13 Best Baby Boomers Marketing Strategies

Baby boomers are one of the largest demographics in the world today, which means they are also one of the most targeted groups when it comes to marketing. There were 77 million people born in the United States between 1946 and 1964, which means this group also has one of the largest blocks of disposable income. They make up 35% of the US adult population, which means ignoring them as a business could put you out of business.

It all begins with your ability to solve a problem for this specific demographic. The 65+ population is expected to reach 71.5 million people by 2030, which means the time is now to see what kind of value you provide. Figure out what the baby boomers need and then use these strategies to market those strengths right away. Why? Because an American is turning 50 every 7 seconds.

Baby Boomers Marketing Strategies

1. Be Online
Although people joke about having kids fix computer problems for their grandparents, it’s not a joke that is based in truth. 33% of today’s internet users are in the Baby Boomers generation. They also control 75% of the nation’s personal net worth. This means that if you’re not online right now to be discovered by this demographic, then you’re missing out marketing your goods or services to over 60 million people every day.

2. Be Mobile
Over a third of baby boomers own a smartphone right now which means you need to have a mobile presence to reach these people. If your internet presence isn’t optimized for mobile accessibility, it’s not just visitations that you’ll lose. It’s also money.

3. Be Social
There are 27.4 million baby boomers who use at least one social networking platform regularly. This means having a social media presence is necessary in order to begin building relationships with this generation is incredibly important. As people age, they’ll remain with their social networks – especially as wearable technology improves and provides even more mobile access.

4. Facebook Is a Must
There are 19 million baby boomers who use Facebook regularly. If you’re not engaging people on Facebook, then you’re losing out on business. There’s just no other way to say it.

5. Do You Have Ecommerce?
Over 70% of the baby boomers who are online regularly shop online for the things they need. If you don’t have an ecommerce solution that will allow them to accomplish this, even if it is just an electronic form of window shopping, then you’re going to lose a lot of this generation as customers.

6. Meet the Needs
One of the biggest reasons why this generation remains an untapped resource is because there are entire industries that can’t meet the needs of baby boomers. This demographic can be a bit quirky, which means you’ve got to build relationships right now in order to survive. Health issues can create limitations. Pets are sometimes treated better than grandchildren. Relate what you’ve got to these needs and you’ll perform better.

7. It’s About Respect
To many in the baby boomer generation, there is still a code of honor where your word is your bond. If you promise a level of perceived value with your goods or services, then you’d better provide it because a broken promise equates to a lack of respect. Once you create that point of you, that you’re disrespectful to seniors, it will be a long road to come back and recover from that impression.

8. What Is Your Message?
One of the unique aspects of the baby boomer generation is that they want to feel younger and be perceived as younger than their parents were at the same age. If you know this, then how can you market your products or services to provide this need? You can’t just dangle a carrot of a discount in front of a senior and expect a result. You’ve got to meet them where they are and treat them as an equal – not as an “old person.”

9. Empower Them
The baby boomers tend to identify strongly with their generation because of the turmoil and difficulties that they faced while growing up. This identity has created a number of individuals who have strong opinions and stronger desires for self-empowerment. If you can empower this generation through your marketing, then you’ll be able to relate in a more effective way and build the trust that you need for success.

10. Get Active
Baby boomers today want to play with their grandkids more than they want to watch them play from their porch with “The Price Is Right” on in the background. Encourage this active view of life in some way and you’ll gain this generation’s attention. Provide easier access to life activities they want and you’ll create a temptation. Provide a good value that is proven and you’ll get more recommendations than you’ll ever believe.

11. Don’t Ignore the Email
Baby boomers open more emails from marketing efforts than average. A good email marketing campaign encompassing all demographics is about 10%. An excellent one that many would consider to be a massive success would have an open rate of 20%. Baby boomers, on the other hand, click through emails at a 25% rate. Those are rates that you just can’t ignore.

12. Go Offline
Baby boomers have more time on their hands for hobbies these days, so go to where they are. Connect with organizations and groups that offer support for hobbies that are in line with your products or services. 80% of this generation will seek out information online about their hobbies, so if you’ve partnered up with a platform that promotes a specific activity, you’ll be in really good shape to expand into this demographic.

13. Don’t Be Afraid To Reinvent
Baby boomers have reinvented themselves a number of times because they’ve need to do so to survive. They’ll respect a company that does the same thing for the same reason. Just make sure that your rebranding efforts make sense so you don’t muddle the message of your marketing efforts.