Episode 30
Coffee Chats on Generational Marketing: Insights from Expert Janet Granger
Bridging the generational digital divide is crucial for effective marketing and communication in today's diverse workplace. Expert Janet Granger joins host Brett Deister on Digital Coffee: Marketing Brew to delve into the significant differences between generations and how they impact marketing strategies. Discover the importance of understanding each generation's preferred communication channels, from email and text to emerging platforms like TikTok and Discord. Janet shares insights on adapting to these preferences to improve internal and external communication while fostering respect among age groups. Tune in to learn practical tips for enhancing your marketing approach and connecting better with every generation!
Takeaways:
- Understanding generational differences in communication is crucial for effective digital marketing strategies.
- Older generations tend to prefer email, while younger generations favor texting and instant messaging.
- Creating a respectful workplace culture involves recognizing and valuing different generational perspectives.
- Training in new technologies is essential for bridging the digital divide between age groups.
- Recognizing that stereotypes about younger generations being lazy are often misguided and harmful.
- Effective communication requires adapting to the preferred channels of each generational group.
Links referenced in this episode:
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Transcript
That's good.
Brett:And welcome to a new episode of Digital Coffee Marketing Brew.
Brett:And I'm your host, Brett Dyster.
Brett:And this week we're talking about digital marketing, but specifically generational divides.
Brett:Digital divides.
Brett:All the things we actually do talk about in social media, but not in a negative way.
Brett:We're actually going to be positive about this one.
Brett:Instead, just talk about like the differences between each generation because it is important, especially as a PR and marketer, to understand these differences and to try to speak to those audience.
Brett:But with me, I have Janet with me and she is basically one of those that knows what she's talking about with the generational divide.
Brett:She talks about the digital divides and all that stuff.
Brett:She also has a.
Brett:Has a book as well that specifically talks about that and she's just great to have on the show.
Brett:So welcome to the show, Janet.
Janet:Thanks so much, Brett.
Janet:I appreciate it.
Brett:And the first question is, all my guests is, are you coffee or tea drinker?
Janet:Coffee.
Brett:Coffee.
Brett:Specifically serious coffee.
Janet:Yeah.
Janet:I like dark beans.
Janet:I like a strong cup of coffee.
Janet:I drink it black.
Janet:Yeah, I.
Janet:And it's funny because as I've gotten older, I find I really appreciate the bitterness.
Janet:I didn't like bitter when I was younger and it's like a thing as you age, you tend to like more bitter things, which is I love bitter chocolate, the whole nine yards.
Brett:So more power to you.
Brett:I still cannot like the dark chocolate no matter what I do.
Brett:It just way too long.
Janet:Give it 10 years.
Brett:Fair enough.
Brett:I gave a brief summary of your expertise, but can you share with our listeners a little bit more about what you do?
Janet:Sure.
Janet:I've been doing digital marketing since digital marketing existed because long before Internet there was this thing called direct mail.
Janet:I did that for a few years.
Janet:But that got it's really good background in terms of things like target marketing and understanding your demographic and, you know, buying lists the way sometimes you'll buy email lists.
Janet:Now there's a lot of similarities and the strategic part of understanding your target market and understanding messaging and messaging for each target person, that's constant.
Janet:It's just the channels that change, frankly.
Janet:And so been doing that for a very long time and have my own agency.
Janet:I'm based in South Florida, but I spent most of my career in the northeast.
Janet:And this expertise, as it were, in dealing with younger, especially tech teams comes from the fact that when you do marketing, it's typically people in their 20s and early 30s that are actually executing the marketing.
Janet:Especially with digital transformation, there was a lot of reliance on These teams to help make the transformation possible.
Janet:And what I've been doing since day one, I started as one of those people in my 20s and early 30s, doing the thing, doing the work.
Janet:And then that as I aged up, the teens stayed the same.
Janet:And it's a matter of understanding now that I'm not in that demographic, how they think, how they work, what makes them tick, what creates a really good working situation with them.
Brett:All right, Main thing is that we're all Generational differences are huge.
Brett:I'm an older millennial.
