• Don’t Assume Every Baby Boomers Age Is The Same When You Plan Your Marketing

  Filed under marketing
  Sep 10

  The Baby Boomer generation is a hotly sought after market and has been for some time now. Perhaps you’ve marketed a few items to this generation. Maybe you’ve had some success. However, if you are trying to market to a group called “Baby Boomers” you need to narrow down your age group. Why? Because the generally accepted time frame of this demographic is someone born between 1946 and 1964. That is one wide range of ages to target!

  From data supplied by the US Census Bureau, we know that we have a huge population of aging Americans. When we take this group of people and put them all together in a single demographic, we are causing a marketing nightmare. How can you market to “Boomers” as if they are all the same age when the period in history that we refer to spans almost two decades?

  Consider that in the year 2010, people born during the baby boom were anywhere from 46 to 64 years old. That difference in age is a difference in life experience – that can be considered an entire generation, and often is.

  If you have searched the term “baby boomers” you will come up with a huge demographic. Unfortunately for the marketer, this group encompasses a vast array of history, trends, tastes, wants, and needs. The 40 year old boomer is buying something entirely different than the 60 year old boomer.

  If I search a website that says they have products for “baby boomers,” and I find out that their products are luxury cruises for retired people with time on their hands and money to spend, I will be upset, or maybe even insulted, if I am 46 years old. I may have kids at home yet, am working two jobs just to save money for the kids’ college, and am as far away from time or money for a luxury cruise than you can get!

  Now, say I click on a website for Boomers about beauty products. If I’m 60 plus years old I want moisturizes and sun protection. But if I’m in my 40′s I may be more tempted by products that promise anti-aging and wrinkle reduction. You have to know who you’re talking to!

  How can you target your products more specifically to the age group you intended them for? To begin with, you may want to drop the “baby boomer” references entirely. It’s perfectly fine to use that term as a general “remember when” reference, but when it comes to a direct sales approach, you’d better know your market better than that.

  So, yes, use the term Baby Boomer Generation when you want to talk about something from your past… a little nostalgia is great. But, when your product will help someone in their 40′s, it may be wrongly marketed to someone in their 60′s.

  Really, if you have a product to help people sort through Medicare Supplement insurance, do you want that product to be targeted at a generic “Baby Boomer” group or a 64 and older group? If you blast a new product out to an age group that doesn’t appreciate it, you may lose that group, permanently. Consider AARP for a moment… you get that letter very close to your 50th birthday, don’t you. Not when you’re 40 and not when you’re 60; when you’re 50.

  It’s often said that when you’re writing something for many people to read, “write for one person.” I must add, “sell to one person.” Know the one person you are marketing to, and not just some arbitrary demographic. Your product, and you, will be rewarded with the trust and esteem of your audience – and, hopefully, customers.

  Time for some action! The Baby Boomer Generation references should be dropped from your marketing strategies. We are NOT one age group. This demographic is confusing at best and using this generic term won’t help you market to the so-called baby boomers. People in their 40′s, 50′s, and 60′s don’t want to be lumped together anymore than someone in their 20′s wants to be grouped with someone in their 40′s. You are marketing to a very different group of people, so treat us as individuals. Once you do, you’ll earn the respect of all of us Boomers… of every age!

  Don’t start out a marketing campaign by offending the baby boomers generation by promoting a product to the wrong age group within this huge demographic. Find out how to talk to us Boomers and much more with a visit to RemarkableWrinklies.com.

  Tagged as: aging demographic, Internet Marketing, marketing, marketing strategies, marketing to baby boomers, online marketing, sales, selling to boomers
  
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