Why brands should rethink social for Gen X

Despite their numbers and spending power globally, Gen X consumers are often ignored by brands and the advertising industry, particularly across social media advertising, according to new research from Wavemaker. 

In Finding the Gen X Factor, the media agency highlights a huge untapped opportunity for brands, especially when it comes to how they interact with this age group on social. 

Why Gen X matters

Gen X accounts for around a third of the global population (31%) and more than a quarter of global spending (27%), but only 4% of the ad industry’s research into different generations includes Gen X. 

Takeaways 

• Gen X is on track to be the most affluent generation of all time, as $70tn of wealth is passed to them from Boomers.

• 92% of Gen X use social media every day, half of them use TikTok.

• Gen X represents almost a third (28%) of TikTok’s user base but only 5% of brand spend on influencer campaigns.

• Only 13% of Gen X feel represented in the social advertising they see, but when they do see their generation represented it doubles their preference.

• Influencer campaigns tested performed far worse with Gen X than with Gen Z and millennials – 30% lower retention rates, 20% fewer interactions with the content and 47% lower impact on brand opinion. 

• Posts from Gen X creators performed better with that audience and are on average three-quarters (75%) longer than posts from Gen Z (10-25s) or millennial (25-45s) creators.

Key quote

“Gen X are more brand loyal, have longer attention spans and are more engaged on social media, ultimately proving to be more valuable consumers than their younger counterparts” – Zoe Bowen-Jones, Senior Insight Director at Wavemaker. 

Sourced from Wavemaker