Knowing who you are selling to is a key part of any marketing effort. While researching for this ebook I found that published sources tended to categorise key demographics by “generation”. Here is a quick primer as to what these generations mean and to whom they apply.

Generation Z

Generation Z is the generation who uses Social Media the most. As book buyers, this generation is most likely to prefer digital ebooks. Although that is not to say that this demographic does not also buy physical books too.

Generation Z (or Gen Z), also known by a number of other names, is the demographic cohort after the Millennials. Demographers and researchers typically use the mid-1990s to mid-2000s as starting birth years. There is little consensus regarding ending birth years. Most of Generation Z have used the Internet since a young age and are comfortable with technology and social media.

Generation Z, Wikipedia

Millennials

Millennials are, on the whole, the second biggest users of Social Media. This generation is generally in their mid-20s to 30s and thus tend to be working with a larger disposable income. However, broad generalisations aside, characteristics of this generation vary considerably.

Millennials, also known as Generation Y (or Gen Y), are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media typically use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ending birth years. Millennials are sometimes referred to as “echo boomers” due to a major surge in birth rates in the 1980s and 1990s, and because Millennials are often the children of the baby boomers. The characteristics of Millennials vary by region and by individual, and the group experiences a variety of social and economic conditions, but they are generally marked by their coming of age in the Information Age, and are comfortable in their usage of digital technologies and social media.

Millennials, Wikipedia

Generation X

While not as active on Social Media as the younger generations, those that are active tend to have sufficient spending capital to readily buy books and other products that interest them. They are also more likely to be interested in physical copies of books.

Generation X (or Gen X) is the demographic cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the Millennials. Demographers and researchers typically use birth years ranging from the early-to-mid 1960s to the early 1980s.

Generation Xers were children during a time of shifting societal values and as children were sometimes called the “latchkey generation”, due to reduced adult supervision as children compared to previous generations, a result of increasing divorce rates and increased maternal participation in the workforce, prior to widespread availability of childcare options outside the home. As adolescents and young adults, they were dubbed the “MTV Generation” (a reference to the music video channel). In the 1990s they were sometimes characterized as slackers, cynical and disaffected. Some of the cultural influences on Gen X youth were the musical genres of grunge and hip hop music, and independent films. In midlife, research describes them as active, happy, and achieving a work-life balance. The cohort has been credited with entrepreneurial tendencies.

Generation X, Wikipedia

Baby boomers

While the least likely to use Social Media, boomers still use it in sufficiently large numbers. Thus, idea defusion could enable you to reach more than use Social Media if you can sufficiently inspire them with an idea that they wish to spread to their peers.

Baby boomers (also known as boomers) are the demographic cohort following the Silent Generation and preceding Generation X. The Baby Boom generation is most often defined as those individuals born between 1946 and 1964.

In Western Europe and North America, boomers are widely associated with privilege, as many grew up during a period of increasing affluence due in part to widespread post-war government subsidies in housing and education. As a group, baby boomers were wealthier, more active and more physically fit than any preceding generation and were the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time. They were also the generation that reached peak levels of income in the workplace and could, therefore, enjoy the benefits of abundant food, clothing, retirement programs, and even “midlife-crisis” products. But, this generation also has been criticized often for its increases in consumerism which others saw as excessive.

Baby boomers, Wikipedia