Miriam Hara“The advertising world is a young person’s game.” We have all heard this statement before – but is it accurate? Social media, although not in itself ‘advertising‘ has carved out its place within branding in an effort to establish brand relevancy. Similar to any other industry, advertising has evolved to include a ‘holistic‘ communication approach. Am I being naive by saying that there is indeed room for the 50+ marketer within social media – that we are not over the hill? Didn’t we also hear, “Today’s 50 is the new 40″?
It may come as a complete surprise to many that some people consider the 50+ executive to be over the hill. This kind of thinking ultimately leads to the conclusion that those over 50 should not be trying to navigate social media! Think about this: Did you know that the over the hill demographic is the fastest growing of Facebook users. More than half of all online adults 65 and older (56%) use Facebook. This represents 31% of all seniors. It would seem then that being over the hill, is about getting social! Forgive me, I digress.
My point is to speak about social media in the context of building a social media team. Has the business of social media taken on the same youthful persona as advertising? Is the perception of business and their corporate human resource management that the 50-something professional is over the hill and therefore not capable of embracing the new, fast-paced and ever-changing world of social media?
Here are a few reasons why any human resource manager should consider a 50-something applicant to be part of their social media team, (providing that they want to be part of a social media team):
They have people experience. They have business experience. They have process experience. They have team culture experience. They have life experience.
Couple this wealth of ‘experiences’ with these three core attributes that any candidate, regardless of age, needs to have:
Here’s another statement that we’ve all heard before that still rings true: “Don’t judge a book by its cover” – even if that cover is on your eReader screen. Tap open the book, swipe through the pages and you might be pleasantly surprised by what you learn.
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