Recognizing Younger Customers

Maybe it’s my imagination but it seems that the average age of my business customers is going down.

In the late 1980s through the 1990s, most of my business clients were in their 40s to 60s. In the late 1990s to mid-2000s, the average customer was in their 30s to 50s. In the past six or seven years, it seems my average customer was in their mid-20s to mid-40s.

This is not to be confused with the fact that the overall workforce is slowly getting older [US numbers here]. And hopefully this is not about me getting old.

My customers include a wide variety of businesses from technology to healthcare to car manufacturing, from ad agencies to public relations companies, from universities to municipal governments, from small local companies to large multi-nationals. In general, the people I work with or those whom I photograph are mysteriously getting younger:

• I used to work with a car manufacturer’s media relations person who was in his mid-40s. Four years later, I’m working with the company’s 30-ish media person.

• My contact person at another car manufacturer was in her 40s back in 2012. Now I deal with someone in their 20s.

• I used to work with a municipal government’s communication person who was in her late 40s or early 50s. Now I work with someone in their 30s.

• Ten years ago, I did portraits of two hotel executives in their 50s. Now that Toronto hotel’s executives are in their 40s.

• In 2009, I did business headshots for a Toronto consulting company. Their five executives were in their 40s to late 50s. When I did refresh pictures earlier this year, three of the five executives were in their 30s.

• At an annual tech conference, it seems that the guest speakers and trade show presenters are getting younger. Each year, there’s less grey hair and fewer bald heads.

• In 2008, a pharmaceutical company’s marketing director was in her 40s when she hired me. In 2015, when I shot another set of photos for that company, the marketing director was in her 30s.

• In 2013, I photographed a small Toronto healthcare conference. The managing director who hired me was in her mid-40s. Three years later, I was hired again but this time, the managing director was in her mid-30s.

• In 2004, I photographed the 50-something CEO of a Toronto-based investment company. In 2012, I photographed the mid-40s CEO of the same investment company. In 2015, I photographed the 40-ish CEO of the same company.

• From 2011 to 2015, I did ongoing headshots for a large tech company. Initially my photo subjects ranged from their late 20s to late 40s. By the end, the people I was photographing were early 20s to mid-30s.

• Business portraits used to be mostly for senior executives. Now I frequently get requests for business headshots from people in their 20s.

Are older people retiring early or are they being pushed out? Interestingly enough, when I get a call from someone running their own small business, they’re always older, often in their 40s to 60s.

If customers for corporate photography are getting younger, [and here], perhaps it’s because younger people are more image-conscious and more photo aware. This might be because they spend more time online so they better understand visual communication.

If your customer base is getting younger then you should re-examine your marketing to make sure it appeals to the so-called Millennials.

Your marketing has to emphasize your skills and experience more than pretty pictures and price. Offer wisdom not sales pitches. Younger customers expect a positive customer experience, [and here], not just a sales transaction.

But then again, maybe it’s just my imagination.