Brett:I saw like the rise of the computers, DOS, Windows 95, Windows 98, like all the old stuff that people don't know.
Brett:I remember floppy disks.
Brett:I remember when the Internet was new, I remember when email was new.
Brett:So what are the different generational things?
Brett:Because like my age range saw ev.
Brett:All the new tech stuff coming up.
Brett:So we dealt with the ins and outs of dial up modem.
Brett:If people understand that was pretty annoying after a while and how that got better.
Brett:But what are the differences between all of them?
Janet:So the differences have to do with how age groups prefer and are best at communicating.
Janet:And by that, older people like me are, we were raised on email, we know what to do with email, we respond on email, et cetera.
Janet:And the problem now is there are so many other channels and some people prefer one channel over another.
Janet:Now you can make generalizations about age groups.
Janet:You could say, I hear a lot of my peers be very frustrated that like they're doing everything on text.
Janet:I get these huge texts to a group of 20 people and why are they doing that?
Janet:Is because they always have their phones on them and if you text them, that's the best way to reach them.
Janet:And I had a real coming to the mountain moment when I was texting back and forth with my son.
Janet:And at this point he was early 20s and I got.
Janet:My thumbs got tired and I was like, I'm just going to call him, we're having a conversation.
Janet:And I called him and he answered the phone with the question, why are you calling me?
Janet:Depending on the age group, there's a certain comfort level, right?
Janet:I felt more comfortable just picking up the phone and calling him.
Janet:And he's, I don't want to talk to anybody.
Janet:Don't call me, even my mother.
Janet:And if you don't understand that as someone whose job it is to be in communication as a digital marketer, then you miss the boat entirely in terms of maximizing the communication channels for your own team, for your own company, for dealing with your customer, right?
Janet:You could say to a customer or client, how do you prefer that I get a message to you?
Janet:Do you want to get on my Slack channel with me?
Janet:I'm happy to slack you back and forth.
Janet:Will they use Slack?
Janet:Do they know what Slack is?
Janet:Do they trust Slack?
Janet:Or if you're in a Microsoft environment, do you want to do this on teams and what are the limitations of teams?
Janet:So I think it's understanding that there are now so many more choices to have these communications.
Janet:Do you have a project management software?
Janet:Is that where all your files are going to be held?
Janet:Right.
Janet:Or are we slacking files back and forth?
Janet:You know what I'm saying?
Janet:And that is a generational thing in terms of comfort level.
Janet:And you can teach an old dog new tricks if you give them time and hold their hand and walk them through the software.
Janet:I'm in the middle of learning Notion now because we've decided as a team, my team is going to use Notion.
Janet:So it's just, it's being sensitive and understanding that there's a different level of sophistication in each age group, deciding what's best for the age for all of you and then just accommodating the people.
Janet:So hey, need to hold your hand to get you up and running in Notion.
Janet:Right.
Janet:But we're going to use Notion, so figure it out.
Janet:Is that helpful?
Brett:Yeah.
Brett:And you could also put in Discord as well, because Discord is now like the community aspect of it used to be just about gaming, but now probably some of the younger generations prefer Discord over Slack, over teams and all that other fun stuff.
Brett:So you got eight different systems for eight different generations that you've got to learn because.
Janet:Or you decide on one and everyone gets on board with that one.
Janet:I will tell you, I didn't even have to use WhatsApp until I was dealing with a client and we were in different countries.
Janet:Well, the only way to text somebody in a different country or the easiest way is to use WhatsApp.
Janet:Right.
Janet:So there are all these tools out there and we all get to decide which ones we're going to use.
Janet:So we're all on them.
Janet:But I actually did a little video, it's on YouTube.
Janet:I was so frustrated with a client because he would slack me a message, I would slack him back and he wouldn't see it for two days and then get mad at me.
Janet:But if I texted it back to him, he saw the answer.
Janet:So it's.
Janet:So you're now training me not to use slack even though you slack Me.
Janet:What is that about?
Janet:You have to decide what channel are we going to use.
Janet:That means you have to be on it and using it.
Brett:Ari just may not have it on his phone too.
Janet:Exactly.
Brett:So he doesn't see your.
