Marketing to baby boomers is more valuable and profitable than you think. Research shows that over 70% of the disposable income in the U.S. is controlled by baby boomers. This money can be spent buying your products and services. Furthermore, there are about74.9 million Boomers (ages 51 to 69) in the U.S.
However, Baby Boomers are frequently overlooked when it comes to online marketing strategies because of their generation and age. Contrary to this opinion, baby boomers are more active on social media and are more tech-savvy than most people realize. Baby boomers spend more time online than the millennial generation. Furthermore,51% of baby boomers spend 15 hours per week online, while only 41% of millennials spend the same amount of time online.
Developing a marketing strategy to target baby boomers can generate a lot of revenue for your business. So if you don’t already have a marketing plan to target the baby boomer generation, then this article is for you.
Who Are Baby Boomers?
Baby boomers refer to people who are born between 1946 and 1964. This generation still makes up a large portion of the United States population, with a 23.5 percent share as of 2019. They were the largest generation in history until millennials surpassed them. This audience age range includes people around 56 to 74 years old in 2020.
Baby boomers are always said to be self-assured, disciplined, resourceful, resourceful, and mentally focused. Furthermore, they are more financially stable with more disposable income and spend a considerable amount of time on social media, especially Facebook.
Some Important Baby Boomer Statistics
- There are 74million baby boomers currently living in the United States according to Pew Research Center.
- More than 50% of the U.S. population was over the age of 50 as of 2017
- About 70% of the disposable income in the U.S. is controlled by baby boomers.
- 15.5% of baby boomers who have a Facebook account spend 11+ hours per week on the site.
- 82% of baby boomers belong to at least one social networking site.
- 51% of baby boomers spend 15 hours per week online, while only 41% of millennials spend the same amount of time online.
10 Strategies for Marketing To Baby Boomers
A lot of baby boomers generation were not used to modern technology when they were growing up, unlike the later generations. Therefore, they might have a different approach to purchasing products.
1. Don’t Market to Baby Boomers using Slangs and Abbreviations.
Although baby boomers are more familiar with modern ways of life than most people think, you shouldn’t assume they know everything. Therefore, it is best to avoid abbreviations and slang as much as possible. And if you must use abbreviations or slang, make sure you explain to them so your audience fully understands your intentions. The same goes for tech terms and pop-culture references. Avoid using them if they don’t add to the value of your content. To get the best out of your marketing strategy to baby boomers, make sure you are spelling things out and being clear. Abbreviations can lead to confusion for any generation.
2. Engage with Baby Boomers on the Social Platform they use most.
Just like any other generation, marketing to customers should be based on the platforms they are most active on. You don’t have to be on every social media platform, just the one your audience (baby boomers) are most active on. Most baby boomers are active on Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest. Statistics also confirm that 15.5% of baby boomers who have a Facebook account spend 11+ hours per week on the site. You might want to focus on those platforms.
Baby boomers are more familiar with Facebook than any other social media platform. Many of them use the platform to keep in touch with friends, family, and loved ones and to stay informed. Marketers have a great chance of meeting boomers on this platform.
You can make use of Facebook ads and leverage the platform’s advanced targeting option to market to baby boomers. You can also use segments and advanced targeting to identify boomer prospects. For example, using factors like age, gender, geographic location, device, and interests helps narrow down who sees your ad. Using this approach, businesses can ensure their messages reach the baby boomer generation.
The Facebook platform has a vast collection of ads and ad types. You may use video ads or carousel and even text and image-based ads to reach the right audience.
To effectively target baby boomers on social media platforms, you need to think about what the person is doing on Facebook or YouTube. What are they watching? What are they looking up? Remember that this generation mostly uses social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to connect with their loved ones and learn new things. Statistics show that one in three of the baby boomer generation uses YouTube to learn something. Therefore, what you offer must resonate with what they want. It must be able to create value.
3. Create Value
Remember that the baby boomers grew up in a time when the entertainment industry and soap operas were not yet popular. This type of generation is more influenced by things that create value like the news, sports, and probably funk music. It is one of the reasons why they are active on YouTube because they use it as a source of learning. When you market, don’t just put your product or service there, tell them the reason why they have to buy your product. Make use of blog posts and post tips on your Facebook page that create value. Baby boomers react positively to information that proves your product is worth their money.
