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What’s Next For Your Micro-Business
Marketing To Baby Boomers Could Boost Your Small Business
By 2010, one-third of the U.S. population will pass the age of 50. And these baby boomers – Americans born between 1946 and 1964 – will have plenty of money to spend.
Focalyst, a market research and consulting firm focused exclusively on boomers and older consumers, estimates that adults over the age of 42 account for $3 trillion dollars of annual consumer spending, or one of every two dollars.
It’s clearly worth your time and marketing efforts to court the aging crowd.
Baby boomers grew up with a unending choices between products and companies, and they continue to enjoy the myriad options according to a research study from Focalyst. In this study of more than 30,000 adults over the age of 42 in the continental U.S., baby boomers were found to frequently switch brands across a wide variety of product and service categories
Heather Stern, director of marketing at Focalyst, says, “Boomers are most loyal when companies give customized service, a natural reflection of boomers’ desire for personalized attention and rewarding brand experiences. And they are willing to pay more for value if a product or service demonstrates the ability to help make their complicated and stressful lives easier.”
What You Can Do
Here are three ideas for marketing to boomers.
- Send The Right Message
You want to develop a position as a trusted source to give you a competitive age with boomers. To achieve that, target older Americans with appropriate advertising messages offering real information about the benefits of your products and services. Messages that are simple (not simplistic) and relevant to the life events that these adults are experiencing are key to connecting with this audience.
- Offer The Right Visuals
Use older consumers in your online and offline advertising. In retail stores, display products used and desired by mature consumers. If possible, hire mature workers who will appeal to the same-age consumer. Want to see what visuals work? Check out the Web site and publications offered by AARP.
- Beef Up Your Web Presence
“Women boomers are spending over 15 hours a week on the Internet,” says Lori Bitter, senior partner at JWT BOOM, an integrated marketing firm specializing in reaching consumers ages 40 and over. “The stereotype that they’re not aggressive Internet users or online shoppers is definitely proving to be incorrect. Our study shows that they’re increasingly using the Internet in a variety of ways, from . . . researching products before purchasing offline and actually making purchases online. Surprising to some, the older they are, the longer they are staying online.”
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(Posted December 2007) |
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