Segmenting customers based on demographics, like age, has long been a practice in marketing. Similarly, many marketing tools and media try to connect with behavioral patterns of different age groups, for example, assigning certain media consumption habits to specific generations.
However, many marketers often question the effectiveness of this segmentation approach. It can be overly generalized and not as efficient, especially in today's world where individual behavior varies significantly, and mass behavioral patterns are not as homogeneous as before.
This reminds me of the book "Stage (Not Age): How to Understand and Serve People Over 60--the Fastest Growing, Most Dynamic Market in the World." The book excellently explains how businesses today need to understand customers based on their "life stage," which can reveal many opportunities.
For instance, the Baby Boomer group, now over 60, is often perceived as old and inactive. However, if we look closely, we can further segment this age group into subgroups based on their life stages: Repurposing (those who have just retired and are finding new life goals), Relaunching (seniors starting new ventures), Legacy (preparing inheritance for their descendants), etc.
I believe this concept should be adapted by marketers if we want to enhance the effectiveness of our demographic-based strategies. We all know that the age range of each generation is too broad for accurate generalization. Segmenting by life stage can help us better understand behaviors, thoughts, and interests, creating new marketing opportunities. This approach can lead to the development of new products or services catering to specific stages, or even discovering new customer insights for future marketing strategies.
So, let's ask ourselves: if we were to segment our customers into different life stages instead of the usual age-based demographics, what stages would our target group have? What are the key insights for each stage? It's indeed something worth pondering.
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