Marketing to Baby Boomers
Consisting of 77.2 million people, baby boomers — people born between 1946 and 1964 — represent a prized, yet often misunderstood, demographic for online marketers. In fact, they represent the largest group within the U.S. Internet population at 56.7 million users, a full 29.4 percent of all Internet users. So why is there such confusion about how to effectively market to them? A recent report from the online market research firm eMarketer, Boomers Online: Attitude Is Everything, addresses this issue.
The first hurdle for online marketers targeting boomers is the disparity in age that can exist within the group. This has led many marketers to divide the group into two distinct segments: older boomers (those born between 1946 and 1954) and younger boomers (those born between 1955 and 1964).
Also, boomers’ online behavior typically varies from that of most Internet users. They view the Internet as a tool or resource to help them accomplish things — not a lifestyle or source of entertainment the way their younger counterparts treat it.
Telling statistics
Here are some relevant statistics from eMarketer’s report that online marketers should know about the baby boomer generation:
74 percent use the Internet at least once a month; younger boomers outnumber older boomers online 35.3 million to 21.4 million; more boomer women are Internet users than boomer men;
21 percent of boomers report not having Internet access;
62 percent of households headed by someone age 50 or older had annual incomes of $75,000 or more, nearly 5 percent higher than in 2004;
61 percent said it doesn’t pay to be loyal to one brand, especially in today’s marketplace;
68 percent of baby boomer women trust recommendations and rated information they heard in conversations as credible; and further underscoring these findings, in a recent survey from the public relations firm Edelman, 54 percent of baby boomers said the advertising industry misrepresents and neglects them, especially online,
The first hurdle for online marketers targeting boomers is the disparity in age that can exist within the group. This has led many marketers to divide the group into two distinct segments: older boomers (those born between 1946 and 1954) and younger boomers (those born between 1955 and 1964).
Also, boomers’ online behavior typically varies from that of most Internet users. They view the Internet as a tool or resource to help them accomplish things — not a lifestyle or source of entertainment the way their younger counterparts treat it.
Telling statistics
Here are some relevant statistics from eMarketer’s report that online marketers should know about the baby boomer generation:
74 percent use the Internet at least once a month; younger boomers outnumber older boomers online 35.3 million to 21.4 million; more boomer women are Internet users than boomer men;
21 percent of boomers report not having Internet access;
62 percent of households headed by someone age 50 or older had annual incomes of $75,000 or more, nearly 5 percent higher than in 2004;
61 percent said it doesn’t pay to be loyal to one brand, especially in today’s marketplace;
68 percent of baby boomer women trust recommendations and rated information they heard in conversations as credible; and further underscoring these findings, in a recent survey from the public relations firm Edelman, 54 percent of baby boomers said the advertising industry misrepresents and neglects them, especially online,