New Rules for Marketing to America’s Largest, Wealthiest and Most Influential Group – Baby Boomers

Baby boomers are people born between 1946 and 1964. They make for the largest generation and are now the decision makers for most homecare products. They either buy for their aging parents or for themselves since the older boomers are now in their 70s where physical decay starts to accelerate. There are almost 80 million boomers out there and they account for 3.1 billion in spending power.

They are less conscious about price and will pay more for convenience. They’re also not too worried about discounts or coupons

Baby boomers hold 70% of this country’s wealth and on average each boomer has an extra $24,000 to spend every year. They spend an average of 3.1 trillion a year. As they get older they have more time to spend their disposable income.

They are known for having reinvented each phase of their lives and are rebellious, they are redefining aging but it still seems like brands are having a hard time recognizing it when it comes to marketing to boomers.

You cannot market to baby boomers the same way you market to seniors and you can not assume that they are extremely loyal to brands. They tend to be as loyal as the younger generation.

Baby boomers love life and they know they are getting older, but don’t call them old!

Marketing to baby boomers needs to take into consideration their values, and talk to them on an emotional level in order to get attention.

Tell them about leaving a legacy but don’t pound on fear and diseases. They have been through a lot in life and scare tactics do not work with them.

Yes, baby boomers want to live forever and they want to be healthy. Talk to them about getting healthier but be careful about talking too much about symptoms and diseases.

Above all, don’t discard the internet and social media when marketing to boomers. They love technology, they love gadgets and they are online. In fact the majority of Facebook users are over 45.

One of the best ways to reach baby boomers is with online videos. Don’t think that YouTube is just for younger people. 30 million users 55+ use social media and 70% of them use YouTube.

Marketing to boomers online requires that you follow some simple guidelines:

1. Connect with their self-empowered identity. They want to be the best they can be in every stage of their lives in all possible ways. Ex: Late education, adventure travel, healthy living
2. Appeal to how they feel in their current life stage. They are grandparents and they want to be cool. They have aging parents and they will do whatever it takes for quality of life.
3. Boomers love re-invention. How are they going to reinvent themselves at this point in life?
4. Create the right marketing platform
5. Use social media and hobby based forums