Part 3: Marketing to Baby Boomers

Part 3 of our 3 part series

Talking ‘bout my generation: Marketing to Baby Boomers

Who? Oh, the Baby Boomers you say. Sorry what with our failing hearing and cataracts we just didn’t get the picture. That’s how Baby Boomers feel in the marketing mix. Portrayed as too old. Tech-inept. Out of touch. Turns out, they hold 70% of buying power. But marketers are missing the boat.

5 important details to know about marketing to Baby Boomers

1. Your daddy’s daddy?

While these generational definitions are kinda fluid, in general Baby Boomers are ages 54-71. They’re active, stable and looking to engage.

2. Or your Mama’s Mama? Female Baby Boomers feel way ignored.

If the overall generation is pushed aside you can double it for the women. This is a huge opportunity in marketing.

3. They are excited about new technology. Not running from it.

In a time when their families are widespread tech avenues give Baby Boomers a way to stay connected. They are smart phone savvy and loyal to a device brand or carrier over other generations.

4. Boomers make wide purchasing decisions

Especially in large ticket items, Baby Boomers have a lot of influence. They’re making purchasing decisions for themselves, their immediate families and their own parents and in-laws. And influencing purchasing for their adult children. Think housing, cars and investments.

5. They use a variety of media to engage

Boomers still watch a lot of TV. From flat screens not only from their phones. They read print magazines and wide news publications. Online and in print. Social media has power to keep them connected to those that matter. But also for information. They get a huge amount of this information from search engines.

We’ve gotten a few important facts on Baby Boomers and why they matter to your marketing. Now let’s put those details to good use.

How to get your boom on: 5 top ways to market to Baby Boomers

1. Remember Boomer Women

If a good portion of your business comes from Baby Boomers, make it a priority to design campaigns marketing to the women of this generation. Among the tips for reaching this segment? Choose real people over artificial types. Speak to their sense of belonging.

2. Email marketing

Email marketing still holds power in marketing to Baby Boomers. Increase subscriptions to your website newsletter by placing a link in each one and a “Subscribe Now” button on your site.

3. Then do more with it.

Then link your email marketing back to your site via social media channels that matter to Boomers such as Facebook. Provide relevant and timely information in your email marketing. Use the power of those email platform analytics with targeted campaigns.

4. Invest in getting to the top

Of all the generations, Baby Boomers utilize search engines to find their information over other channels. Here we dove into PPC, SEM and similar efforts to increase and maintain high page brand ranking. This is money well spent when you’re after the Boomer. High search engine ranking that stays consistent will get you more business and loyalty.

5. Increase your blogging

The vast majority of Baby Boomers read blogs and articles. Blogging power increases with frequency. Be sure to publish often with rich SEO. Other ways to get mileage from blogging include linking it back to your email marketing or creating a spin-off podcast around your blogging. Boomers listen to podcasts for entertainment, information and education.

Tell us what you think. If you market to Baby Boomers, try some of these tactics and let us know how it goes! At Lucid, our success is your success. #wedodigitalmarketing