Brett:He doesn't see your slack.
Brett:He just sees it if he's on his computer and if he doesn't have it on his phone, then he's never going to see it until he's back on his computer, which could be a.
Janet:Couple days and that doesn't work.
Brett:Got you.
Brett:And even from like Millennials and Gen Z, Gen Z disseminates their information they get not from news sources anymore, but from TikTok.
Janet:Yeah, I mean it.
Janet:Yeah, TikTok is now where they search.
Janet:The biggest search engine for them is TikTok.
Janet:As opposed to just, I don't know, five, seven, 10 years ago, YouTube was the biggest search engine.
Janet:Right.
Janet:So literally it changes depending on who you are and where you live and all those good things.
Brett:And for marketers, what's if they have different generational customers?
Brett:Because some industries can be like multi generational.
Brett:How do they figure out how to do it for each one of them?
Brett:Because each one of them, like Millennials, they could be on YouTube and stay on YouTube.
Brett:For Gen Z, like we talked about, it's going to be primarily TikTok.
Brett:For Gen Xers it may be social media, but email is probably better.
Brett:And then for Boomers it may just be mail specifically.
Janet:I think that first of all there's two things going on, right?
Janet:There's internal communication and I think that the leadership gets to decide from an internal perspective.
Janet:We're going to use, we're all going to be on teams.
Janet:I know you guys hate it.
Janet:Everyone does hates the Microsoft Suite.
Janet:But all of our systems are on Outlook and so we all have to communicate on teams and SlideShare, side SharePoint, all that stuff with our clients, we're going to use X, Y and Z.
Janet:But the key is understanding that you have to have these conversations and you have to make these decisions or people are going to be all over the place.
Janet:If you're not prescriptive internally and externally, communication is just going to be a nightmare back and forth.
Brett:We can almost add in now AR or augments reality because Apple just launched or is launching their Vision Pro that they announced in CES are finally launching.
Brett:So it looks like we make it even more tech that we have to figure out how to disseminate between each other.
Brett:Because even though AR doesn't really, it just makes it a different way of seeing tech, it's still going to be, the new generation wants to do the new thing because the new generation wants to forge its own path.
Brett:So we have to figure out how to communicate with them.
Brett:Maybe you want to use this, but the older ones don't really want to use this because it's new and we don't have time or want to deal with new stuff.
Janet:Here's the thing that's never going to change.
Janet:You are always going to have to train people in the new thing.
Janet:And the people you're training could have been at work for five years.
Janet:They could have been at work for 25 years.
Janet:But if you don't build internal training into your workflow, like part of your employee development is training, right?
Janet:If you don't, if you don't build that training in, then it's going to be like garbage in, garbage out.
Janet:If communication's a mess, it's because you didn't train people on how to use it adequately.
Brett:So is basically bridging the digital divide, just making sure that we're.
Brett:It's like a standard.
Brett:Like, we're just going to use this.
Brett:If the younger generation doesn't like it, tough.
Brett:Figure out how to use it.
Brett:Like, it's not optional, it's mandatory that you have to use this one thing because we're not going to be going to five different apps because you prefer five different ones.
Brett:Communicate.
Janet:So managing.
Janet:Yes.
Janet:The answer, the short answer is yes.
Janet:At some point, management gets to tell you, like, these are the platforms we're going to use.
Janet:If you think they're terrible, come tell us why and make a good business case for why we should switch.
Janet:So that empowers younger people to go, yeah, this one's better, and here's why.
Janet:But you need a business case, right?
Janet:A use case.
Janet:Having said that, the issues and the generations are not just at the communication and tech level.
Janet:They are actually at a higher level where people are not respecting one another.
Janet:And so there needs to be a whole different sort of training that goes on internally so that everyone is respected, everyone's opinion is taken into account, and people start to deal with one another more respectfully.
Janet:And my book, okay, Boomer Revelations of a Baby Boomer Working with Millennials, outlines some of actually the brain activity that's going on and why all this bad behavior is happening.
Janet:Because at a very fundamental level, everyone is dealing with their emotions at work.
