Content strategy company Contently offers insight useful for entrepreneurs and anyone generating online content:Â Different generations have different online content habits.
The data is from a study by Fractl and Buzzstream, two content marketing agencies.
From a survey of 1,200 respondents segmented by generation: millennials (born 1977-1995), Generation X (1965-1976), and baby boomers (1946-1964).
Those surveyed were asked about their content preferences; whether they preferred long-form or short-form content, what makes them read one article rather than another, and what category of content did they most enjoy reading (sports, entertainment, finance, and so on).
Major Takeaways
Baby boomers prefer to consume content during the week. Â Only 14% consume 50% or more content on weekends.
Millennials prefer to consume content on the weekend.
Generation X falls between the two, consuming content during the week and on weekends.
Baby boomers prefer their content in short-form. More than 70% of baby boomers prefer videos to be 5 minutes or shorter.
Over 20% of both Gen-Xers and millennials prefer their videos to be longer than 10- minutes.
Across all three generations, 78%Â said that the headline of a digital piece of content is one of the most important factors in deciding if they want to read an article.
In addition, all three age groups said the article’s image and topic were also important factors in whether they read the article or not.
Baby boomers are less concerned about social engagement with regard to digital content. Eighteen percent of Gen-Xers and 20% of millennials value the social engagement.
Baby boomers prefer online content that focuses on health and news.
Gen-Xers prefer online content focusing on lifestyle, finance, travel, business, and automotive.
Millennials prefer content focusing on entertainment, technology, and education.
Both baby boomers and millennials prefer content that “surprises†or “amazes†while Gen-Xers prefer content they “admire†or “trust.â€