Comments on: Do we really have a generational gap? http://www.b2bvoices.com/2009/06/do-we-really-have-a-generational-gap/ Thoughts on B2B marketing and PR in the new age..... Tue, 07 Feb 2012 18:28:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: David Holliday http://www.b2bvoices.com/2009/06/do-we-really-have-a-generational-gap/comment-page-1/#comment-31 David Holliday Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:34:06 +0000 http://www.b2bvoices.com/?p=75#comment-31 Hi Arik, I was happy to find your post on this subject, I've been meaning to do one myself and you've saved me the trouble :-) I find it really interesting that social media demographics seem to have changed over the last few years, from it being a kids thing to a boomer thing. I'm in my 50's by the way, so I guess I'm a good example! One thing that I wonder is whether this is going to turn into an advertising bonanza as predicted. Personally, I find that people I talk to of my age hate advertising and many - me especially - will go to some length to avoid it. In my home office I use exclusively Firefox with Adblock and I was appalled when I recently used Google Reader at work and saw all those ads which are usually wasted on me - hideous!! So I agree with you that numbers are just one part. If there are a lot of David Hollidays messing around in social media, marketers have got to work much harder and be much more creative to get their attention. Oh, I'm a B2B (hate that expression) marketing dude myself, so I'm glad I found this blog. Hi Arik,

I was happy to find your post on this subject, I’ve been meaning to do one myself and you’ve saved me the trouble :-)

I find it really interesting that social media demographics seem to have changed over the last few years, from it being a kids thing to a boomer thing. I’m in my 50′s by the way, so I guess I’m a good example!

One thing that I wonder is whether this is going to turn into an advertising bonanza as predicted. Personally, I find that people I talk to of my age hate advertising and many – me especially – will go to some length to avoid it. In my home office I use exclusively Firefox with Adblock and I was appalled when I recently used Google Reader at work and saw all those ads which are usually wasted on me – hideous!!

So I agree with you that numbers are just one part. If there are a lot of David Hollidays messing around in social media, marketers have got to work much harder and be much more creative to get their attention.

Oh, I’m a B2B (hate that expression) marketing dude myself, so I’m glad I found this blog.

]]> By: Anna Barcelos http://www.b2bvoices.com/2009/06/do-we-really-have-a-generational-gap/comment-page-1/#comment-30 Anna Barcelos Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:28:10 +0000 http://www.b2bvoices.com/?p=75#comment-30 Aaron hits it with adding/experimenting some of the social media tools in with some traditional marketing. It's very low cost to tack on social media initiatives, and for those more conservative folks, trial and error can be conducted without much financial risk. What you don't want to do is ignore social media altogether. Your numbers clearly indicate the high engagement rates. To not be a part of that somehow is just plain crazy. Aaron hits it with adding/experimenting some of the social media tools in with some traditional marketing. It’s very low cost to tack on social media initiatives, and for those more conservative folks, trial and error can be conducted without much financial risk. What you don’t want to do is ignore social media altogether. Your numbers clearly indicate the high engagement rates. To not be a part of that somehow is just plain crazy.

]]> By: Aaron Pearson http://www.b2bvoices.com/2009/06/do-we-really-have-a-generational-gap/comment-page-1/#comment-29 Aaron Pearson Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:28:22 +0000 http://www.b2bvoices.com/?p=75#comment-29 Arik, I agree that the ROI issue isn't necessarily harder for social media than for traditional paid or unpaid media. (it might be easier) But I think the issue is that because they have been around for a while, the role that those traditional forms of marketing communications play for a given B2B company targeting a given audience have become better understood, whether by research or anecdotal experience. As I see it, the path the target audience takes from complete unawareness to ultimately become a happy customer is undoubtedly being changed by social and digital media. Those who subscribe to a "This is the approach that's always worked for us," mentality to marketing promotions are probably underoptimizing their investments by following an old formula (and old might only be 3 years old). On the other hand, throwing a lot of money at social media to see what sticks is hardly a strategic approach. Ideally, I'd suggest combining a certain amount of low-cost experimentation with research into the target audience that reassesses the role that different forms of promotions and communications are playing in this new world, including traditional tactics like advertising, trade shows, and business or trade editorial, alongside blogs, LinkedIn networking, online video and all the other emerging channels. We can reduce risk and guesswork without too much time and expense. Arik, I agree that the ROI issue isn’t necessarily harder for social media than for traditional paid or unpaid media. (it might be easier) But I think the issue is that because they have been around for a while, the role that those traditional forms of marketing communications play for a given B2B company targeting a given audience have become better understood, whether by research or anecdotal experience. As I see it, the path the target audience takes from complete unawareness to ultimately become a happy customer is undoubtedly being changed by social and digital media. Those who subscribe to a “This is the approach that’s always worked for us,” mentality to marketing promotions are probably underoptimizing their investments by following an old formula (and old might only be 3 years old). On the other hand, throwing a lot of money at social media to see what sticks is hardly a strategic approach. Ideally, I’d suggest combining a certain amount of low-cost experimentation with research into the target audience that reassesses the role that different forms of promotions and communications are playing in this new world, including traditional tactics like advertising, trade shows, and business or trade editorial, alongside blogs, LinkedIn networking, online video and all the other emerging channels. We can reduce risk and guesswork without too much time and expense.

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