Understanding the digital audience

This is the first time in history, especially in the U.S., where there are four generations of people in the workforce. Simply put: we have a diverse group of people living today and all have different backgrounds and abilities.

Thus, in this digital age, it can be challenging to figure out which one is our target audience.

Recently, Mavrck, an influencer marketing technology company, released "The Influencer Marketing Guide by Demographic." It is a very detailed look at the different demographics that make up the population.

The company, in its introduction of the report, said, "We live in a technology-driven era with overwhelming domestic tech literacy amongst most living generations. But that doesn’t mean one influencer marketing strategy fits all. So many factors contribute to how consumers interact with social media and branded content. It’s impossible to generalize just how any singular consumer may react based on their age. What we can do is understand each generation’s tech literacy level and keep in mind the driving factors that define their lifetimes.

"Our demographic guide helps provide a foundational understanding not only of what formed each generation’s behavior, but what that means for social media and content creators. We’ll look at what each generation often values in a brand and a marketer, as well as the best platforms to reach each one. We’ll talk about opportunities and challenges for each cohort as well as the kind of content that drives engagement."

It is a 12-page report that breaks down the demographic categories such as Gen Z, Gen Y or Millennials, Baby Boomers, etc.

For example, when describing Millennials, the report says, "Millennials (sometimes called "Gen Y") reached adolescence and/or adulthood during the 2000s. They were early adopters on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. Elder and midrange Millennials taught themselves code during the MySpace era, IMed their friends over AOL in high school, saw firsthand the transition from track phone to Razr to iPhone. They’re well acquainted with the changing tides of social media and are now highly adaptable, tech-savvy adults."

Under each demographical category, Mavrck lists key events for that demographic, preferred social networks, top celebrity influencers and more.

The report also details social media platform use (with help from Pew Research). Here are the highlights of that breakdown:

• Most popular social media platform for those 65 and older: Facebook, followed closely by YouTube.
• Most popular platform for those 18-29: Instagram
• Most popular platform for those 30-49: YouTube
• Most popular platform for those 50-64: YouTube

You can download the full 12-page report here.