Building customer personas and making the most of targeted demographics in marketing involves categorizing consumers. They’re typically divided by broad-strokes categories, like gender, interests (including political affiliations), location, income brackets, race or ethnicity, life stages or milestones, generations and age groups. The latter presents a challenge for some marketing teams. Finding out what age group is most interested in marketing requires a delicate balance of reaching that group while maintaining brand messaging and values.
Understanding all of the above allows marketers or advertisers to better predict how those factors influence a person’s receptiveness (or not) to marketing outreach. Still, some segments might be more receptive than others, depending on the product or service the business is trying to market.
Any marketer wondering where to start with a marketing campaign and who to target should keep reading.
The Coveted Age Group for Most Marketing Campaigns
Generally speaking, the “ideal” group to target when marketing goods and services is the coveted 18 to 34 age range. Currently, this range of buying power straddles both Gen Z and Millennials. Historically, this group is the most active when it comes to engaging with marketing campaigns, acting as loyal brand evangelists, and attracting more consumers to a product or service.
Why is this age group so engaged?
Social Media Presence
Ever since social media became one of the preferred methods for communicating to and with consumers, the 18 to 34 age group has been the most receptive segment. This includes not just engaging with each other, but interacting with brands. From live streams to commenting, liking, or reposting original brand content, this is the group that’s driving the momentum.
One of the biggest rules of marketing is to reduce the barrier to entry. In the past, marketers were tasked with luring potential consumers away from social platforms to encourage either a purchase or signup on a third-party site. While the process worked, page abandonment and low conversion rates were a common byproduct.
Essentially, social media users were happy on whichever platform they were using. They weren’t sufficiently incentivized to leave their favorite online spaces and complete a registration or purchase on an external site.
While customer cycles still follow predictable behaviors, young people are less likely to think twice about making a purchase when they don’t have to exit their preferred app to do so. There’s incentive for marketers to reach consumers where they’re most likely to spend time. That’s why numerous social media platforms incorporate a native shopping experience.
This translates to increased conversion rates on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Flip, and WhatNot, all of which feature in-app storefronts. Thanks to built-in APIs that seamlessly link with a merchant’s back end, the shopping experience is cohesive for consumers while managing orders, fulfillment, and shipping are still native to the seller’s e-commerce platform.
Early Adopters
Of course, common behavioral trends might not apply to every young person. However, the 18 to 34 group tends to contain a lot of early adopters. In a bid to be seen as leaders and innovators, this group actively seeks new opportunities to present themselves as being ahead of the trends. They want to be the ones to say they put everyone else onto a product or service before it became trendy.
This can be used to a marketing campaign’s advantage as an early adopter is more likely to serve as a brand ambassador. From sharing content from bigger creators to creating and posting their own reviews or videos, getting consumers to help spread the word is a major advantage.
But Be Mindful of Caveats
It’s true that the 18 to 34 age range is the preferred option for marketing campaigns, but this isn’t a hard and fast rule. There are pitfalls to consider.
Build Customer Personas First
In reality, marketers should create a customer persona first to effectively identify their target audience before launching a marketing campaign. According to a study by ITSMA, 44% of brands use persona models. This persona isn’t a generic demographic overview outlining age, gender, location and household income. Personas delve deeper, building a framework behind the target customer’s motivations and purchasing journey. It’s normal for a brand to have more than one customer persona.
A landscaping company may, through market research, wind up with three customer personas. The first is the casual browser who knows they need a landscaping service, but is only seeking general information. The second persona may be the person who knows the services they need and is now comparison shopping between providers. They’ll request a quote before formally booking an appointment. The final persona has spent enough time educating themselves and researching available options, so they’re ready to lock in their choice.
The campaign strategy should always align with the customer persona to maximize results. Note that personas also speak to where in the customer journey a person belongs, which will influence how a brand connects with or markets to them.
Consider the Audience
Your business needs to market where your target audience is spending its time. Marketing 101, right? However, with all the new technology available for marketing campaigns, some brands are forgetting to go where their audiences are.
Everyone is on social media these days, even Baby Boomers. However, an insurance company targeting Baby Boomers probably won’t have much success with marketing on TikTok or Instagram. Of the Baby Boomers who use social media, 82% of this demographic uses YouTube, while 43% use Facebook. So, that’s where the insurance company needs to be.
Marketers also need to remember that an effective marketing strategy for this generation on YouTube might not work on Facebook’s text-and-image-heavy platform. Similarly, this age range may be more responsive to traditional promotional mailers sent to their physical mailboxes, or commercials that air on broadcast or streaming networks.
So, what does this mean for marketers? Social media isn’t a one size fits all solution. Do the research to know where your target audiences are spending their time. Different platforms appeal to unique audiences and failing to understand this can lead to lackluster results.
Don’t Rely Solely on Third-Party Outreach Solutions
Even if the core audience is the 18 to 34 age group, solely relying on social media is a big mistake for several reasons. Social media may be a consumer’s first interaction with a brand, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t later look for a corporate website.
Additionally, another rule of marketing is that data is king. Have a backup to social media outreach that ensures marketers have a way to contact consumers if a platform fails. From changing algorithms that drop rank to full shuttering, there are plenty of reasons to be wary of only marketing through social media.
A great example of this was the potential TikTok ban in January 2025. Small businesses that had built their foundations on the app found themselves scrambling to migrate to other commerce-first social platforms in the hopes of protecting profits. Without a reliable means of connection with followers on TikTok, these businesses are now essentially forced to rebuild.
Whether it’s collecting phone numbers and requesting SMS consent or signing consumers up for traditional email newsletters, take ownership of customer lists to protect against the “what ifs” of marketing through third-party platforms like social media. Additionally, always ensure that any branding or messaging released via social media is reflected on corporate websites or any other outlets where brand-relevant content exists.
Putting it All Together
Targeting the 18 to 34 demographic isn’t new in the marketing world. This segment has always been viewed as the preferred niche. However, marketers need to stay nimble as changing trends and attitudes about preferred social media platforms can influence how effectively a campaign can be launched and managed.
Similarly, before starting any marketing campaign, be sure to properly identify not just the target audience, but the customer personas to create strategies that are relevant and yield measurable results. And finally, while social media is here to stay, don’t underestimate the importance of having full data access and control.