When it comes to e-commerce products, make sure you use clear headings and bullet points to convey key selling points. This makes content easier to understand and helps them digest information quickly.
When writing a blog post or other form of writing for boomers, focus on topics that are related to your service. For example, you can write about the “5 benefits of exercising every morning” or “why baby boomers need to keep in shape” if you are a fitness company. Overall, let them know the benefit your product or service will provide based on their overall financial investment.
4. Make Sure Sites Are Mobile Responsive.
Statistics show that Boomers use their phones approximately five hours per day. Furthermore, a little over half of the people between the ages of 60 and 69 own a smartphone and it jumps from the age of 50 to 59-year-old range, with 73 percent of those people owning a smartphone. With these statistics, it is important to make your website mobile responsive.
Ensure you make use of mobile marketing strategies such as text promotions, mobile advertising, location-based promotions, app marketing, and mobile coupons are ways to grab the baby boomers’ generation’s attention. A combination of social media and display advertisements can help businesses reach the boomer demographic on both mobile and desktop devices.
5. Avoid Using “old” or “elderly”.
A lot of baby boomers don’t like to be called “old” or “elderly” because they feel it is derogatory or insulting. Many of the baby boomers are still having fun and doing what makes them happy. This generation does not view age as a constraint on their ability to pursue things that make them happy. As a marketer, your job is to help these people archive their goals by showcasing the benefit of your product and services and how they can help them archive this dream.
Make sure you incorporate respect, enthusiasm, and clear communication into your marketing strategy to help target this audience successfully. Most marketers often make the mistake of being condescending when marketing to baby boomers. Don’t talk down on your audience or assume they know nothing about the latest trends. If you do, you will end up selling nothing or offending them.
Rather, treat them as equals and make them feel relevant. Use a polite tone and explain various terms to them, but make sure you don’t overdo it because they might feel you are treating them like children.
6. Make your content Accessible
Digital accessibility is now a very important aspect of user experience design. It refers to how a digital content or element can be viewed, used and understood by different audiences including the disabled and elderly ones. Many baby boomers wear glasses and may have difficulty viewing some form of content. You can increase your website accessibility to accommodate the older population by using fonts not smaller than 16pt to ensure clear readability. Ensure that you use bullets point to outline various textual elements on your website. Make use of headings and subheadings to separate things. Although users can adjust font size directly on their devices, brands targeting the boomer population should take proactive steps to ensure users can easily read website content.
Visual contrast is another important aspect of accessibility you have to take note of. You can make use of dark typography on light backgrounds, and vice versa. Using the proper button sizes, especially for mobile devices, can also help with overall website accessibility.
7. Provide Good Customer service
Most baby boomers always prefer to interact with a real person. For them, interacting with customer care on a one on one basis will most likely solve their problems rather than chatting or emailing. Additionally, they are likely to trust your brand if they can communicate with you directly.
To gain more trust from your audience, make your phone number and email address visually prominent on your website. Another thing to gain the trust of these baby boomers is to have a physical store. Like I said earlier, these people were born during an age when there were no internet and social media. They are used to interacting physically with business representatives. So if you have a physical store or office, they are likely to trust you more.
Make sure you train your employees on how to interact with this generation. Overall, providing many ways your customer can get in touch with you will reduce the friction between businesses and consumers. The aim of providing good customer service is to gain the trust of customers and turn them into brand advocates.
8. Offer Discounts and free stuff
Another strategy you can use to market to baby boomers is to offer a lot of discounts and giveaways. You can offer them discounts when they encounter a problem with your product or service or when they call customer care to enquire about your product and services. You can offer them free shipping when they order from your store. Add some additional items to their goods. For example, you can offer them a pouch or wristwatch along with their mobile phone order.
Conclusion
To effectively market to any audience, there is a need to understand what makes that particular audience unique. You can do this by carrying out some research through surveys to get real data on the marketing behaviour of that particular audience. You can also talk to some people in that age group and also research the period the baby boomers grew up.
As you continue to research the best way to market to baby boomers, we hope these tips will help you get started.
