Social Media and the Art of Marketing to Baby Boomer Generation

by    |   30th Aug 10 12:23 am   |   15
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Social Media Selling e1283149321337 Social Media and the Art of Marketing to Baby Boomer GenerationIf you thought social media is just popular with the young generation, let me correct you. A recent study titled “Older Adults and Social Media” from Pew Research Center Publications indicates that the 50+ crowd is flocking to social media in huge numbers. While a large majority of these users resort to social media to “stay connected”, a fairly substantial proportion are not averse to using social media for looking for their shopping needs.

What Generation Gap?

Social Media has been a wonderful advocate to bridge the so-called “Generation Gap” between the older generation and the teen age. It serves as a ubiquitous medium to bring together people from all age groups and provides a wonderful way of keeping grandparents connected with their grandchildren.
Growth of Social Media1 Social Media and the Art of Marketing to Baby Boomer Generation
Professional Contacts

The Pew report also indicates that the older generation is increasingly using Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in order to connect with their professional contacts, people who’re currently working with them or the ones with whom they’ve worked in the past.

Marketing to Baby Boomer Generation

Facebook and Twitter aren’t just marketing tools for indolent teenagers; they provide a very effective media to reach out to the older adults, especially the baby boomer generation. As an online business, it’s a big mistake to believe that Facebook and Twitter are effective as marketing tools only for the youth segment. Make sure that your social media aligned marketing strategy addresses the crucial segment of consumers 50 years of age or older.

One of the biggest reasons behind the increasing popularity of social media amongst the older generation is the “convenience” it provides. If you are looking for people’s opinion or reviews on a certain product, just hop on to Twitter or Facebook. From an income perspective, the older generation represents a significant, large and relatively wealthy segment of North America’s population, so to ignore them in your social media marketing plans can prove to be a big mistake.

If your business operates in healthcare, this segment represents a massive business opportunity. An increasing number of older adults are flocking to social media to seek online support for a number of diseases and health issues.

Social Engagement

People in the golden years of their lives often feel lonely. Social networks such as Facebook & Twitter not only help them overcome their loneliness, it more importantly helps them engage socially with others. They feel happy to be an integral part of the society and are always willing to be involved in meaningful discussions.

Tweeting in the golden years

While the popularity of Facebook amongst the oldies is understandable, the Pew report surprisingly points out that Twitter is quite popular amongst baby boomer generation. They love it as it provides a fast and efficient way to connect with others and express their thoughts. Tweeting in the golden years isn’t an exception any longer; in fact, it’s increasingly becoming the norm these days.

Though Twitter doesn’t even come close to email in terms of mass adoption amongst the baby boomer generation, it’s still heartening to see that tweets are no longer aliens to a large number of older adults.

Douglas Idugboe, Digital and New Media Marketing Strategist. Founder and Chief Editor of Smedio! A Canadian Bestselling Author, Marketing Strategist, Speaker and Trainer, Who Loves Technology
  • http://www.surveyfavs.com Callie

    Doug,

    This was a very good article for me, being that I’m of baby boomer age. I appreciate the insight given on how to be more aware of the baby boomer audience and how to effectively capture their attention.

    Thank you for posting.

  • http://smedio.com Douglas Idugboe

    Thanks Callie for your always relevant feedbacks and comments.

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    Social media has proven to be the best methodology for promoting any online business without any investment. I am also using this methodology and getting massive traffic.

  • http://funnycleanvideos.wordpress.com/ David Mayer

    As the Public Relations Manager for a senior living community, I have seen firsthand that the value of social media is not lost on seniors. The majority of people in our community are the parents of Baby Boomers, and some of them are willing and excited to experiment online.

    As the Boomer generation gets older, I think more senior living communities will find that the coming generation will expect to have these tools integrated in the communities where they move.

    Excellent piece Doug. Timely and well-written.

  • http://www.socialmarketingtoolkit.com social tool

    I guess I can totally see this as a valid progression. Since my mom died, my dad is always looking for company and things to do now that his kids are busy with their jobs and lives. Albeit, I have to admit that I’m a bit relieved that my dad will never stalk me on twitter, he’s such a techno phobe.

  • http://smedio.com Douglas Idugboe

    Thanks David for your first hand insight into the application of this article in the community you serve.

  • Anonymous

    Doug, nice overview – Thanks! As someone who specializes in marketing to Baby Boomers and seniors, I like to keep in mind the reason these “oldies” (as you called them) get involved in online social networks. They are most often motivated to join by family and friends.

    This was seen in AARP’s June report (highlights at http://bit.ly/c89xJn). We’re also seeing it in the early findings from Creating Results’ national survey on the attitudes of 40+ consumers towards social networking (http://bit.ly/acdxdg).

    Why does it matter? Because seniors/Boomers aren’t joining Facebook et al to receive your company’s marketing, and they often resent the intrusion on their “personal space.” Reminds us all we need to keep it non-salesy, relevant and useful … just like we would when connecting with mature consumers offline.

  • K.M

    are they any specific social networking sites besides the “golden three” that baby boomer generation uses?

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    Amazing stuff,Thanks so much for this!This is very useful post for me. This will absolutely going to help me in my projects .

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  • Dixie

    So true, so true.  Reading your articles and following along has increased my opportunities on and off line

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  • Anonymous

    Doug, based on our survey of “Social, Silver Surfers” I’d add two things to consider.

    First, why do older people join social networks at all? We found that offline connections are what motivate baby boomers and seniors to join. And, the older you are, the more likely you are to be motivated by your family. For people 75+, 28% say they tried social networks after an Invitation from a Family Member. Only 9% of 40-54 year olds say the same. Those 40-54 year olds are most motivated by Work/Career reasons while older Boomers aged 55-64 primarily follow Invitations from Friends. (An eBook with this research is at http://bit.ly/SocSilvSurf.)

    This matters because it tells marketers what older targets expect and want out of Facebook, et al. They’re not joining to be marketed to but to deepen connections.

    Second, I appreciated your note that Twitter doesn’t come close to email when it comes to baby boomer adoption rates. In fact, more people of all ages send email, use a search engine or bank online than use a social networking site every day.

    Ignoring baby boomers in social media marketing plans – or any marketing plans! – is definitely a mistake. Thanks for sharing these stats.