By bbr

by Sarah Warlick, content director

Does the term, “All skaters, change directions!” mean anything to you? If so, you are probably Gen X.

People of every age need professional services. Still, it’s not always easy to connect with the very people who could most benefit from your help. 

Boomers and Millennials, Boomers and Millennials. The marketing world seems to talk endlessly about these two power generations, but what of their unloved step-sister, Generation X? They get less attention and they’re fine with that, but your firm might want to take a little time to get inside their heads. After all, they’re in their prime earning years, or so the schedule would indicate. So what do you know about this demographic?

We didn’t grow up in the carefully cultivated household discipline of the 1950s and ‘60s, nor were we involved in the fun chaos of the late ‘60s. We also didn’t share in the Millennials’ delicately nurtured, thoroughly enriched and emotionally supported child-rearing environment. Instead, we roamed the suburbs and cities at will as our parents embarked on journeys of self-discovery in the wide open ’70s.

The first latchkey kids, we were raised more by television and our own devices than were most children of other generations. Television talked directly to us though, so we weren’t lonely. Remember Sugar Bear, the pimped out dude offering us a thrilling buzz from a product with the surprisingly honest moniker of Super Sugar Smacks? (Just try it, kid. You’ll love it. The first hit’s free.) And the magnificently psychedelic joys of early Sesame Street? That stuff was awesome but it wouldn’t have gotten by the guardians of either earlier or later generations.

Our college educations cost us more, relative to the minimum wage and the available financial aid, than our parents’ did. With the growth of student loans to replace money that used to be delivered in the form of grants, many new graduates carried a huge educational debt that will be with us into our 40s…or our 70s, if we didn’t stay on top of it.

More than any other age group, we lost financial ground during the tough economic years from 2008 on. We’d already lost our sense of confidence in jobs as dependable, lifelong support systems, finding that the kind of stability and retirement plan our parents accessed through work wasn’t available to us, even though we often worked longer hours for a wage with far less buying power.

Trust isn’t automatic with us. Our early memories included the public discussion of war crimes, presidential crimes and the horrific crimes of the “other parent,” since we were the first group raised when divorce was common.

Still, we don’t spend a lot of time kvetching about our tough lot in life. We know that plenty of folks had and have it harder. We go about our business doing the best we can. We take care of children and parents, and step-relatives and extended family, all set adrift by difficult economic and social times. We manage to put food on the table, even when that means unpleasant jobs below our educational level or multiple jobs that render impossible the normal pleasures of family and recreation.

And through it all, we somehow manage to be a relatively cheerful group that relishes our individuality and our autonomy. We maintain a strong sense of humor, and we work hard. We’re an accepting bunch, lacking both the whiny slackness of the Millennials and the self-centered sense of entitlement that has been criticized as part and parcel of the Boomer experience.

So how do you market to the neglected middle child of demographic groups?

• Acknowledge that life is actually harder for us than the images of success we grew up with. We have to do more with less and we know it, but we’re determined to succeed anyway.

• Recognize that we’re doing the best we can and that doesn’t always look like a Norman Rockwell painting. Our lives, families and goals can be lumpy but they’re important to us.

• Respect our more minimal goals (like someday owning a house and being out of debt) as valid and challenging but worth striving for.

• Grasp that we’re pulled in a million directions, busy with meeting the needs of everyone around us but aware that we’d better tend to our own futures as well. Anything you can do to help us streamline our lives will make you very popular.

• Understand that we’re more used to doing things for ourselves than many who came before or after us. Many older generations had humongous skill sets that far outpace ours, of course, but we tended to figure out and fake a lot of things that were more normally approached with the help of professionals. That makes us a little defensive sometimes, but do try to work with it. Early self-reliance makes us hesitant to hand over the reins until we see evidence of good leadership.

• Expect to earn any trust you’ll get from us. You’ll have to prove your good intentions, competence and trustworthiness; they won’t be assumed.

Generation X is old enough to realize we need to get serious about all kinds of things we used to ignore. Now’s your chance to convince us that requesting your help is better than trying to wing it, as we’ve done in so many areas. If you can accomplish that, you’ll have lasting clients, because we’re very loyal to those who have earned our friendship and respect.