Blink:

I began my marketing journey as a B2C marketer, Consequently, in addition to staying abreast of state-of-the-art digital targeting trends (a.k.a. psychographic profiling), I am always researching the latest advancement as it relates to consumer targeting. Two consumer groups smart marketers currently covet – older people and blacks.

Read On:

When targeting consumers, smart marketers whether they advocate conventional targeting or advanced targeting, always start the process by researching/identifying their potential targets’ data points.

• Older adults – U.S. households headed by people 55 or older hold $92.3 trillion or 69 percent of the country’s total wealth. Today older people are wealthier than previous generations, a statistic which will continue to increase since data scientists project by 2060, 95 million people (23 percent of the population) will be 65 or older, up from 52 million in 2018 (16 percent of the population). Marketers have learned to focus on the lifestyle of older buyers, developing products and services that meet their specific needs without broadcasting old age or senior citizen.
• Segmented Black Consumers – Black consumers are a growing economic bloc; an estimated $910 billion in consumption in 2019 to $1.7 trillion by 2030 equivalent to the projected GDP of Mexico. Consumer research conducted by McKinsey & Company revealed a high percentage of Black Americans believe they do not receive fair or equitable treatment as consumers, thus are dissatisfied with the products and services that meet their needs, as well as supporting their financial health and security. McKinsey and Company’s research identified seven distinct segments primarily based on household income and geographic location (e.g., communities with lack of retail accessibility known as product deserts, growth communities with wealth and social mobility, etc.). Outside of low-income Black Americans living on a tight budget, on the whole Black consumers seek quality and brand credibility over price attributed to the fact they are highly engaged researchers and influencers. To me, McKinsey’s in-depth, detailed Black consumer research across a wide scope of business sectors (food, auto, apparel, consumer technology, banking, insurance, beauty, health & wellness); further validated when it comes to targeting Black consumer buckets today, one size does not fit all. This much I do know, it would behoove smart marketers to develop all-encompassing, credible content free from biases and fluent to Black American communities.  

Opinions welcomed!