Janet:And if you don't understand that everyone's emotions are coming in the door with them when they come to work online, or in real life, then you're never going to get to the heart of the problem of why the generations are not communicating with each other.
Janet:It ain't just tech.
Janet:It's how we are literally approaching these conversations with one another.
Brett:It's almost like the younger and the older need to.
Brett:And maybe this is a societal thing too because of just how much we don't try to listen to each other, even though we disagree.
Brett:Because everybody's gonna, everybody's gonna disagree with everybody.
Brett:It doesn't matter if your best friends or your frenemies or whatever, you're never going to 100% agree with everybody, anytime, any, throughout your life.
Brett:That's just, I just, that's the truth of it.
Brett:So it feels like that we need to come together and be like, look at, yes, you're the younger ones, but I've been here longer, so I understand this, but also respect that they want to try to help you out at the same time because.
Brett:And then on the adversely, the younger generation needs to understand that they've been there for a while, so they know what works.
Brett:So they may not like it, but they also understand what works and what is more direct with the communication, because older generations do, I feel like more direct and younger generations tries to beat around the bush and do a little bit more indirect communication.
Brett:So they're averse to conflict, but they're a little bit more passive aggressive.
Brett:But everybody's passive aggressive to a certain extent.
Janet:Okay, so you just threw five or six things at me.
Janet:So yes, the answer to your question is it is a much bigger conversation.
Janet:And I do tell people if, when they're starting out, hey, when you get to a place, just sit tight and learn how things are done.
Janet:Because if you think there's a better way to do it, you will only be listened to once you understand how things are done.
Janet:If you come in, oh, we should do it this way and this way without understanding why we're doing it this way.
Janet:Now, no one's going to listen to you.
Janet:But if you come in and get the lay of the land for six to nine months and see how all the things are done and why they're understand why they're done that way.
Janet:And you're like, you know what, there's this new software that would just level us up to here because it does X, Y and Z, now you're in a much better place to communicate that.
Janet:So yes, I think that older people at work need to be given the respect of, there's a reason we got here Knowing that if we've been doing it this way for 20 years, it should change.
Janet:Because that reason's probably gone and 20 years old.
Janet:But until you understand the history, you're not going to be as well respected or listened to when you suggest change.
Janet:You know why?
Janet:Because everybody hates change.
Janet:They're resistant to change.
Janet:And the only way you're going to make change is if you convince people.
Janet:You convince them, yeah, that way is better.
Janet:So it's worth going through the pain of making a change.
Brett:Which is funny because change is constant, but we hate it so much.
Janet:Yes.
Janet:And I am one of the very, very few people who thrives in chaos.
Janet:As soon as stuff gets comfortable, I'm always looking for ways to throw it up in the air again.
Janet:But not everyone is comfortable with chaos.
Janet:I very much enjoy creating order out of chaos.
Janet:That's part of what makes me tick.
Janet:But most people are like, just tell me what to do.
Janet:I want to know what to do, how to do it.
Janet:I will be happy then.
Janet:And that's what I want to do.
Janet:I don't want to have to come in every day and decide what is my job, how do I do that?
Janet:You know what I mean?
Janet:So, yes, it is.
Janet:Change is the only constant.
Janet:But people do hate that.
Brett:And for the bosses and just the stereotyping is Gen Z, Millennials are lazy.
Brett:They don't do work.
Brett:All they want to do is have fun and play.
Brett:And how do you like.
Brett:For the.
Brett:For that part, motivate them, but also break that stereotype that all Gen Z and all millennials are lazy.
Brett:Because pretty sure not all of them are lazy.
Brett:Just like Boomers, just like Gen Xers, there's a portion that's lazy, there's a portion that's really hardworking.
Brett:So how do you motivate those?
Brett:But also, how do you break that cycle of just thinking that every time Gen Z, millennial, they're all just lazy bums?
Janet:Yeah.
Janet:I basically tell them that this age bashing the youth are worth nothing.
Janet:Has been going around, I don't know, since the Greeks.
Janet:I give them just a very brief history lesson that, like, for hundreds, if not thousands of years, the older generation has been bashing the younger generation.
Janet:So stop.
