Millennials inspiring the question “Not you too”.

Nancy Myrland

LinkedIn™️ Coach For Lawyers | Legal Marketing & Business Development | Content, Social Media, Podcasting, Video & Virtual Presentation Consultant | Individual & Group | Speaker, Trainer & Advisor for Lawyers & Law Firms

7y

Amen! This definitely needs to be the approach as people of all ages are sliding into categories that others think shouldn't fit. Your and Adam's approach takes more thought....good thought. 😊

Keith W. Martin PhD

Honorary Consul for Kingdom of Morocco

7y

You gave me important information to think about in our fast changing times.

Leon Hidderley

Co-founder and Marketing Director | LoudLocal.co.uk 📢

7y

Good article and completely agree. Born in 1981 I fall into the so called Millennial generation, but it was my dad (a Baby Boomer) who got me into technology, beat me at various Nintendo games, bought me my first PC and taught me how to use it. On the flip side I know many people much younger than me who are technophobes and will wait until something is mainstream before adopting. A higher proportion of Millennials will inevitably be early adopters but you have to be careful you don't exclude other generations with your marketing. After all Baby Boomers and Gen X tend to be at a stage in their lives where they have a much higher disposable income and can afford to invest in new technology.

Monique de Klerk

Award-Winning Growth Marketing Leader | Driving Revenue Growth Through Data-Driven Insights and Performance Optimization

7y

Brilliant like it

Carlos Humberto Torres Anzola

General Creative Director Emozion sinfonía creativa (+29K )

7y

Cool

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