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When I was a kid, I was trained to do category type searches by the Dewey Decimal library system. Later, as I got older, the Yellow Pages reinforced this category type search.
When I needed my Hair Cut I let my fingers do the walking and I looked up Beauty Salons. If I needed to drop a few pounds I looked up weight loss.
And I’m not the only one.
These category searches are so programmed into how we look for information, that they’ve become some of the most competitive keywords on the net: “travel”, “weight loss”, and of course, “sex”.
Why?
Our neural networks have been programmed to do Category type searches. But the average 16 to 24 yr old doesn’t know how to do category level searches. If a 21 yr old has a leaky sink, they’re going to search under “leaky sink” not “plumbers”.
Why don’t the Millennials use Category Search?
(The Millenials are the generation born from 1980 to 1995. They are currently our biggest demographic. With 79 million, they even outnumber the Baby Boomers)
1) The Millennials Brains do not have the same neural networks that ours do
That’s a fancy way of saying that they haven’t been trained to use category search. Young people no longer use the Dewey Decimal system and paper Yellow Pages. If they want to find something they go to a computer terminal and look up exactly what they’re looking for. And with a few refined searches, they usually find it.
The internet (which wasn’t in mass consumption when we were kids) allows Millenials to search in natural terms. There is no need for them to “re-train” their brains to think in terms of Category Search the way generations before have.
2) The Search Engines are smarter.
When I first started using the internet in 1991, it was really difficult to find anything. The search engines couldn’t handle more than a couple of keywords and the average searcher didn’t understand Boolean Search.
In fact, search engines are so smart now, they can compensate for the fact that I can’t spell. I can search for “boulian search” and get the “hey dumbass, did you mean?” result:
Okay the dumbass part was mine - Note to Google: the next evolution of search should include an opt-in to make search more FUN (you know, for the Millenials)
In fact, the latest advancement of search has Google recently putting stop words (I, and, in, the, etc) back into Search. Barry discusses it here with links to Bill and Dan.
3) The Millenials are a Demand Generation
They haven’t known Depressions, World Wars, Oil Crisis’s and rampant Inflation like our grandparents, parents, and us. They haven’t had to worry about goods being in short supply. It’s about them and their needs. I don’t need a beauty salon I just want my hair cut.
So what’s the implication of this?
Category type keyword phrases such as “weight loss” and “plumbers” is fine if your target market is 30+. But if you’re marketing to the 16 to 30 demographic then you had better have a very robust long tail strategy.
And if budget is a consideration (when isn’t’ it?) and you have to make spending decisions, you may even want to forgo those pricey category keywords in favour of the long tail.
As the Millenials start to dominate the economy, smart marketers will think about how to better market to this demographic. From a search perspective, this has a tremendous implication on Keyword Strategy and how we optimize sites. Optimizing for the long tail is now much, much, more important.
It’s not about targeting thousands of additional keywords by cranking out tons of low quality content. It’s about finding really good ways to talk about your product or service in natural language. This could be in the form of articles, blogs, or user generated content.
So Nike, Pepsi and Wii: when I search for “Dude, I’m Phat!”; “Crush my thirst” or “I’m bored”
I’m not finding you … and neither is your target market.
As posted in SEO.
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17 Responses to “Dude, I’m Phaaaaaat!”
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Express Marketing Memo Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 6:35 amChoosing the right keywords for your demographic…
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Jennifer Osborne at Search Engine People wrote an interesting post about the importance of understanding how your target audience searches. She describes how a 40-yea… -
Kelsey Group Blogs » The Yellow Pages “Keyword” Version Says:
January 31st, 2008 at 8:50 am[…] read with interest a recent post by Jennifer Osborne on Search Engine People regarding how Millennials fundamentally search for products and services differently as compared to […]
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Kelsey Group Blogs » TKG Data and Analysis: A Weekly Recap Says:
February 5th, 2008 at 4:32 pm[…] Yellow Pages ‘Keyword’ Version I read with interest a recent post by Jennifer Osborne on Search Engine People regarding how Millennials fundamentally search for products and services differently as compared […]
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Local Searchers Hunt for Ideas, Not Categories | Local Search for Local Business Says:
February 14th, 2008 at 3:02 pm[…] such interesting blog post by Jennifer Osborne discusses how millennials, the generation born from roughly 1980 to 1995, no […]
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Understanding Google Maps & Yahoo Local Search » Local Links of Interest | Developing Knowledge about Local Search Says:
February 15th, 2008 at 11:53 am[…] such interesting blog post by Jennifer Osborne discusses how millennials, the generation born from roughly 1980 to 1995, no […]
January 30th, 2008 at 7:48 am
This is great, original thinking Jenn. I’ve not really considered the nuances in search marketing across generational spans before. I’ve always seen it as being more in the realms of the traditional methods of advertising and marketing (who, incidentally, always seem to get it tragically wrong when it comes to anything regarding youth).
Great article.
January 30th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Fo shizzy!!!!!
This could be my favorite of all your wonderful posts, Jenn!!
Shana
January 30th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Very insightful post.
There was a great book written in the 80s called “Media and the American Mind.” I still recommend it to my clients who are trying to gain a better understanding of how important media shifts are to understanding key demographics.
January 30th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Good post - but it’s not demographics
Do a Google trend on the search terms
If it was demographically caused, then cities with younger median ages should have different results
They don’t
People’s thought processes are different - which makes them search with different terms
January 30th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Great article and a whole new spin on keyword research & long-tail targeting!
January 30th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
That post was sick!
January 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Metacognition is my favorite meta of all.
Never met a cognition I didn’t like.
January 30th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I take your well-made point on Millenials. However, marketers have always been taught to meet needs and solve problems - so key terms like “baby christening present” and “holiday reading” should already be commonplace. Not a million miles from your “crush my thirst” example.
January 30th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
Nick, Shana and Erica - thank you! btw, I haven’t heard that one yet Shana!
Thank you Ray, I will look for that book.
Dev - that’s good right?
Elizabeth - I LOVE your comment!!!
Alan - point taken
January 30th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Thank you Peter - I didn’t realize that there was that much differentiation in age on a by city basis. I’ll have to look into this further.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Jennifer Osborne
Ya, you are right that If we need to search my Hair Cut we look up for Beauty Salons. And this is showing the importance of category while searching for information easier.
You know why web directories exists today? Because they target middle and old age audience who are so habitual to these category based searches that they even ignore search engines some time.
So If we need to target middle age and old age people, submission to web directories will be very much important step.
Regards
imBuntu
Directory Maximizer
February 17th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Good point and I agree that there is a difference in the way people search although I would think the trend is moving towards more natural search and away from categories, even for Baby Boomers.
Not only is this a very important factor for Marketers to consider, it’s equally important for online directories and the yellow page industry in general. Granted, you can’t “search” naturally using a printed yellow page book but most yellow pages have an online equivalent and few offer anything close to natural search.
This is one thing we’re striving for at Bizwiki (see the initial version at www.bizwiki.co.uk). No one, not even Baby Boomers, want to be limited to searching the way the site wants them to which is what a lot of online yellow page sites have been doing until relatively recently.
I know that Michael Taylor at the Kelsey Group mentioned that there are further tentative moves in this direction which is good news for all internet users.