Janet:And then I say, when you were starting out in your 20s, was there anybody who was old that kind of ticked you off that you can think of and you should.
Janet:Oh, yeah.
Janet:And like, I remember coming into this company and thinking, oh, he's dead wood.
Janet:He should go, okay, that's you now.
Janet:Okay.
Janet:Remember that moment.
Janet:So It's a.
Janet:It's like a come to the mountaintop with me of, okay, that's a really lazy, easy way to go.
Janet:Why not just figure out what makes these guys tick?
Janet:Because let me tell you, there's a lot of stuff that they care very passionately about that they would do a very good job at if you gave them the chance.
Janet:Having said that, I also teach office etiquette to Gen Z because they have no idea Covid did them no favors, frankly.
Janet:They had been stuck on their phones their whole lives.
Janet:So they don't understand in person etiquette.
Janet:They don't know, for example, that if you really want to make a good point with someone, you look them in the eye.
Janet:Some of them, you have to teach them that.
Janet:Right.
Janet:So as Simon Sinek said, here's what the cards you've been dealt.
Janet:Figure out how to use these cards.
Janet:Because teaching people good, soft skills is going to service everyone.
Janet:And assuming the best of everyone is always the best way to begin.
Janet:So that's what I tell leadership these days.
Brett:Yeah, especially if nonverbal communication is like what, 70, 80% of our communication as it is, it's probably hard for a generation that's lived on their phones to understand those nonverbal social cues as well as the older generation.
Janet:Well.
Janet:And understand when they're being passive aggressive.
Janet:You know, that's very passive aggression.
Janet:What?
Janet:What are you talking about?
Janet:When you sit there like this, people read.
Janet:I'm angry.
Janet:Are you angry?
Janet:Just teaching them the skills of this is what your body language is saying.
Janet:You don't even know that or me.
Janet:Like, I didn't even know until I went online during COVID that my resting face was a frown.
Janet:Well, a frown meant I was thinking.
Janet:But now I know that I can smile while I'm thinking.
Brett:It's true.
Brett:We could all learn, like, how to do it better.
Brett:I know from communication classes that we.
Brett:A lot of times we don't even know that we're doing something wrong through nonverbal.
Brett:We just.
Brett:Because we don't recognize it.
Brett:A lot of times, and sometimes even our tone, we don't.
Brett:We think we're saying it this way, but people perceive it another way.
Brett:So it's always like a constant learning of, like, how can I do this better?
Janet:Always be learning, right?
Janet:Always.
Janet:We can always be better.
Brett:All right.
Brett:People are like, really interested in this.
Brett:So where can people find you online to get more information about all this stuff?
Janet:Sure.
Janet:Thank you.
Janet:So I'm@janetgranger.com I have a website I also do 2beagles marketing which that will be live soon.
Janet:2beagles marketing.com and I have created a whole platform for people who are interested in how to up level their career which is marketing career, mentor101word.com if they want to read the book on the brain science behind what's going on in this age bashing era at the office.
Janet:I wrote the book okay, Boomer Revelations of a Baby Boomer Working with Millennials and it's available on Amazon or they can go to my website and download it as a PDF.
Brett:All right, any final thoughts for listeners?
Janet:My final thought is don't give up.
Janet:Don't ever give up.
Janet:There's always hope.
Janet:It can always be better.
Janet:And some sometimes giving people the benefit of the doubt is the nicer way to go.
Janet:If we can be anything in this world, let's be nice.
Brett:All right.
Brett:Thank you Janet for joining Digital Coffee Marketing Brew and share your knowledge on the generations and the digital divide and tech.
Janet:Thank you so much Brett.
Brett:I appreciate being here and thank you as always.
Brett:Please subscribe to Digital Coffee Marketing Grow and all your favorite podcasting apps with a five star review and hit that like button for the YouTube and the rumble as well.
Brett:And join us next week as talk to a great thought leader in the PR marketing industry.
Brett:All right guys, stay safe.
Brett:Get to understanding the different generations, your bosses, your employees and getting to respond better to them and be nicer to them.
Brett:See you next week.
Janet:Later.
