Back in the mid 90’s, David Foote used the metaphor of a “pig in a python” to describe the impact that the retiring baby boom generation was going to have on fabric of Canadian society. It was a powerful and useful metaphor that helped his national bestseller, Boom, Bust and Echo, widely communicate its useful core messages on demographic shifts.
I thought of David’s bestseller last week when I saw this chart produced by Business Week based on Forrester research, which outlines in startling detail the next “pig in the python”, the generational usage of social networks.
I’m often asked in investor meetings how important we see social networks being in our marketing strategy for the company going forward. I’ve always answered with a simple response, “essential”. This chart makes that response even more salient.
I see Forrester’s chart being unequivocal in its lesson. If you are focused on the under 30 crowd for your company’s product or service, you have to be looking to social networks as a destination for some of your marketing attention. The good news is that these sites are becoming increasingly easy to become part of and will likely continue to be so in the future given how successful this strategy has become.
Editor’s note: The Forrester research mentioned above is available for purchase on their site.