Talking about my generation: what Gen X thinks of your marketing strategy
In the first part of our new series on demographics, we ask a consumer from Generation X (widely agreed to be people that were born between the early 1960s to the early 1980s) what social media they use and what they think of financial marketing.
Demographics can be split in any which way you like, of course. You can refine your Facebook ads, for example, right down to cat lovers or punk rockers. Overarching all of that however, are the age stats on users of certain social media platforms. Stats that show older people (30 and up) are on Facebook, while the youth are to be found on Snapchat – or anywhere where their parents aren’t. What we don’t get so much of though, is what people of each generation think of ads and what they are using those social networks for, in relation to financial marketing.
We’ll be interviewing people from each generation over the next month. While not exhaustive by any stretch, we’re hoping these interviews will breathe a little more life into what can sometimes appear to just be a bunch of figures on a graph.
Name: Gareth Price
Age: 47
Occupation: Freelance journalist
Dwelling: South East
“I don’t think adverts for financial products really have had any influence on me. I suppose it’s because I know that financial products are more than just the headlines of an advert. It’s a complex purchase so I would make a decision on a number of factors, most of which I would gather for myself.
“When I’ve needed financial services, I’ve done some research online, general searches, articles, comparisons, and consulted with friends for any useful feedback about customer service. Adverts perhaps give me an idea of who the big players are in the personal finance market rather than attract to me certain products.
“I’d only stop using a brand if it repeatedly gave me bad service. If they bombard me with updates, I stop following them [on Twitter] but that doesn’t mean I’d withdraw my custom.
“The only financial product I’d have an issue with being promoted are payday loans. But gagging their marketing is not the point, I think regulation and law is the way to tackle it, which is happening as far as I know.
“I did learn about my car insurance company Footman James from its presence on Twitter, the motor press, and motor shows. So I approached them on the back of that, but I chose them because of the premium and policy they offered. Really helpful, responsive, communicative. Can’t praise them enough. Also, they are based in Dudley so their accents are ace.
“I use Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Facebook for fun, social stuff. I don’t tweet that much but I lurk to follow news, sport, entertainment, cultural stuff or use it to raise issues with companies. It’s definitely my default first move with customer services. You get a response of sorts almost every time. I dabble with LinkedIn, mostly to follow who’s working or moving where in my industry and for the occasional interesting article.
“I’m not that familiar with what ‘capital at risk’ means on adverts, but I would take it to be a warning that a sum you have invested might not necessarily build, it might decrease, so make sure you can afford to lose it.”