Making Sure Your Marketing Is Multigenerational

Anyone foolish enough to spend significant amounts of time on social media may be under the impression that all generations loath each other and are perpetually engaged in a never ending and frankly embarrassing game of one upmanship.

However, in the world of marketing, we are only interested in communicating with people in the most positive manner possible – whatever generation they belong to. And, when it comes to marketing financial products and services, there is no such thing as a one size fits all marketing strategy.

Each generation is at a different stage of their lives and each of those stages comes with a completely distinct set of financial challenges, wants, and needs. Therefore, any attempt to market financial services to people needs to take these generational differences into account and make sure messaging is tuned to each.

This is what we call multigenerational marketing, and it can be the key to success in the business of financial products and services.

Generational Differences

So, what are the differences in financial needs between the generations?

Well, it’s pretty much common sense when you think about it. GenZ are thinking about university or renting their first home away from home, Millennials are getting married, buying property, and starting families, GenX are maybe branching out on their own or helping their grown children with the above, and Baby Boomers are looking to retire and enjoy their later years free of financial worries.

However, financial marketing – especially that turned towards investment – can often overlook all these demographics.

"While each generation is different, all of them are crucial to your growth as a financial firm,” writes the Opulent Media Group. "Financial services marketing often focuses on the silent generation (born between 1925 and 1945). They are perceived as ‘low hanging fruit’ investors with the greatest wealth. Although, it is worth noting that Gen X, Y, and Z are all investing heavily and planning for their long-term financial futures.”

As you can see, while these differences may be common sense, they will almost certainly require different marketing messaging to catch their attention and catching their attention can mean the difference between success and failure for financial brands. The Silent Generation will not be around forever and those financial brands which work to catch their attention today will have a far greater chance of retaining their business into the future.

A Multigenerational Mindset

Thankfully, we live in a time of unprecedented access to data and information regarding potential clients. And one of the easiest pieces of information to acquire about a person is their age.

This means when developing predictive analytic models, we can easily segregate data based on generation and then cross reference that with other basic demographic information such as marital status, dependents, employment status, land registry data, to acquire a complete picture of each person we are targeting with our marketing and know exactly what stage of their lives they are in and what financial products and services are likely to be of greatest interest to them.

The channels through which multigenerational marketing is delivered is also of key importance. Just taking social media in isolation, each generation has a different preference when it comes to the platforms they use. Older Millennials, GenX, and Baby Boomers can most frequently be found on Facebook, while GenZ tends to gravitate towards more visual platforms such as Instagram and TikTok – perhaps because they are tired of seeing their Millennial parents and Baby Boomer grandparents arguing on the former.

Therefore, you need to develop separate strategies for each of these platforms. Clearly posts which work on Facebook will not be suitable for a photo platform like Instagram or the quick fix micro-videos enjoyed by young people on TikTok.

Final Thoughts

We are likely on the cusp of an enormous transfer of generational wealth as the money kept by the very affluent Baby Boomers is passed to their GenX and Millennial progeny. Financial brands need to be aware of these changes and switch up their marketing to meet the needs of the future holders of this liquidity.

"We are at the threshold of major change, with $30 trillion expected to change hands in the next few decades,” continues OMG. "Generation Z and Millennials are increasing their investments and exploring other investment topics. Financial advisers should now connect with these groups to build long-term partnerships. A recent study of more than 400 financial advisers found that only 11% targeted millennial investors. Focusing on millennials’ investment needs is a missed opportunity, as they are the largest segment of the population, and as we have just discovered, they are hungry to invest!”

Multigenerational marketing is sure to be a hot topic at Future Digital Finance 2023, being held in March at the Hyatt Regency Austin, TX.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.