Hardwood Floors April/May 2017

BUSINESS BEST PRACTICES

By Katrina Olson

MARKETING

Marketing Across Generations

iStockPhoto ©

For the first time ever, your customers fall into four different generations. This creates a wonderfully diverse customer base, but it also creates challenges for the marketing team. Of course, each generation’s work habits, values, interests, spending styles, skill sets, and world perspectives are all very different. But so are their communication styles, which affects how we market to them. For example, Millennials want “just the facts” in short, easily digestible bullet points accompanied by attractive graphics, ideally delivered digitally in a mobile-friendly format. A Baby Boomer will more likely seek out more-detailed information, perhaps on a website or in a brochure, especially when making a high-risk or important financial decision. So to get you up to speed, here’s a “cheat sheet” for the generations and how to reach them.

Traditionalists (pre-1945) Approximately 50-55 million

The most knowledgeable and wisest generation, traditionalists, care about respect and status earned through experience. They’re hardworking and loyal. They take pride in their work and in achieving a “job well done.” They are disciplined, dedicated, obedient, patriotic, patient, and loyal. They respect authority, put duty and work before fun, and place great value on “showing up.” Traditionalists value family and community and believe in giving back. Their communication is very clear and direct and presented in a formal, logical manner. They appreciate good manners, formal language, and proper spelling and grammar, and they dislike profanity. Traditionalists prefer written word and personal interaction to email or digital communication. How to reach them: • Show them that you appreciate their loyalty. • Don’t expect them to make impulse purchases; be patient. • Listen to what they want and need; don’t assume. • Use traditional marketing tools such as flyers, newsletters, and postcards, keeping in mind that some will use the internet to search for information.

• Use non-glossy papers and larger fonts for easier reading. • Use proper grammar and language to avoid offending them. • Use a single, dominant image or visual that evokes emotion.

the magazine of the national wood flooring association

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